" 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,
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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