Waifs from the Bay State: Westboro, November 30, 1860

Source: Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu: Thursday, February 28, 1861.

[The following letter ought to have been received by the mail before this, but from some cause appears to have been delayed. It will be read with none of the less interest, however.]

MY DEAR COMMERCIAL: -In my last waif, I promised myself the pleasure of another gossip with my old friends, your readers, “after haying”  -and here is Winter, with his white robes knocking, at the door as I sit down to fulfill my promise. The otium cum dignitate which “Friend” Damon pictures me as enjoying, does not afford leisure for letter-writing, and I know of no class to find less of that commodity than the Yankee farmers. At the date of my last letter, the excitement of the presidential election had just commenced. The campaign is now over, and with its torch-light processions, its parade of Rail-splitters, Little Giants and Belligerents, and its fearful long-winded speeches, is a thing of the past. The battle is fought, the decisive victory won, and “Honest old Abe” is our President elect.  But the effervescence in the political cauldron has not subsided as usual, and the side that is nearest the fire is boiling over. The South, or rather the State of South Carolina, is furious at the election of a Republican President, and determined to secede from the Union. The fact of the supremacy of a party adverse to increasing the area of slavery is considered an encroachment upon the rights of the South, and a sufficient justification for her dissolving the Union. And though Lincoln is elected by constitutional means, and will have a majority in both houses opposed to him, so that Southern rights will not be endangered by his administration, yet the political leaders in the slave States are determined, if possible, to precipitate the country into the horrors of a revolution rather than endure defeat. To the misrepresentations and foul mouth calumnies of the rabid politicians of all parties, and the fearful license which party presses take with the truth, is mainly owing the present excited state to feeling which threatens the dismemberment of this glorious Union. The Vice-President elect, Hannibal Hamlin, a senator in Congress, has been represented in the south as a mulatto, and this report, aided by his unfortunate praenomen, which can neither be called Christian or proper, but is decidedly African, is very generally believed. The “Cotton States” are bent upon secession, and are arming for the forcible accomplishment of their purpose, if a peaceable separation cannot be effected -and though it is clearly demonstrated by their own conservative writers, that the evils of which they complain will not be obviated by secession, yet they refuse to listen to reason, and are rushing blindly into the horrors of revolution. A few months will decide the fate of our country. Congress is about to assemble, and a stormy session is anticipated. The “irrepressible conflict” is at hand, and the momentous issue will soon be decided, whether our country shall be preserved by patriots or perish by partisans. God save the Republic!

Our friends in “the tight little isle” across the ocean seem to be very much pleased at the reception given by his Yankee cousins to the Heir Apparent, on his recent visit to his Uncle Sam. It was, indeed a hearty, unstudied, spontaneous burst of enthusiasm which everyone welcomed the son of Queen Victoria, and was according to him as a tribute of respect and esteem universally felt for her by the American people. The Prince is a very unassuming, well behaved youth, and bore being bored with a commendable spirit of resignation. The general opinion among the masses seemed to be that for a youth who had not had “the advantage of an American education,” he appeared uncommonly well. One feature in the progress of the Royal party through the United States was as novel as it was refreshing, i.e., the absence of speechmaking. This peculiarly Yankee institution, which generally forms the staple of our public receptions, was entirely dispensed with, and the omission was attended with the happiest results. It is to be hoped the example will be more generally followed on future occasions. 

The friends of Hawaii have learned with great sorrow of the sudden death of Mr. Armstrong. The nation can ill afford to lose such men from their councils, nor can his place at the head of the educational institutions of the country be easily supplied. The appointment of his successor will be awaited with interest. Mr. Armstrong seemed to be the only connecting link between the government and its early and faithful friends, the American Missionaries, and though the latter may not always have used their influence judiciously, it may well be questioned whether the record of the present dynasty exhibits any higher order of statesmanship on the part of those with taking their place in the confidence of the councils of the Aupuni. It is certain that the Government never has had more devoted, single-hearted, capable supporters, than those who rallied round it in the troublous times of French and English aggressions during the reign of Kamehameha III, and who by their firmness and prudence, saved the ship of state from becoming a mere tender to some European liner. Though the different classes and conflicting interests of the foreign community of Hawaii at the present day, require to be more fully represented than formerly, yet the Puritan element is still needed and should have a prominent place in the national councils, and it will be a sad day for the King and the people when it shall be denied its rightful and well-earned position. 

A few days ago, I strolled into the Fair in Boston for the benefit of the “Sailors Snug Harbor” and my attention was attracted to a display of Polynesian curiosities, conspicuous among which, was one of the elegant feather capes which formerly were much prized insignia of rank among the Hawaiian mobility. These curiosities were presented to the Fair by Capt. John Percival, U.S. Navy, or “mad Jack” as he is familiarly known, whose career at the Islands as commander of the Dolphin is so well remembered by the older residents. There was also one of the fine grass malos from the Fijis, the nature and uses of which I was requested to explain by the Fair attendants. When I informed them that the article in question was a full dress suit of a Fiji Islander, no further questions were asked, though they were evidently of the opinion that a person who could be so easily suited must have a good deal of the old Adam in his composition. 

I congratulate the R.H.A.S. on their successful attempt to import birds into the Islands through the kind offices of the owners of the R. W. Wood. I saw some time since a notice of a subject for discussion before one of our rural agricultural societies, which I commend to their attention. It was, “which is the most conducive to happiness, the cultivation of flowers or the manufacture of butter?” On the latter point I believe each member was expected to speak, in his churn. 

MAIKELA

Washington's Farewell Address (April, 1862)

Washington's Farewell Address (Published in Honolulu 1862)

Source: The Friend, Honolulu. April 1, 1862, Vol. 19, #4.

We have been led to publish, in our columns, this interesting and farewell address by the Father of our country, inconsequence of President Lincoln's recommendation, that this document should be read by ministers of all religious denominations, in their churches on the 22d of February—Washington's Birth Day. From late newspapers, we learn that the President's recommendation was generally complied with on that day. It was also read by Chaplains in the army and navy of the United States. The friends and lovers of their country, do not wish for a reconstruction or remodeling of the great political edifice, but they do desire to maintain the old Union,and for the attainment of this desirable end they are pouring out their treasure and their blood. The question is sometimes asked, for what are the Americans fighting? We answer, for their country, for the union of the States, for constitutional liberty. We hope the warfare will not cease until over that broad land the flag of our country shall again wave in triumph. When that time arrives, it is our honest belief that there will be a strong, prosperous and peaceful nation.

The Farewell Address of George Washington, President,

To the People of the United States, on September 17, 1796.

Friends and Fellow-citizens: 

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the Executive Government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have firmed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution bus not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence, in my situation, might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that meat from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of oar affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well at internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety I and persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions with which 1 first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organization and administration of the Government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in my own eyes—perhaps still more in the eyes of others—has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me, more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances hare given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgement of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that, under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead; amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging; in situations in which, not infrequently, want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, —the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows, that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration, in every department, may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop; but a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be afforded

to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel; nor can forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence—the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to forsee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, —it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joint efforts, of common dangers, and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest; here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow, and .its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it look forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East in like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communication, by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort; and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its productions, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their pence by foreign nations; and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied together by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those over-grown military establishments, which under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty; in this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience resolve it. To listen to mere speculation, in such a case, were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as a matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations—Northern and Southern—Atlantic and Western whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of a policy in the General Government, and in the Atlantic States, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi: they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties—that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such they are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict between the parts, can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all time, have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your former common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The bases of our political systems, is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of Government: but the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power, and the right of the people to establish Government, pre-supposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberate on and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and tilings, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of Government; destroying, afterwards, the very engines which had lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your Government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a Government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the Government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, top confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes, in all Governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated I the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads, at length, to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments, occasionally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the Government itself, through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true; and in Governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by a force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not be bequenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of Government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal, against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern; some of them in our own country, under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, -in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free Governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefitt which the use can, at any time, yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice. And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular Government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free Government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a Government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding, likewise, the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to' discharge the debts which unavoidable ware may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which W« ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper objects, (which it always a choice of difficulties,) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the Government in malting it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and ran it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be i worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost I by a steady adherence to it? Can it be that s Providence has not connected the permanent , felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every in sentiment which ennobles human nature. - Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate i antipathies against particular nations, and i passionate attachments for others, should be I excluded ; and that, in place of them, just and amiable feelings towards all should be; cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an I habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection; either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts, through passion what reason would reject; at other tunes it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation to another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common i interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the i latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation ; making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interest of their own country, without odium ; sometimes even with popularity ; gilding with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments arc particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the art of eduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to b» constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even second, the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious , while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient Government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why, quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rival-ship, interest, humor, or caprice? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affaire, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. 

Taking cares always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the Government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinions will permit, but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay, with a portion of its independence, for whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon, real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigues, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for tho solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. 

How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records, and other evidences of my conduct, must witness to you and the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. 1 will only observe, that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest, for observing that conduct, will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly sneaking, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error; lam nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this, as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate, with pleasing expectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government—the ever favorite object of my heart — and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 

George Washington. 

United States, 17th September, 1776.

Good News from America (April, 1862)

Source: The Friend: Honolulu, Volume 19, Number 4, April 1, 1862

The news from the United States is of the most thrilling interest. Every arrival from San Francisco, brings the intelligence of one or more Federal victories. After the battle of Bull Run on the 23d of July, the Government and people of the United States, fully realized that the rebellion was a foe requiring a strong arm to put it down. They addressed themselves to the work. It took about six months to arm and equip an army of six hundred thousand and blockade a roast of two thousand miles. 

During this season of preparation the South was crying, "come on," "one southern soldier is equal to five northerners," "the black flag is our banner," "we ask no quarter, neither give any." The Northern leaders kept quietly at the work of preparation, waiting for the right moment to strike. The time has come for the strike to be made, and already Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee have been nearly cleared of Secession troops. 

The latest intelligence is, that Manassas has fallen, and the Northern armies flushed with victory are upon their triumphant march southward. We hope the day is near at hand, when the rebellious traitors will be put to flight and the Union lovers, scattered throughout the rebel States, will be allowed to speak out their patriotic sentiments. The plague spot of slavery, we are glad to learn, is already disappearing from that favored land. Its doom is sealed.

Loss of National Existence to be More Deplored than War (Dec. 1861)

Source: The Friend. Honolulu: December 2, 1861. Page 94

Nevertheless, leaving the responsibility of the beginning and continuance of this conflict to those on whom it must rest, I feel equally bound to say, that beyond all the evils of the present war, with all its calamities, losses, sufferings and sins, would be the loss of national existence, the permanent severance to the American Union. A nation may well suffer in the maintenance of the principles on which it was founded. Individual suffering and loss, social and commercial embarrassment or bankruptcy, the prostration of credit, the impoverishment of cities, the loss of life; bad as they are, are yet not to be considered in comparison with the great and enduring evils of national ruin. Whether the present war continues one year or ten, it is not so bad as the continued series of wars and internal strifes that would certainly succeed the disruption of the Union. There would be witnessed here the same tragedies which kept the German States so many generations in almost unending conflict, the effects of which have not yet passed away. Nay, our case would be far worse than theirs, for servile war would be added to all other evils. The question now before us is not to determine upon war or peace. This has already been determined, with or without our intervention, and beyond all present control. It is manifest, regret it as we may, that the war, the trial of strength, if you please to call it so, must go on until one of two things happens — either, the "Seceding States," having sufficiently proved the folly of rebellion and the strength of the Government will return to the Union, not as subjugated, but as equal States, as they were before, or, both parties becoming weary of the contest, a treaty of peace, with some sort of re-adjustment of interests, will be declared. In the former case, a new era of happiness and national glory will begin. In the latter, a temporary truce with renewals of war and divisions—a condition of things little better than anarchy, for an indefinite period, is the best to be expected. But to attain either result, the. active prosecution of the present war for a time, how long no one can say, is now understood to be an unavoidable condition. The only thing left for individuals to do is to choose on which side they will stand. We speak with sadness, and the stem-reality of passing events Is yet more sad. For weeks, for months, perhaps for years, this fearful civil war is destined to go on. But if it results at last, as God grant it may, in the full re-establishment of the United States government in its integrity and pristine vigor, the sacrifice will have been well endured, the suffering will not have been in vain.
— Loyalty and Religion — By Rev. W. C. Eliot, St. Louis.

Southern Rebellion (Dec. 1861)

Source: The Friend. Honolulu: December 2, 1861. Page 92-93.

Some unknown person has laid upon our table the Eighth Annual Report of the "Young Men's Christian Association of San Francisco." We have read the document with much interest, and rejoice to learn that an association of this description has been in active existence in that city for eight years past. This Report is accompanied by an interesting Anniversary address by the Rev. W. C. Anderson, D. D., of that city. The address contains the following paragraphs, upon the present war in the United States: 

War exists. Our peace-loving, happy, prosperous country has dropped the plowshare and has seized the sword. Her commerce is languishing in her harbors; the sound of the loom and the nnvil waxes fainter ; the note of the herdsman scarce is audible; and in their room we have the "confused noise of the battle of the warrior," and see the garments of our sons and brothers rolled in blood. Let us look at some of its characteristics. 

1. It is upon a stupendous scale. Among the annals of rebellion and civil wars, history records nothing like it. The civil strifes of Greece, and Rome, and our father-land, England, were mere local insurrections when compared with this. It covers an area far larger than that of the Roman Empire in the days of its glory—extending from Maine to the Rio Grande, from the Bay of the Delaware to that of San Francisco. It involves directly thirty millions of people; a people for the most part inured to toil, and, when disciplined, destined to be terrible in battle. From the vast extent of territory, and the warlike character of the combatants, it is likely to be the bloodiest war of modern times; already have we fearful earnest of this fact. 

2. It is an unprovoked war. It comes in the form of naked rebellion against just authority, and against mild authority; authority which fostered and protected the personal and material interests of all subjects. Since the world began, never has there existed a government more mild, more equitable. Errors in its administration have been numerous and gross, but they have never come in the form of oppressions of the citizens. Oppression of any citizen or class of citizens was from its origin unknown. So far as the freedom and the rights of the subject are concerned, if ever a civil government was entitled to the name of paternal, it is ours. A too great disposition to yield its own rights to the unreasonable demands of its citizens has been its greatest weakness. And to that very party, which is now in rebellion, it has been singularly kind, —humiliatingly so. Its legislative, judicial and executive departments have, for the last thirty years, yielded to the unconstitutional demands of these men. With a coolness unparalleled they have steadily held up in terrorem "disunion;" and to pacify and retain them, the Government has broken its compromises, modified its protective policy, destroyed the only comprehensive and adequate system of finance it ever had, and degraded itself in its own eyes and the eyes of the world. They demanded the purchase of the Floridas as an outlet for their peculiar institution, and it was purchased at the expense of millions of dollars. For the same reason they demanded the annexation of Texas, and it was done at the cost of many millions more. They demanded that the Ordinance of 1787 should be set aside, and that the soil which it had solemnly consecrated to freedom forever should be occupied by Missouri as a slave State, and it was done. As some atonement for this almost sacrilege, a new line was drawn between free and slave territory, known as the "Missouri Compromise" line; a few years only had passed before they demanded that this compromise should be annulled, and it was done. In a word, the South had but to ask, and the boon, however unreasonable, was granted. It was only when it demanded the concession of the fundamental principle upon which the nation exists, —namely, that the majority must rule, —that it said no! And even then it was a reluctant no; for days and weeks it meekly suffered the despoiling of its goods, the invasion of its territory, and treated its rebellious subjects with the forbearance which an over-fond father extends to a spoiled child; and it was only when its flag was trampled under foot, its commissioned servants driven from their posts of duty by shot and shell, and a determination avowed to take the National Capital, that it resisted. I repeat, never was there a Government so kind, so conciliatory, so forbearing, as has been that of the United States to all citizens, and especially to those who have rebelled against it; and I again declare that by no act of its own has it given cause, or even plausible occasion, for this rebellion. 

3. The end proposed to be accomplished by this war is sui generis, literally so; an end such as was never before proposed by any people whatsoever rising up in arms. The civil wars of our fatherland had for their avowed end the liberty of the people; such was the war of the Commonwealth in Cromwell's day; such was the almost bloodless revolution of 1668; liberty was the object of our own revolution; such was the proposed end of all the French revolutions. The people of Continental Europe arose in 1848 to obtain freedom; so did the brave Hungarians in 1849. The recent successful uprising in Italy was to obtain deliverance from despots, and a distinct nationality. There is something holy in wars like these. Even the groans of the dying are softened and hallowed, yea, the memories of the dead are sainted by the glorious godlike cause. But what is the object of this war of 1861? This war in the heart of free, liberty-loving, Christian America? What is its avowed end and object? It is to destroy that constitutional liberty which Washington and the fathers have bequeathed to us. It is to blot from the page of world history the heart-cherished truth "that all men are created equal, and have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It is a war based on the abominable assumption that the great theory of self-government is a failure; and hence the purpose to found on the ruins of our glorious republic an empire whose "corner stone," to use their own words, is "human slavery." It is a war against free labor and in behalf of slave labor. In a word, it is a war whose end and aim is to forge beyond the power of breaking, and to rivet forever, the chains of human bondage. Whether, then, we regard it in its origin, its progress, or its aims, we are forced to pronounce it an unprovoked, unkind, ungodly war. 

But this unholy war is now fairly inaugurated, and has received a baptism in the blood of hundreds of the noblest patriots of the land. Its termination by compromise is impossible. The South desires no compromise; never proposed to receive any. It claims the absolute, unconditional concession of all its demands; and they are enormous. The Government must surrender all harbors; all the forts; yea, all the territory south of Mason and Dixon's line; it must recognize the Confederate States as an independent nation; it must permit a monarchy, or an iron military oligarchy, to be planted on that soil of freedom which was bought by the blood of the Revolution. On the part of the United States it is a war for existence; nothing more; nothing less. Make peace on the ultimatum of the South and the great Republic ceases to have an existence. Under these circumstances the cry of "noncoercion," "peace," is simply the traitor's cry. It is the weapon he uses to defend his friends in places where he cannot use the sword. Such is the present condition of our national affairs. The crisis which is upon us is a fearful one, and may not be shunned even if we desire to do it. As lovers of freedom and of our country, the only course left to us is to adjust ourselves to this new and sad condition of things.

Who is Jeff. Davis President of the Southern Confederacy (1861)

Source: The Friend: Honolulu, December 2, 1861. Page 94.

Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky in ISOS, and in infancy was removed with his family to Mississippi. He received a military education at West Point, where he was graduated in 1828, and was appointed brevet second lieutenant. 

During the seven years that he remained in the army, he served with credit in several Indian wars, but resigned his commissipn in 1835 and turned cotton planter. 

His first appearance in politics was in the Polk presidential campaign. The next year he was elected to Congress, but he resigned in 1846 to command a regiment in the Mexican War, where he served with distinction. 

After his return he was elected to the Senate, and, in the stormy debates which preceded the compromise of 1850, he distinguished himself as the most uncompromising champion of extreme southern claims. He was a forcible debater of a highly intellectual cast of mind, with a subtle pride which perverted his whole moral nature. He was President Pierce's Secretary of War, and, despite the superior abilities of Marcy, was the leading spirit of that cabinet. His unscrupulous and domineering nature gave him complete ascendancy over a mediocre man like Pierce and a man of supple principles like Cushing; and Marcy, though he did not approve, was powerless to resist the bold pro-slavery machinations in that really able cabinet. 

It was then that Jeff. Davis sowed the dragon's teeth from which hosts of armed men nave sprung up. The Kansas imbroglio, which was fomented by that cabinet, was the entering wedge which has cleft the Union. Douglas's repeal of the Missouri Compromise would have worked little practical mischief, had it not been for Jeff. Davis's successful plot in the cabinet to abet the attempts to thrust slavery into Kansas in spite of the will of its inhabitants.— The World.

The Immense Armies of the Potomac (Dec. 1861)

Source: The Friend. Honolulu: December 2, 1861.

There is little doubt, remarks the Cincinnati Enquirer, that the armies now in Washington and its vicinity amount to the immense aggregate of near 200,000 men on each side, or 400,000 combatants. Whenever a general battle shall occur, it will not only have no parallel on the Western Continent in the forces engaged, but hardly one in the history even of modern Europe will vie with it. The great battles of Napoleon were generally fought with, numbers far inferior to those now under the walls of Washburn. 

For instance, at Austerlitz, where Napoleon defeated the combined armies of Russia and Austria, he had but 80,000 troops; the allies had 100,000. At Jena and Auerstadt, where he broke the power of Prussia, his forces were not over 130,000 strong. At the great battle of Wagram, fought with the Austrians on the bank of the Danube, in 1809, he had but 150,000 men. At Borodino, under the walls of Moscow, he had but 120,000 to oppose the Russians. At Waterloo he did not have to exceed 80,000 troops. Not one of the battles in Italy or Spain even equaled this last number. The only battle field we now recollect, where the combatants were as numerous as those around Washington, was Leipsic, in 1813, where Napoleon had 176,--000 men, and the allies—Russians, Austrians, Prussians, Swedes and Germans— numbered 200,000. Nearly half a million men took part in this tremendous battle, which was known as the Combat of the Giants. It lasted three days, and ended in the complete overthrow of Napoleon, who was driven into France, where a series of disasters commenced, that did not end until Napoleon abdicated his crown and was exiled to the Island of Elba, in 1814. 

No battle was ever fought on the soil of the United States where 60,000 combatants took part in it on both sides. From these figures we can judge of what a battle we have reason to expect when the hosts of McClellan and Beauregard, more than twice the number of those of Napoleon and Wellington at Waterloo, come in collision on the banks of the Potomoc. It will be an event that will be the great military feature, probably, for ages to come, of martial prowess in America. Washington never had 30,000 men in one army under his command; Jackson never had 15,000, and Scott never before the present year had seen 20,000 men under his orders. Great is the ability required to manoeuvre and handle such a large body of men, and bring them all into action at the proper time and place. The late battle at Bull Run extended over seven miles from one end of our line to another. 

At Washington, probably, the battle may be raging over a field double this size. To know what is going on in such an amphitheatre, and to be prepared to order up reserves and strengthen every exposed point, requires the highest degree of intellect. At the battle of Bull Run half of both armies never fired a shot Beauregard had 40,000 men at Manassas Junction, only three miles distant, whom he never used, and yet he would have been defeated had it not been for the opportune and unexpected arrival of a portion of Gen. Johnston's army from the Upper Potomac. McDowell had a powerful reserve, that took no part whatever in the action, and yet it was strong enough to have beaten back Johnston's division if it had been on hand at the proper moment. We have confidence that McClellan has not only plenty of men, but believe he knows how to use them.