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 H 
 

 SPEECH 
 
 O P 
 
 , MR. WOOD, OF NEW YORK, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 OREGON QUESTION. 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 if 
 
 JANUARY 31, 1840 
 
 1. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE UNION OFFICE 
 
 1846. 
 
%JJ p 
 
 u: ;^ 
 
 ^"^hrl- 
 
 fa 
 hole of 
 
SPEECH. 
 
 N the resolution giving the twelve months* notice for the termination of the 
 joint occupancy of the Oregon territory. 
 
 Mr. WOOD addressed the committee in sub- 
 jnce, as follows: 
 
 He believed, he said, that all were now con- 
 need that this House was divided into three 
 ■tinct divisions. First, those opposed to giving 
 e notice; next, tho?e in favor of it, and yet 
 ere for negotiation; and, la.stly, these who 
 ere in favor of the notice, and yet insisted on the 
 hole of Oregon to 54 deg. 40 min. — a policy 
 hich, if carried out, would inevitaljly leait to war. 
 soneofihe representatives of a State, which, in 
 ich an event, would have to do no small share of 
 e fightinij, and, what wa.s of still mnreconPC-| 
 aence, no Rmall share of the payiiii;, he frit obliged I 
 p offer sr;nc remarks on this siiljject. He would I 
 Dt boast of vlie courage of his State, for fear it! 
 light 1 e doubled. She was wi.se eno'.igh, he trust- 1 
 1, "no' to vieex the fight," and gallant enough "not! 
 )sluin i; vvht-n it came." She would pay all just' 
 eniand." ?.pon her, whethi r in "jold or iron. Thus j 
 lucl; o'^ vaunting the i-oii.mon srn^e of the House j 
 ;oiild ex; u:!e, but he couki not liave r..-;kod puch an ; 
 ndulgpce had he gone .itiy farther tbati this. Had 
 le joiifil in the wild v.'ar-cry v. hicli had rune; 
 hrough -'.'i" Hov.sc, carrying us i^ack In the dark 
 get, or. r.w least, to that time when .sonio fiery Percy, 
 ir lift D. ',iglass,riKU-.sliallcd their retainers, not then, I 
 s now, tor a fcray on the bailot-box, or at most on , 
 he treasury, 1;,;'. on border lands; had he literally j 
 leificd the tiger attributes of lii..^ .species, invoked 
 var, tlie i^.ourge and curse of nations, as a blessing i 
 ipoii his -riuiriry, or exalted mere brute courage j 
 )ver all t'lrt was intellectual and ni.iral in man, as! 
 md bee:: dune on this floor, hewmi'd not only have | 
 ipologizcd to this House, bnt to Christendom, for so 
 jross an r.ttack -.ipoii the civilizati.>n of the age. | 
 
 He admired the moral courage of the gentleman 
 'roni Soi.tii Carolina, [Mr. Rhktt.] who was the 
 Smt on t};;-; f.oor to lebuke this spirit, and to strip 
 war of it?, tin^^cl, and show it as it was, a naked, re- i 
 volting ^ i;elc:oM. He, for one, thought not the lei?s 
 9f his bravery, tor his morality. Talk to novel- ! 
 reacJiiig 2;irh and beardless boys of the glories and 
 
 laurels of war, but not to men of sense. Why, 
 .^ir, said he, when I, the son of a revolutionary sol- 
 dier, heard the revolutionary w;<r alluded to in cos'- 
 nexion v/ith the one here invoked, 1 felt that it wis 
 almost ."*i:;rilege to name them in the f^ame breath, it 
 was virtndly confounding the patriot and the brig- 
 and. 
 
 Gentlericn, he Faid, had talked as if ih° only rea- 
 sons for rpposition to a war far Oregon vreie foitn'- 
 
 ed in fears of England. Were there not sufficient 
 reasons to deprecate a war, other than our feara r 
 Grant, ifyouchoo.se, for the sake of the argument, 
 that England should be worsted in every conflict, 
 and that your plans for conquest and victory, like 
 Captain Bobadil's, were perfectly feasible, it would 
 still be dear-bought victory. \ou would have in- 
 flicted greater evils on your own country than on 
 your enemy's. You will liave demoralized your 
 country, centralized its government, swept away itu 
 democracy, and erected on its ruins a military aris- 
 tocracy, and thrown back for years the civihzation 
 of mankind. Nor would tiiis be all. You will have 
 arrested the progress of liberal opinions throughout 
 the world, and especially in that very country where 
 the princijiles of free-trade, (the best of all peace so- 
 cictii's,) are spreadmg rapidly, widely, and triuinpli- 
 antly, beiiefitiMg alike that country and thi^, and 
 and which can be arrested only by a war between 
 the two nations. 
 
 Gpntlemen were very much inclined to denounce 
 England; but the England of 1775 or 1812 was not 
 the England of 1846. Paradoxical as it might 
 seoni, the only efiectual way to attack England was 
 by pcafc, and not by war. it was tlie (nily way 
 you r:)i\\d roach her proud unfeciiiig aristocracy, 
 who hi.d been built up by war, and whom a c(\\- 
 tiiuiance of peace would ere long put down. With 
 that aristocracy, none of us linJ any .^ympatiiy; but 
 he trustrd all had with a down-trodden pronle, 
 .^trngglins to unclasp their grasp, and wlio had been 
 demoralized, plundered, beggared, and reduced to 
 starvation by glorious war. And if the sains state 
 of things, and by the same means, was not produced 
 in this country, it would not be the fault of some of 
 the gentlemen who had addressed the committee; 
 and where a population might ere long be found, 
 sufficiently degraded to hire themselves for a shil- 
 ling a day, as in England, to the trade of wholesale 
 murder. Why was this deadly hate manifested 
 against England.' Say what you wou'd, with all 
 her injustice to Ireland, and to a portion of her own 
 citizens, she .still had more of civil and religious lib- 
 erty than any other country in Europe. There 
 the liberty of speech and of the press were inviolate, 
 and the t)lush came sometimes tingling to his own 
 check when it occurred to him that in this respect 
 it was more inviolable in England than in some 
 portions of Ills own country. Nor could he forget 
 that the first aspirations for civil and religious liber- 
 ty that ever dawned on this world arose in England 
 — (lie same spirit that sent forth the pilgrims of Now 
 
 U\ 
 
I c 
 t •■ 
 
 Eiiguinii, inspired Ilarnpdcn, Milton, and Viine, 
 and brought the first Charles to the block. An<l 
 now, at this day, among the middle classes of Eng- 
 land, and among thoHc whose names are great with- 
 out titles, win'c many who were manfully battling 
 the cause of :he people and of human progress, 
 i nd w.'io would deprecate d We\r wuh this country as 
 a disgrace to civiliialion. 
 
 The arrogance of the British government, of 
 which so much had been said, was as little to his 
 taste as the profligacy and insidious tyranny of 
 France, or the despotism of Russia. He conceded 
 ;hat all three were hostile to republican institutions; 
 and it became us to see to it that no unjust act of 
 ours should furnish them a pretext for an increased 
 hostility. We were told, too, of the rapacity of 
 England; so also were France and Russia. The one 
 had once laid under contribution the Sandwich is- 
 lands, had seized on the Society islands, and driven 
 our own citizens from the Gaboon in Africa. The 
 other, after blotting out one nation (Poland) from 
 ihe map of the world, had, by subi«idizing Sweden 
 and Norway, extended her dominions acrosfiij the 
 eastern continent. On the south, .she commanded 
 the Danube and the Euxine, wiiile on our north- 
 west, she was in posPtssion, and hy treaty, of .some 
 six degi-ees of this very JSpanisli tit'e. Who made 
 us the avenger of the wrong.? which tin se nations 
 had intlicted ? They I'ide their time. <-tod had not 
 made U3 tlu.ir avenger. "Vengeance i.ii mine, .iaith 
 the Lord.' It was madness and folly to run a tilt 
 against all these powers: And, v.'iien he read some 
 of the resolutions oO't-'red in coianexion with this 
 subject, or listed to declaration.s made on this floor, 
 and in the othei wing of the Capitol, bre^ithing de- 
 fiance against the nations of the earth, challenging 
 them to the fight, and boasting of the ease with which 
 we could conquer them, he knew of nothing which 
 could equal such conduct, save that of the madman, 
 v;ho, throwing him.self on the track of a railroad, 
 challenged a locomotive to fight, roundly asserting 
 tliat It, was'notliing but a cuok-stov; on wheels. He 
 wa.s constrained to believe that, with our Spanish 
 till'?, we had also accjuired no small share of Sjiaii- 
 ish duixotism and Spanish giisconade. 
 
 The 'j;entler.iar! iVom Smih Carv^lina had alluded 
 to what rumor iiiul said in relation to tlie intrndu-:- 
 :ion of thio notice; that it v/as in tact, a E;a!Vie to 
 noake great men greater, and little men grciit. He 
 would assure the genilem:in that New York iiid no 
 iiand in :-:uch a game. And if the honorabiegentic- 
 man would jircsent i^efore tlie grand in'^,ueht of the 
 n^Ltion a?- i)iii.jances ail .•■uK'.h, and 'he wluiie tube of 
 politicians by Iradc, hp Vi^riijld bid him God s|-ced. 
 
 Wr^v, sir, ,?aid he, tlif curie of an unljorn poster- 
 ity w.ll rest on his head v,'ho, for liis own aggnm- 
 disemet, shall unnecessarily jihiiige thiscoij.'itry into 
 a war. Woe to him who attemi)*R it. It had been 
 asserted on that tioor that no one could be the next 
 president that had not joined in this war-cry and 
 shouted for the v..hole of Oregon. He trusted he 
 should never see the day when a mere popular cry, 
 or mere availability, would constitute the qualifica- 
 tion of a candidate for the presidency. He had 
 voted t'or iVIr. Polk certainly not because he was in 
 favor of Texas, or liad chimed in with any other 
 popular cry, but because he Ijclieved him honest and 
 capable, and because he had confidence in his integ- 
 rity. Much had been said about another game or 
 another compact — the whole of Oregon and the 
 whole of Texas. If a game was playing he had no 
 part in that either. If a compact, he had already 
 
 shown by his vote in what light he regarded out 
 part of it, at least. And yet it had l)een suggested 
 that his rote, and of those who like him had Toted 
 against the annexation of Texas, or rather against 
 a clause in iis constitution, had been influenced by 
 a certain distingui.shed northern statesmtin, [Mr. 
 Wright.] and inferences had been drawn therefrom 
 in relation to that gentleman alike unjust and un- 
 true. He knew nothing of that gentleman's opin- 
 ions either in regard to Texaa or Oregon, except 
 what the public knew. He did not repre.scnt him 
 or any other individual. He had acted in accord- 
 ance with the views he had always entertained. It 
 was a matter in which he could know no man; nor 
 would he sufTer the opinions of any mar. to come 
 between him and the convictions of his own con- 
 science. Nor had he voted against the aanexation 
 of Texas from any supposed hostility, as had been 
 intimated, to the South. He had acted .'"rom no 
 such motive, though he had already .•scen (and 
 might again sec) the peculiar institutions of the 
 South made a .sioi; qua non qualification for the pre- 
 sidency, and those ssime institutions made a subject- 
 matter of iniUruction to a tbreign minister by adistin- 
 iruished southern statesman then holding a high sta- 
 tion in the government. To that gentleman (personal- 
 ly unknown to him) he meant no disrespect. He 
 would give him credit for his every virtue, and for 
 the fact thathi.'t position, for the time beir.:j; at least, 
 was defined. He believed that that gentleman and 
 his friends in this House were sincere in their oppo- 
 sition to this notice. They viewed it as a war meas- 
 ure. In this he differed with them. Did he view 
 it in the same light he .should hesitate long before 
 he gave it the sanction of hi : vote. But i^e did not 
 so view it. The giving of this notice of itself can- 
 not lead to a war. That depended on subsequent 
 action — upon the carrying out the ultra vtswa ii. re- 
 lation to Oregon which had been avowed in that 
 House. The "masterly inactivity," of which so 
 much had been said, by bringing the citizens of the 
 two countries in collision, would sooner or later 
 lead to "'ar. Sei^ing the whole of Oregon by "mas- 
 terly activity" would inevitably lead to war; and 
 why the latter course had been called n:asterly he 
 knew not, unless it was the conduct of masters, and 
 very young masters too. He would not at this 
 stageof the deliatc discuss the question of title. He 
 would merely lay down a few positions, '..-ithout re- 
 course to the n)u.«ty records from which ro liad ile- 
 rivcd them, which other.s coidd and wouh'. he trust- 
 ed, examine for themselvca. These po.«^it:ons he 
 thought, on examination, would be foii-id correct 
 and true. There were very few v/ho did ;: ot l)elieve 
 that Great Ilritain had a claim of some kind 
 (M- other to the territory in dispiue. Whe- 
 ther her title was derived from the Nootka 
 Sound treaty, from the exploration of Mackenzie and 
 thy discovery of Fras'^r's river, from p:'o:cimity or 
 contiguity, or from our own concesaioiis, it was im- 
 material, and he should not now stop to consider. 
 He believed our own title south of 49" "Aas unques- 
 tionable; and if the position taken by the .gentleman 
 from Indiana [Mr. Owkv] was correct, and he 
 thought it was, our title was good to A'}'-' 30'; be- 
 cause it was asserted that Spain had a settlement at 
 the time of the Nootka convention, at that point, 
 and Great Britain had abandoned all claim to any 
 territory south of it. If he had any doubts in this 
 matter, it was as to the fact, whether any bona fide 
 settlement ever had been made in the disputed ter- 
 ritory until recently, and since tlio commencemenl 
 
 of '.hiS 
 clainiP, 
 >vhich, 
 
 tlO"., n 
 
 of Ihi^ 
 c'aave 
 the Spt. 
 he .'i 
 
 IB tlie 
 nr.'.io.'!? 
 
 It V,i 
 
 on ti'f 
 
 v;il;it 
 cr neg 
 
 Ce-^K 
 
 With : 
 
 thrre 
 
 all >."- 
 
 line ( 
 
 trea'v 
 
 co'i'. ; 
 
 hful : 
 
 be i-i; 
 
 i'lg V 
 
 nboiii 
 
 fid 
 
 witho'j 
 
 rush. 
 
 tiip.t n, 
 
 t\m\ 01 
 
 lion 
 
 to -.iie 
 
 lay oe! 
 
 Fugev 
 
 were a; 
 
 rcsGce, 
 
 rct-.ial') 
 
 bewet'i! 
 
 the fir;;! 
 
 cr heat 
 
 of thJi; 
 
 south 
 
 coni::ifi 
 
 unle;-.') 
 
 refle:'tji 
 
 not ver 
 
 •will ■ 
 
 rori-i' 
 
fit he rcgarJnd one 
 lad l)een suggested 
 ike him hud rotcd 
 , or rather against 
 een influenced by 
 
 Btatesmlin, [Mr. 
 
 drawn therefrom 
 5 unjust and un- 
 gentle man's opin- 
 ar Oregon, except 
 not represent him 
 d acted in accord- 
 's entertained. It 
 now no nnan; nor 
 iny mar. to come 
 of hit? owii con- 
 ist the annexation 
 :ility, as had been 
 ad acted .'"rom no 
 •eady .sjcen (and 
 istituiions of the 
 ;aiion for the pre- 
 is made a subject- 
 ini.?ter by a di.stin- 
 oldingnhigh sta- 
 tlemaii (personal- 
 ) di.sresp'ect. He 
 y virtue, and for 
 ne beir^' at least, 
 It gentleman and 
 sre in their oppo- 
 it as a war meas- 
 I. Did iie view 
 tatc long before 
 
 But i)e did not 
 ce of it.self can- 
 
 I on subsequent 
 ultra viow.s ii. re- 
 avowed in that 
 ," of which so 
 
 le citizens of the 
 .sooner or later 
 iregor by "ma.'?- 
 ad to war; and 
 led r;:asteily he 
 of in asters, and 
 )iild not at this 
 on of title. He 
 on.-5. './ithoiit re- 
 icl: re. !)ad de- 
 wnul('. he trust- 
 !e popi'ions he 
 foii'id correct 
 did lot l)elieve 
 of some kind 
 i.^piitp. Whe- 
 tlic Nootka 
 "Mackenzie and 
 p-oxiinity or 
 ions, it was im- 
 o|) to consider. 
 9" w ag unques- 
 tlu' irentlernan 
 orrcct. and he 
 to 4!.>-"30'; be- 
 a .settlement at 
 at that point, 
 
 II claim to any 
 ' doutits in this 
 r any bona fide 
 e disputed ter- 
 -ommencement 
 
 of Vhis controversy. 'le be!;eved t'rifit we iiail 
 claims, founded upon tApIorn'.ion ,\:n\ diurovery, 
 which, patting the Spaiusli title o it of the (piea- 
 tion, -would carry .>a uo iV. lean* to 49'^. So.iiti 
 of ihis parallel, Great Britain had claimed no ex- 
 claa ve sovereignty. On tlie wtlier hand, .i3ide from 
 t)ie Spanish 'I'.le, jmd by ex..l(iration, anil discovery, 
 he had yet to learn that v/e had any t.'.le to the 
 cojntry north of 5'2^, and cast of the straits of Fucn. 
 Mr. Riish had conceded to Gre.-it Britain all iio'ih of 
 5?;'^. What tiien was ;!ie qjcstion i.t ;^"^-.,i':'- Wiial 
 ie the matter at ttake which wa-T to pkmgc two frcat 
 na'.io.os, tin; f!..:,st civiiized ;n tiie vi^o^kl, in'o a warr 
 It v,as n strip of land iibout two degree:) in breadth, 
 on the uninhabited north v/ent cnaut, of doubtful 
 value and oat little Known. Wo.ilJ yoa, nir, figlit 
 or negotiate for tliis? 
 
 Cesidf-j, and In addition to all thi"? — and tl/n wan 
 ■With .■iim the greatest difE.-.'.ilty — tnegovor.men! Iiad 
 tliri'.e, with a perieci Knowlou'.^c of ita title and ni 
 nil s.ii'Cerity, oifered to divide tins tei'ritory nn the j 
 
 line niarkvd o;/. by ilie 
 li'if of proxJ)):)ity and 
 
 line of 49^'. 'I'ii.3 was the 
 trea'y of Utreriit, and :!;e 
 
 tontguity. \Vcu;d 
 
 .;o to war "'or 'vhat yim 
 
 hful tiiree times otTer<>'i to give ;rvvnyf Would >ve 
 be j.isli.'ied t-.eloreGoJ f.nd the v.orld Wi :c;';'i!y seek- 
 ing v.-ar on s^ich a ip.\;r.'Rl? G'civ.lti'ncn liail talki'd 
 fiboiit the j;rc?.t valae of the country nkirih of 40'", 
 
 ouhl no. 
 
 f.'id ;:one of Vheri h^ul ass'ji'.cd, ho ln:!ievcd, titat 
 Without the v.'hole, r-r.-;{.'()n 
 rufih. We itnew .n ■.liiii'-.; o 
 tiiat n^.vi;!leh All that h;-.d 
 
 be vvortb a 
 
 tlic coanti'v north of 
 
 i'':':n ''-.'.id of itf; vahic 
 
 on 
 
 th? irnagina- 
 
 find oenu'y were mere draughts 
 lion. Cap*. W-lkep iiad i-cn;':r''.il bri "xo'oration 
 to the south of 49'-'. All that v;a« va'.'.ible to uk 
 lay u<;!ow that liiie. The mogt valuable iia;-i)oi-o, 
 Fuge'.':j rtoiind, llood'a canrl, and .-\.l;.ni;\'.ity iolel, 
 were a;! !?()Uth of 49'^. The genthirriiui from Tcii- 
 jiescee, [Mr. J-.-nMsojj,] 'lati v.aid th;\t the tcrr:tory 
 tictuti'ly :! di?»p';.*e betwet^n the two couiMrier, lay 
 beween 40'-' and 49°. Thi::: wai nvw M i'.iin, r.iul 
 the first time lie iiad ever heard of i;.. ilc had I'ov- 
 er heard of any ont who rontenplate.' a .-'t^itlemen* 
 of t!i.;: ditficully ij-o:^ any line a;^ a ba.^i* larthrr 
 soutti ti'.an 49^. it !iaJ h'jen ".aid I hat '\:ner'';;'.n 
 cony-ier;-iai fite:';;- 
 Vinle.:5j t!i'; Br.f.'n 
 refle ■tion .;pon the 
 rot rcr-iiit. Fo." v, 
 v.'lihh Airteri-nr-.s 
 Brit'.3n, o;-a~y othe;- rir 
 F.nii u.i'...tr,p .r. F.iiy c:.tt 
 cans Vt'.-.ntcd wr, 
 left to ;'-\ci'.':f!'!v« 
 
 =:e CO '.■t not -yM' 
 ■,vt-.v; d.'ive ) oiit. 
 
 n.) 
 ■■la- 
 
 :opi 
 
 '• III 
 
 •lia;-;v:l 
 
 >y s:u 
 
 10 i 
 
 cominer. 
 
 V;.tlH-i.t 
 
 ancoi porated cct;;;pany. 
 erniiicnt. The dif;'"-. 
 
 •he [.;■.',;■. 
 !>ef.vf!C;n 
 
 i^i ti'-'t 
 All :<:: 
 :;:i i V. 
 
 Oil i;:" 
 
 1,1 s 
 
 jas 
 
 (i:f;cren:c ootwun tn.* city 
 
 rora'at^d ."O'iL'erns, 
 
 i'.nd 
 
 •ho?!.' ciiiUH v.'hici' d:; 
 
 on thienifieives 
 here, in pi.'r^ai'.ig 
 
 1 i'.^ Orc'i;on 
 
 J 'ills Wii;-' a 
 
 ■ :\i: \v"ould 
 
 :\-:k in 
 
 itii !l>e 
 
 ■(••one:;- iviv'l. 
 ,t tn'i. ArriCi- 
 .", ••: '^^-.-M 
 
 :'.y T'oo in 
 
 c-.ny powerful 
 
 ;■<; o" ;;i!.' I'.iv- 
 
 i:','il shero iy 
 
 y- 
 
 pend 
 
 oflerini] to co'.iipro- 
 
 wiihin the year refuse to negotiate, England would 
 then fill Canada and Oregon with troops; the West 
 Indicrt, Ikrniuda, and Halifax with her ahips-of-war 
 unti war-.Mteanior^. She would strike no blow, but 
 wait our ai'iion; and should we attempt tA take the 
 svliole of Oregon, or, mistakenly rclymg on diaat- 
 fcciion in C.iiiada, attempt its annexation, wc should 
 havtt wfu to the knife. Judging from the past, he 
 had too much reii<\nce on the moderation and wis- 
 dom of the PiesKlenl to suppose he would take any 
 H'ich course. He believed the administration would 
 negotiate, anil settle ih'n nucition by the law of na- 
 tion:;, and not by the l.^w of popular acclamation. 
 He would not so far distrust the g )od seuse of either 
 nation as to Mupfiosc that, at a time when their com- 
 mercial relatioin were becoming more and more in- 
 timate and so beneficial to each other, they would 
 mndly, iibndly, and fooli ihly rush on war to adjust 
 a disputed title they never could .icttlc by fightmg, 
 but only by iiegotidtion at last; and he would say, 
 that if we went iriio auch a war, v/e should .soon 
 Ic.s'.n the ditrerence between defonding our own 
 country and carryintt on an aa;grc^Pive war a^ain.st 
 niiotlier. li'it, fir, said lie, v/hilo thing.! woru in their 
 prcHcnt .'ii'u.Ttion, it 'itrnck him that we aliould do 
 thnt wlu'di at aP tin'-ci it v.'as wi'f and well to do — 
 fmivih every foriificition, and furni:5h them with ord- 
 n.'\ncfi — l,f)0() picre?j of which were ;hcn needed tor 
 the purpooc — refir the navy, increase your v/ar- 
 steamcr?!, or, at least, provide the materials for a 
 stonin-!ii:\rii"i(!. 
 
 But the truth wa'i, no one believed ni war; public 
 opinion wa^! op[Mifiei! 'o i', and .so much onpo.scd, 
 that they wcie not i^nly avcn'sc to taking any .'stepa 
 to prepare for if, hut he apprehended that v^ith 
 many there \va=i anaver'^won to making the neces- 
 sary appropriation for a peace e.'=.ta;)hRhinfint. He 
 wa.s for ^i'. in;;; the notice, but not for piudiing ulte- 
 rior mea.sure-. to mich an extreme na to preclude ne- 
 j'otiation. 'I'he connfy did not h.eliove that meas- 
 ures would be :jo prcp^ed, end it did not, therefore, 
 apprehend a war. Rnf should he be mii-taken in 
 thi.i, and war Mh.onld come, it was not imp..is:ve 
 courage alone that could carry us s;if dy thro',i2;h :'.. 
 The cxperirrico of t'.vo wan had f.tlly tcHteJ '.he 
 truth of thin lis.iertion. It had tailc;'. i:i liie war of 
 the rovolutioii, thou'^h i!r']'"'d ok l)y tl'.e roost ardent 
 
 iOSMca'l (jf •, iie goveroniea:. Ana 
 i-.e vy-f, I'd ".ay that the t'opalarity 
 of the Pie'=ident, ere.".! as it -'vaa, and tle^t-rvcdly so, 
 wa3 owing to i:;s inodcnv.ion and wisdom: It rc-u- 
 ed Oil lu~; 49'^\ not o.) !^-^ ;j4<^ 40 ; and l;r rcprftted 
 to 'ite resohi'.oni-' otiVr*-.! in fii; } louse v.vMai'y re- 
 elect 'or, on his ;'o.i •:••" !;'i;i hi-j pr?.(lece^3so.■s in thi.s 
 tnatter; iir.d he had }":t to iearii wliethpr th' y ■.vro 
 the I'i.oe of it:a: foigiveiie;: - an honor.-.iile i;<'iiile- 
 man had kindly grn-.t^d mm lo 
 mise on the line ot 4i)'-\ 
 
 If th.s notice slio.il'l oe ;nven, and we should 
 
 patri'ititun; and the ji-reai 
 
 I'adci 
 
 Fitr. 
 
 ( Was'iiiv.won) had left .'.n rc'^.ord hr; opinion of its 
 inelHcif \\i-y: VVa.'? thin to he a v.-ar of a .single ^-^.n- 
 paifp, It nii'j,!'! i\^'^ MiM:.h; bn'. it v/o.d ' hf, a [irotract- 
 c:l ..-■ -o;," in whici; cmI cv:'.\:::\v :\\.- m: lYr-.z- 
 f^arv a:- nierc inipuh'ive •oir;T:!;c. Thuf the .^JU-Ter- 
 iitg'', tin: p. ivatio-;;, and the ppRtilon'-e of a camp 
 would >'oon break |o^vn, however enthusiastic at 
 ttrs't. War wa-i now n ticience; and rhould it break 
 out between the two vvuit'-ie:!, it wa.s not to be 
 loii'.^iit behiiid cotton h,i'.;'», ov in thn forest glade 
 with the ;itl'\ l)at Ofi another and a dhfer-ait battle- 
 field, amid the crorvdng of bayonct^i, \]\?. flaahing of 
 r.:alireH, llie tlumder of cannon, and thn v.duzy.ing of 
 .diell.! and F.uyhan ahot — fcon the o-'ean wave, i.nan 
 to man,anil itLi'i '" i,'^"i- And sure he wa.s, before 
 thrco vcart had come and gone, all, S'Ave thoKC v/ho 
 iMoied'iu the lir'pn''ousne;---, of the camp, or who bat- 
 tened i''i\ the mls.'iicT of the hiimai". race — v.-ho, like 
 vultm-rn, hovore 1 ^vc; the baltlc-feld, or, like hye- 
 noM, preyed upon tiic slain — would Vv'ish for pen'e as 
 firdeihly a.^ did the venerable gcntlci^mn from Ma.-?- 
 ,-:at'hu.-ett(f anil his coevals previom to the treaty of 
 Ghent, and whose advent would be hailed by both 
 nc.'ions a-! the be'it gift of Heaven.