" i i ■ Li . ■ 111 i Ijl '-- 1 THE STAR OF; THE NORTH. R. W. Weaver, Proprietor.] VOLUME 8. STAR OF THE NORTH. !• PUBLISHED IVSSI THURSDAY MORNING BY It. W. WEAVER, OFFICE— Up elairs. in the new brick build ing, on the south side of Main Street, third square below Market. TERill!): —Two Dollars per annum, if paid within six months from the lime of sub scribing ; two dollars and fifty cents if not paid within the'year. No subscription re- , ceived for a less period than six months; no j discontinuance permitted until alt arrearages are paid, unless at the option of the editor. ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square will be inserted three times for One Dollar and twenty five cents for each additional in sertion. A liberal discount will be made to those who advertise by the year. From the Pennsylvania's. T Kit NFS ON THE PROSPECT OF A WAR WITII ENGLAND BT L. A. WILMER. Yes, —ftom that proud, insulting Isle, That speck amid the ocean foam, We hear, —and scarce forbear to smile,— Fierce menace and defiance come ! That Isle which bore the Roman chain, Obeyed the Saxon and the Dane, And bowed in lusting bonds to thee, O tyrant Chief of Notmandy ! That Isle by each iovader quell'd, , Which ne'er the bonds of conquest broke, , Save when the midnight slaughter swell'd And female bands to vengeance woke : When in unconscious slumber laid, i Each Danish victor felt the blade; Anddied,lhat woman'sdeed might shame | The slaves whom manhood blusb'd to claim! 1 That Isle—oppressive and unjust, When no resistance checks her pride, ' Which treads submission in the dust, I But fears and trembles when defied ; t That Isle, whose pallid cltfTs arise , As emblems of her cowatdice; In whose obscure and misty zone. Her honor and her faith are sbowu That haughty isle would fain forget Defeat and shame so lately past,— While on a land, unconquer'd yet, 1 Her scornful taunts and threats are east. Proud Britain, know no victor here , Has rais'd a throne on slavish fear; And here no blushing record shows The triumph of invading foes. Subjection!—here, that hateful word ; Has ever been a sound unknown And if the tyrant's sword was bared, It made no ruin but his own. Here force impos'd no iron reign, No slaves submissive kis'd their chain; But stern resistance stood prepared, God's gifts and human right* to guard. To every towering snmmil piled Above the' lake'a expansive breast— In alream and forest, vast and wild, Here glorious freedom is expreas'd ; And never, since creation rose Was hare a home for Freedom's foes ; Nor while eternal years increase, May tyrants tread this soil in peace. O Britain ! —if the infant gave, Evenwhiie, thine erring rage a check, Foibenr the hand mature to brave, Which now may gratp thy serpent neck, Thy fate demands no foreign foe— No vengeful arm to strike the blow, Save thine alone; —the worli shall soe Avenger—victim—both in thee. SPEECH OF SENATOR CASS. Upon the bill appropriating three millions of dollars for increasing the armaments and mu nitions of war, and the manufacture and al teration of small arms, in accordance with the recent recommendation of the President, Mr. Cass said : Mr. President, I do not rise to discuss the details of firiabilt. 1 approve of it, and shall support it. But my object in rising is to en ter a kind of protest against the Bentiments I have heard advanced here to-day, that i t is dangerooa to increase our military means be cause England might take offence'at such a measure, and that it might augment the irri tation already prevailing in that country. I do not believe in such a policy of forbearance, as I have already shown by my action in the Senate. When the information first reached us some lime since that a peace would soon probably terminate the war prevailing in Europe, I submitted a resolution instructing the Com mittee on Naval Affairs to inquire into the expediency of increasing the Navy of the United Stales. I thought this was a precau tionary measure, dictated as well by prudence ae by patriotism. Before it was in my pow at 10 move the adoption of the resolution, 1 was prevented by an accident from attending the Senate, and whea I was able to resume my seat, I was told by the chairman of the Naval Committee, that the subject of the aug mentation of our maritime force bad engaged their attention, and that he was about to re port a bill for that purpose. This was done Wlthiu a day or two; and under these circum stances, I thought it inexpedient to press my proposition. The bill was passed; and though 1 think the increase it provides falls short of what the situation of the country demands, yM I voted for it with pleasure, ss an impor tant step in the right direction. Sir, the external circumstances affecting us fcave raateiially ohanged since the annual es timates were laid before Congress. We had, indeed', et tbet time differences pending with England,but these differences have since as entetd |'tqqcb serious character there 'and here; aniT aa their gravity has increased, and with it the public excitement, England fipds herself upon the point of being relieved ftom a terrible conflict, wbioh demanded til bat energies and resources, and operated as a security for bar moderation towards other Towers, inducing her to yield to the sugges tions ol prudence what the might refuse to lha dioiatea of justice. If she is freed from the present struggle, she will come out of it with the possession of a great unemployed force, and svitb the loss of much of her mili tary prestige, added to disappointed hopes and wonoded national vanity arising out of BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY. MARCH 27, 1856. lha events of a war which has been more fa vorable to the renown of her ancient enemy and recent friend, and always rival, than to her own. It might well be, sir that, in this condition of com parative humiliation, she might have no objections to seeking in the West that glo ry which she had anticipated, but had failed to find, in the East; or, at any rate, these considerations might operate to render her mote tenacious of the positions.she had as sumed, and less disposed to meet ns in a spir it of moderation. And certainly, sir, no man can fail to observe that, as the probability of peace has grown stronger, the bluster in Eng land—l borrow the word from Lord John Russell, who applied it to Mr. Polk—has be come more violent, till the latter is almost a measurement of the former. It is not long since this feeling was indica ted by a distinguished review, the North Brit on, which observed byway of warning, or of threatening, or probably both, that the same fleet which passes the summer in the Black Sea may pass the winter in the Gulf of Mexico. It was at no time improper to look at our means of attack and defence, but it is our especial duty to do so as the affairs of the country become mote critical. There is one peculiarity in our condition, which our whole history hat disclosed, and that is an insuper able objection in the minds ot the American people to the permanent support ol a great military establishment. What Mr. Madison called the armor and attitude of war, will never be assumed until war is upon us. Of course, our arrangements to meet it are hasti ly made, but they are made with the spirit and energy which no other country has ever displayed, and which snableusto lace events as they are forced npon us. And I observe that even the London Times is not blind to this national characteristic, its vision being obvibusly rendered clearer by the occurren ces in the Crimea. Speaking of war it says : "Our merchants would find a foe aB well as a rival in every part of the world. We are aware that we should have to deal with an enemy inheriting all our enterprise and dar ing, but not butthened, as we are, by a na tional bebt and a host of incapable*, or tram meled by a court, an aiiatocracy, and tbe rou tine of which the report from the Crimea discloses such sadly fantastic examples. We do not forget how quickly the United Slates raised the armies that reduced Mexico, and wrested ftom her whole provinces. We know that twinty five millions of men of Eu ropean and chiefly British blood are not to be despised. We could hardly expect to suffer much lese damage than we could in fliot." The feci is, we have in the United Statei no soldiers ill the European acceptation of the term—no claaa aet apart for the business of fighting. Our embodied military force is too small to form an exception to this remark; but the whole nation is a nation of soldiers when the safety of the country demands their services. Habituated to fire-arms, and fitted by habit for almost my employment, each feels his own interest involved in the general welfare, and all are ready to repair from their homes to the battle-field, prepared to do their duty, and animated by a spirit of patriotism which leaves to the Government the task of determining whose voluntary ofTers shall be declined, not whose shall be accepted. The difficulty is in saying who shall stay, r.ot who shall co. The world has never seen such displays of military ardor and patriotism as are furnished by the history of this country in periods of difficulty and danger. This very stale of things, however, renders it but the more proper to regard with careful attention the course and conduct of other na tions, lite pretensions they advance, and the results which their measures appear (n fore shadow. Obvious as this duty is, it is scarce ly ever fulfilled, but the cry immediately goes forth, and often from this place, that war is desired. It is an idle charge, sir, scarcely deserving serious refutation. To adopt (he side of our country in her dtspnte with an other Power is not to desire war. It is lode sire that humiliating concessions should not be made, but that, if wax is forced upon us, we should be ready to meet its responsibili ties. Its true aim is to avert war, not to in vite i<; to avert it by showing that we are aware of our position; and are not to be driv en from it by arrogance and injustice. My friend from Tennessee, [Mr. Boll.] as true a patriot as we have amongst us, in his remarks the other day, fell into this error. He renew ed the oft-repeated story of my beihcoee dispo sition towards England, (this it his word, not mine,) foundiug the charge upon nothing bet ter than the freedom with which 1 examine her protensions, and the earnest desire I ex press, as 1 am convinced my country is right, that she will yield nothing to the unjust de mands made upon her. The Senator seemed to think that this course of discussion here would be considered by England as adetsrmination to cut the Gordi an knot with Ike sword. So be it, sir, if she has the arrogance to view the debates here as trenching upon her rights and honor—as a meriace, to adopt a phrase which ihe Senator used upon that occasion. If the statesmen, or people o{ England, in that spirit of as sumption so often displayed in her history, connect the free discussion of our cause with the determination to appeal from the arbitra ment of reason to that of force, let them learn to correct the it error in the school of expert' •nee. I repeat what I before said, the peo ple of this country desire no war with Eng land. Everyman known the .calamities which sucli a rupture would bring with i*; and cer tainly at my time of life, and with the expe rience I have bad, I am lb6 last to look with satisfaction upon stich a prospect. But we ate not to lav our hahds upon oar month* . -(•> nn fvff#. and our mouths in the dost, lest a foreign Power should see in the examination of their conduct a foregone determination to engage in hostilities. I agree, at least, with one : sentiment recently advanced by Lord Palmers j ton, that "what a Government has to consid ; er is the justice of its cause, and what is be i fitting the honor and dignity of the country." j That, I dust, will ever be our rule of action; ' and if it leads to peace, so much the belter, | but if to war, we should meet it as we may, We find no example, either formerly or re cently, in English history, of this careful at tention to the feelings of another nation, ar.d of this studied purpose to avoid giving offence by avoiding the discussion of national differ ences. Why, sir, the people and the press of equally violent in their de nunciations of our country and her position. I ate not going to qnote the terms of abuse so lavishly employed. They show how improve ment follows a practice; for, in the extensive experience, we hare heretofore had on the receipt of similar national favors, we have received none more significant than these. The articles from the leading journals which prove this state of feeling have been every where republished, and read in our country, and precious exhibitions are of good sente and feeling. In one point of view only are they worthy of attention, except as indica tions of national character, and that is, be cause there are equally indications of that deep rooted sentiment of aversion which an imates the publio mind in that country to wards the United States. 1 know it has been apologetically said here, for apologies are never found wholly want ing, that these publications speak only the feelings of the editor*, and not those of the great body of the people. Sir, there is no foundation for this distinction between wri ters and readers. The great leading papers of London are unerring indications of popu lar sentiment through the island, whether leading or led by it, especially when they are united, without reference to party distinctions, in questions interesting to the English peo ple, and this union is now almost without ex ception, and is of itsell one of the most preg nant signs of the timer. Let no one, there fore, objeot to their examination here in tbis branch of the National Legislature. They are legitimate subjects, important, indeed, of investigation in the consideration of oor af fairs with England, as they furnish the means of investigating the condition ot tbe publio iniud, and how far it is prepared to approve extreme measures. He wno believes that all the London journals, during .a session of Parliament, when the statesmen and politi cians of the kingdom are assembled there, strongly advocate views of great questions of publio policy unacceptable to tbe English people, knows little of the causes which op erate upon public opinion in that country.— Straw* they may be in themselves so far as respects ou: course or our cauee r but they show the force and direction of the wind. Some of the most violent of these papers are the supporters and under the control of | members of the Cabinet, and appreciate their owu position 100 well to give utterance to a single thought in relation to grave publio matters unacceptable to their leaders. When, therefore, I read well-turned periods of con ciliation uttered by Lord Palmerston in the House of Peers, while he holds on with char acteristic tenacity to the last letter of hii con struction of the Clayton Bulwer treaty, by which he maintain* that the engagement on the part of England, that she will not occupy any part of Central America except the part provided for, does not mean what it says, but it means that she will not occupy any more of it than she claimed at the date of the treaty, or, in other words, that she will not increase her occopa'.ion-when I read tbis, and then turn to the miserable diatribe, pre-eminent for its arrogant abuse against the United States, whioh has recently appeared in his journal, the Morning POIIQ I am free to confess that the coarse effusion of tbe paper mote than neutralizes the professions of the Peer, and in my opinion, speaks more truly his sentiments. In that precious exhibition of British mod eration, the world if told that we have uo gov ernment, and are in pretty much the condi tion ol the Gaulp and Germans in the days of Julius CiEsar; and that we are as much with out the pale ol European principles as China or Japan, or the African communities, espe cially the Kaffir chiefs, to whom we are li kened ; and that wn must be dealt with dif ferently from civilized nations. It proposes that the European Powers shoulijcome to a common understanding how to deal with us; and that France and England should place themselves at the head of this new crusade of civilization ; thai they should watch our coasts and search our vessels, and take men out at their pleasure, upon pretexts to be judg ed by themrelves; and if necessary, this scheme should be carried out to the last ex tremity. And this is the serious proposition of a great London newspaper, known to be attached to, and supporting the interests of, Lord Palmerston. The United States are to be tabooed, to bo declared a political leper, and to be excluded from the company of the sovereign Powors ot the world; and their citizens, like the prescribed caste of old, to cry "unclean, unclean I"-wherever they go. I have no objection to the indulgence of that boasting propensity which makes part of the English character; indeed this self complacent exhibition rather amuses ma.— We have a complets display of it at thia mo ment; and are timely warned that,on Ihe fir ing of the first hostile gun, our comment# is to be swept from Ihe ocean, our seaboard devastated, our chies plundered and destroy ed, aod, 1 suppose, our national independ ence aunihilaled. "Lot not him boast thai puueth on his armor." aays the, volume of inspiration, no less than (no volume of> hu man experienoe, "bttt him who put loth it Trim iK Right Hod art olFtffiwtry. off." This fanfaronade is an old atoty. A certain General named Burgoyne, said, in the British House of Commons, at the com mencement of our revolutionary war, that he could march through the Colonies at the head of a tingle regiment of dragoons. And I be lieve that was the general sentiment of Eng land; it was truly an English one. In a few short months, the Self-sufficient orator ex changed St. Stephen's chapel for the forests of America, and placing himself at the head ol a well-appointed army of seven or eight thousand men, he marched into our couu try a few short miles, and there fulfilled his promise by an unconditional surrender of his army. When we entered upon our last war with England, our flag was contemptuously des ignated as striped bunting, and our^rmed ships aa fir-built frigate*; bat when softs cams out of it, (hat striped bunting had sq often floated over St. George's cross, and thfse fir built frigates had so often redeemed their character in the desperate conflicts fod by capturing their opponents, that even national vanity, in its own defence, was compelled to admit the prowess of ourgallant navy. And this exultation of their own power extends beyond us to the other nations of the world ; for, but a lew short months have-passed away since Petersburg and Moscow were to fall, and the Czar to be driven back to the primi tive, inheritance of the Russian ruler in Asia. But Moscow, and Petersburg, and Russia, have survived the power and the threats of England. It is wonderful, sir, to observe what ignor ance of the true condition of our insiku'.ioiis pervades the English journal*, and, I may add, the English community. Among the crude specimens which have recently oome to us from the other side of the Atlanlio, are some regarding the present posture of our af fairs with England. It iasupposed we have no Government, and that Congress and the President and the country are guided by the idlest motives that ever entered into the human imagination. I shall not stop to repeat them, contenting myself with observing that the failure of the House of Representatives to elect a Speaker seems to have bean consid ered the knell of the Government. It is em phatically termed the DEAD LOCK— an insup erable bar to our progress. Now, sir, to us in this country, it is really laughable to sup pose that such an incident as that could exert the slightest influence upon the destinies ot our institutions. They are controlled by far higher causes—by the will of the American people; and if this dead lock, ae it ie called, bad aven continued during the wbafa term of the present Congress, the people would have stood between their institutions and dan ger, and would have taken efficient measures to insure the operations of their Government. In fact, sir, such is the moral power of our institutions, that the political machine would for a while almost go on by its own momen tum. From the landing at Jamestown and at Plymouth, our history is a school teaching iiow tree and equal Governments may be organized and maintained by the sponta neous action of the people, in the free of what ever obstacles may occasionally present them selves. While I was in Paris, n incident happen ed, which furnishes another example of this European ignorance. It is worth referring j to in this connection as a characteristic trait. When the news retched there that there had | been some disturbance iu Harrisburg, which had caused the members of the Yegislatore to quit their hall of assemblage, there was a good deal of excitement, and it was consid ered, if not an actual revolution, as the pre cursor of one. The state of things in this country was judged by '.he stale of things in France, and tbe members of the Chamber of Deputies could nortie driven by violence from their seals without an explosion which would shake the kingdom. 1 was asked by a dis tinguished French functionary—and with a manner which seemed to say, your coontry is in a bad way—what would be the proba ble result of this interroption of the public au thority?—for Hurrisborg or Washington was, I suppose, to tbem the same thing. I an swered, that the next packet would prob ably bring information that some justice of the peace had issued his warrant, and that the offenders had been apprehended and punished, and (bat with this exercise of au thority the whole matter would pas* away. Apd such, in faot, was the result. With one exception, this Government, in my opinion, sir, is the strongest Government on the face of the globe. There ie no question but a sectional one which can destroy it. If we learn to be wise and avoid ail irritating inter ference between the North end the South, leaving every portion of oor country to man age its affaias for itself, upon its own respon sibility, we may reasonably look forward to the indefinite extension of the best and freest form of government ever committed to man. II we do not, we may learn wisdom at as great a sacrifice ae man ever paid lor bis er ror. After these experiments of the British press, to whioh I have referred, upon the taste and feelings of their own country, u)4 upon ibe forbearance of this, it requNoU a good deal of courage on the part of the' ton don Times, while alluding to the views entertained,' to say;-"We believe (bet much of this reck lessness [that is, an advocacy of our own cause} is owing to the habitually paoifio tone in which the United States are constantly spoken of in England." I am at a loss to judge whether this remark is an assertion o* a sarcasm. If the former, it is as little creditable to the wisdom aa to ihe veracity of that reckless paper. If the latter, it ia one redeeming concession, the more valuable as it is almost without exam ple. | "The British people," says the same great | controller of publio opinion io England, "are very slow to go to war, but are still slower to make peace." Tbis national trait, thus dis covered and disclosed, must push the credu lity of John Bull about as far as he can bear, and that is saying a good deal; while the pre tension excites (he ridicule of the rest of the world. It has been often said that the last person a man knows is himself, and that the remark is equally true of (nations, needs no bettsr illustration than this vaunt of the dis position of England to hear and forbear, evin ced by the slowness and reluctance with which she suffers herself to be driven into hostilities. "Yue BRITISH PEOFLE ARE VERT SLOW TO GO TO WAR." Why,sir, their history for pen- past hat been little else than a history of their hostilities with the other Powers of the earth, civilized and uncivilized, for they have been vary impartial in their aggres sions, as neither Christian nor Pagan has es caped their assault*. "Slow to go to war 1" Why, for [the last one hundred and fifty years thay have hard ly been at peace. Their armed ships have been prowling round the world, seeking ter ritory they might devour. Ay, aod finding it, loo—from mighty continents to the small est islet that decks the ocean. If they had a temple of Jauus, as had Hie Romans, their predeceskors in wars and acquisitions, it would be as seldom shut as temple of old. . "Slow to go to war.'" This very journal— the Times— told its readers but a short time ago, that the British Government went to war with Burmah lor a disputed claim of £990. "Slow to go to war !" But quick enough to go to war with China, in order to compel that country to permit the importation of opi um—a drug destructive of the health and morals of its people ; and successful enough to make that privilege one of it* conditions of peace, equal to £7000.000 sterling annu ally. 1 merely glance at this subject, for I have no wish to lollow its details. They are before the world, and will pass to the judg ment of posterity. "Slow to go to war I" The. last accounts from India tell us that the populous kingdom of Oude is about to follow the fate of the other native governments of Hindoslan, and to 'well the mighty possessions of the Mer chant Company which rules the immense territories upon the Indus and the Ganges. Mr. President, I desire to do no injustice to England. 1 appreciate all she has'done Vfer the intellectual advancement of mankind, ' for morality and civilization. But when she plays the pharisee, and thanks God she is not like other nations, but shuns war and ac quisitions, I, for one, feel little disposed to yield to the boasts or denunciations of her poliliciaus'or her. 1 have touched but a few facts in her career. They might be made to assume a formidable array. I refer to noth ing which is not before toe world and a le gitimate topic of examination. He who be- I lieves, that the wrath of England may be deprecated, or her designs "turned away" I b^studied silence in our country or in this | high pkee of our country, knows little of the I ceaseless operations of human rivalry and ambition. lam not one of those who be lieve that bj shutting our eyes to danger we | may avert it. That is best done by looking i it in the face and preparing for it. No nation | ever escaped war by closing '.heir eyes to its t approach ; and no nation ever brought i" on : by the exhibition of a resolute determination | to resist aggression. We have already, sir, it appears to me, treated this subject quit* delicately—ginger ly I may say—in the Senate. We had bel ter look at things as they are, and call them by their righJ names. I sincerely trust we shall have no war. And when I consider the condition of :be two 'countries, and the calamitous effect of a war upon both, I can hardly believe that English statesmen will push the differences to that extremity, though certainly there are ominous portents above the horizon which warns us lhatatlorm may not be far off. But, at any rale, our safety will not be increased or danger diminished by sitting still and closing our eyes, and our ears, and our mouths to everything around us, suffering events to take their own course, controlled by, not controlling, them. The laiesl account* tell us that several re giments have been ordered from England to Canada. I doubt the truth of the report. — Some years ago, and wilnout reference to the Russsan war, the British Government withdrew a large portion of its troops from that province. It did not need them there; it does not need them there now, either for the purpose of defence or of police. Thera is no more immediate feat of an opposition to British authority in Canada than there is in London. If these troops have been roally ordered there, the measure is an act of pre caution or of menace, foreshadowing ulterior objects which depend on the determination of the British Government. I have seen no speeches in either House of the British Parliament, from any member of the Govermenl, which give rise to the least expectation that the views of the Min istry will be chsnged respecting the differ ences arising out of the Claylon-Bulwer treaty. I see, indeed, there are intimations that they would be willing to submit these differences to the arbitrament of some friend ly Power. For me, sir, I do not perceive how such a proposition can be accepted.— The question in dispute is hardly a question of reference. It does not relate to disputed facts, nor to the fair construction of the en gagements of the partiea. It it a mere qnestien ai to the meaning of a word—the word occnpy, to bring the matter within its narrowest compass. I should ss leave think of referring,to arbitration the meaning of the words FREE, 80VERI1QN AND INDEFENDEXT STATES, in the treaty of peace with Great Britian which recognizes our independence, as the words occupy and assume andjexei cise dominion, in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The former measure would be just at rea sonable and honorable as the latter. No ar bitrator, whether undemanding the English language or not, can tell us better lhau we now know what a treaty means when it says that neither parly shall occupy or possess any dominion in Central America, except in the single esse provided for in the rider an nexed to it. If any other Occupation is re tained, the treaty is violated. And-we pro fess to know what occupation means, with out resorting io the lexicographical knowl edge or good offices of Iriend or foe. If England car. hold possession without occu pation, she may make out her case. If she cannot, our* is made out. The reference j>l such a question would be but a subterfuge unworthy of our position and our cause. Under these circumstances,"and in the state of our foreign relations, I shall vote for the proposition of the Military Committee I think we are called upon to do so by con sideraiions which will be felt and approved by the American people. Advice to Coquette*. Yoong ladies, beware how you coquette, or you may repent it to the last day of your life. Though a gay young girl may be fond of society and attention, fond of admiration, and desirous of being the cynosure of all eyes, let her not coquette. Let her not play wiih hearts as she did with her dcrll in in fancy, lest she indict.misery and wretched ness on herself as well as on her victims.— Man despises a coquette, and is only the in herent vanity of a man which promotes their success as his own opinion ol himself leads him to suppose that he must be the favored one. A coquette is feared, dreaded and de spised by all sensible persons both of the other sex and her own. Her triumphs are ever brief, and when she falls and looses her power she i not pitied but despised. She falls— "Unwept, nnhonored and unsung," Her later days are .day* of vinegar—her disposition, her temper, her whole nature grows acidulated, and she becomes soured with the world, aa animated vinegar cruet, delighting only in spiteful slander and mal ice, her only 'bonne bouche' the news of a crim. con. case, a divorce, a broken love matob, or an unhappy marriage. Gentle men, shun a coquette if you would be hap py' From the Medical Reformer. DIGESTION. By the term digestion, in the more perfect animal, is generally understood that process by which certain substances, called nutritive or alimentary, are converted into a homoge neous semifluid mass, from tho cavity con taining which white vessels drink up the more elaborated portion, and convey it into other larger ones, containing blood, with which it is mixed and carried to the heart. Tho simplest kind of digestion is that per formed by presenting a watery fluid to a moist surface, which converts it into its own nature. Examples of this are seen in the lower order of animals, the individuals ol which consist almost entirely of a close sack or pouch, on the external surface of which the above change is accomplished. On near ly the same line may be put the spongy ex tremities of the roots of plants, which ab sorb or drink up the nutrimentel fluid from the soil. In others not quite so simple in their organization, this pouch has an open ing tlTrough which the watery-fluid enters, and is digested in its cavity. So slight is the difference between the outer and inner sur face of this pouch, which constitutes nearly the entire animal, that the one may be made to supply tho place of the other, as in the Polypous' tribe; so that, by turning it inside out, what was stomach takes the plnce of the skin, and the skin, that was, acts the part of stomach. In proportion as the ani mal structure becomes more complex, the subsidiary or preparatory organs are in [ creased in number, to qualify the stomach for acting on the great variety of food, often of a solid and dense texture, which is taken for the purposes of nonrishment. The most generally distributed apparatus for the break ing down and grinding the food before its reception into the stomach is the teeth. In an omnivorous animal, euch as man, who appropriates to the gratification of hits ap petite, food from all the kingdoms of nature, these instruments are of three kinds; the two chief, however, are the front or incisor teeth which tear and the back or molar teeth winch triturate and moro minutely divide the alimentary matter, in what is called mastication. In many birds, which swal j low directly their food without chewing or masticating, there is a mechanical contri vance, in the gizzard, by which it is broken down and prepared to be operated on by tbe stomach proper. Those animßls, such as the serpent tribe which swallow their prey without any preliminary process, except breaking the more prominent and, resisting parts, such as the bones of the creatures which they have seized, have very slow di gestion. They will remain for many hours in a half torpid state, unable and unwilling to move, until the substance which they swallowed has undergone the requisite change, by the digestive action of the inner surface of thoir stomach. It would 6eem then to bo an established principle in the | history of digestion, that unless the nutri mental matter bo of the very simplest kind, £WV nvnsri per flMttr, NUMBER 10. and presented in a fluid state, as in the low est animals and in vegetables, it requires to be subjected to some preparatory process before it can be received by the stomach and undergo in it the changes by which it is to be fitted for nourishing all parts of the living body. Of the figure and appearance of the stomach it is not necessary to speak here. Let it suffice to say, that the most fastidious of even our female readers, can obtain, in the discharge of their household duties as occasional visiters in the kitchen, all the knowledge necessary for understand ing what we have to say of the organ of di gestion. The internal lining of the mouth will reprosent that of the stomach with tol erable accuracy, since they are anatomical ly classed under the same llsad. The mem oraneTTmnncm to them both is called mucus, and except that it wants the hard horny cov ering of the skin does not difler very materi ally from this latter, of which it would seem to be acohtinuation. This inner membrane is abundantly supplied with blood vessels, which ramify through it so ns to form a net work: and nerves, or small whitish filaments are also distributed through its substance.— These latter are the divisions of a cord which comes from the brain down along the neck and through the chest, where it gives off thread-like branches to the hoart, lungs, and wind-pipe. Let us remember, that the mouth is the common opening into two pas sages, the one beginning directly at the root of the tongue, and forming the beginning of the wind-pipe, and terminating in the lungs; the other farther back, and leading into the stomach. Mouth, wind-pipe, throat or gullet, lungs and stomach, are then lined by the same kind of membrane. Through , this membrane in the wind pipe, lungs, and stomach are distributed thenumeronsbranch es of the same nerve, Iwigß of which also go to the heart. Here we see at once two causes why the lungs, by which breathing is performed should sympathise so much * with the stomach, by which digestion is ac complished. These parts are lined by a membrane of the same nature, on which their peculiar functions are mainly perform ed; and they are supplied by the same nerve coming from the brain, which is the centre of so many nerves, and the scat of nervous power. From the inner surface o' the stomachy fluid are exhaled or secisted some what in a similar manner to the discharge of perspi rable fluid from the skin. But, among the former the chief and characteristic one is what we call gastric juice, by intimate ad •mixture with which the food that has been swallowed, loses more speedily its peculiar sensible properties and is more promptly converted into a homogeneous semifluid mass, which Berves the purpose designated at the beginning of litis article. It must be very obvious to our readers, that for tho stomach to form on its inner or digestive surface this juice and othor fluids, blood j must be conveyed to it in sufficient quanti ty by appropriate vessels. Again we refer to the skin for illustration. If it be pale, and shrunk, and bloodless, the surface is dry j but let the blood circulate freely through it, giving it warmth-and coloration, and it he comes soft and moist, and bedewed with perspiration. Should the amount of bloody however, be too great, as in fever, or from much rubbing, cr exposed to the sun, or to a fire, there will be 110 perspiration—no moisture; the skin will be dry and parched. Just thus it is with the stomach.- If the cir culation of the blood be languid, the gastric juice will not be formed in sufficient quan tity; and if too impetuous, an entire stop page will be the consequence. Hence wo can explain in part, why, in a feeble state of body, when the beats of the heart and tho pulse are small and fluttering, the stomach can ill digest much or strong food; and also, how it is, that, in fever, or any other dis eased acceleration of the pulse and beating of the heart the appetite should be wanting and, at the same time, there is utter inabili ! ty in the stomach to manage any thing ex cepting water or the most simple drinkß. Again—the com inoucst knowledge of what takes place in the human body, teaches us that, whatever affects a nerve going to any part, whether by bruising or disease, will produce a notable change in its condition. Let the nerve going from the brain to the globe of the eye, be pressed on, or altered in its texture, and blindness is the conse quence. If the nerves passing to the fingers be tied or cut, there is loss of motion, and of the ability to disiinguish any longer ob jects by the sense of touch. The stomach has, in this respect, the same relations with the brain which these and all other impor tant bodies have. If the nerve which, as above described, goes down on each side of the neck from the lower part of the brain and passes through the chest on to the stom ach, be cut, as has beea done la animals, without any other injury to them the power of digestion is gone—the food which they swallow remains in the stomach unchanged. Now, whatever cause impedes in man til* due supply of nervous po.werfrom the brain to the stomach, interferes with digestion— Such a cause may be excessive exertion of the brain in intense thought and study—in dulgence in violent passions—injury dona the part by blows, sun-strokes, &c. If we have made ourselves understood by our readers, and we have taken some pains to do so, we shall have less difficulty in pointing out in a future number of the Jf former, the relative digestibility of different kinds of aliment—the reciprocal influence exercised on each otlierbv the stomach sad brain—by the lungs and stomach, and hy the skin and stomach. These are all ques tions of great moment, since on their eluci dation depends much of pur success in pre serving health and increasing our feelings of bodily comfort, by the right use of those j things which a bountiful Providence has 1 given us for our support end omoymont t
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