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    47& THE LEAPEB. INo. 394, OoEwaa, 10, 18...

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    ENGLISHMEN AT ARMS. AlTj sorts of small ...

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    Mr. Buchanan And The Zfouty Priests. The...

    Wished ; and not contenting itself with arguing this position once in the Legislature , ^ or even in Congress , the party formed a separate G-overnment to execute its own laws , as if those were the laws of the community . What was the duty of the Chief Magistrate under these circumstances ? It was , in the language of the Constitution , ' to take care that the laws be faithfully executed . ' For this purpose , and for this alone , Mr . Buchanan detached a military force to support the local Executive in carrying out the established laws . Should he have left -fche

    Territory to be ravaged by civil war and bloodshed ? Simply to abstain would have been an easy course for the Chief Magistrate ; but it would have violated his oath , and would have inflicted immeasurable suffering upon the individuals , the men and women , and the families , of lath parties in Kansas . If the Territory is properly described as ' bleeding Kansas , ' lie at least has applied the tourniquet to stop the bleeding . A portion of the

    people in Kansas have set up an independent Grovernment : admit their right to do this , and the Government of every state in the Union , the federation itself , would at once be dissolved . If the American citizens believe anarchy and democracy to be convertible terms , Mr . Buchanan is in the wrong . If democracy means the government of the whole for the interests of the whole according to the opinion of the whole , he has simply fulfilled a duty set down for him .

    Some , indeed , go . back to first principles , and insist that the Government in Kansas Bhould be set aside because it has adopted the institution of slavery ; which , say these reasoners , is incompatible with the fundamental laws of a republic . The answer that Washington and Jeffebson , both reluctant to perpetuate the institution of slavery , nevertheless lacked the strength to expel it from the Republic , and consented to accept

    it , is regarded as insufficient ; for , assert these ultra-advocates of the anti-slavery principle , the institutions should at least be limited to the States in which it originally existed . This rule is devoid of any force . In the first place , it is not the edict of the majority of the American people . Secondly , the rule comes too late , since the institution of slavery has already been extended to many Territories and many States in which it did not exist—several of the States themselves

    not existing at the time when Washington and Jefferson founded the Republic . In fact , the rule is inconsistent with the very principles upon which States were admitted to the Union at first , and have been admitted Bince . Each State adopts its own laws , under the condition that those laws shall harmonize with the laws of other federated

    States , and shall come within the constitution of tlie Federal Republic . Much aa we may regret that such an institution as slavery should exist in the Union , it does not disqualify the State from admission to the Hepublic . It is nofc repugnant to the constitution ; on . the contrary , it is repugnant to the constitution for other States to dictate to a

    Territory , or for a Territory to determine whether an immature State shall or shall not accept tlie institution , shall or shall not modify or exclude it . The law adopted by the Territorial Legislature ofJCansas fairly and justly secured the yote to every bond fide resident of the

    Territory , preventing fraud or the intrusion of citizens from other States ; and thus enabling the embryo State to declare its real opinion on the subject of slavery . Numbers of men within tlie Territory refused to acquiesce in this arrangement , —they would neither be recognized nor voto . They put their -brunt in a separate convention : but evidently this

    mode of carrying out a reform cannot be suffered by any de facto Government , whether of a Territory , of a State , or of the Federal Republic . The President of the United States has employed the military , not to sustain the institution of slavery in Kansas , not to coerce the people of that Territory , but simply to maintain the actual laws of the ^ Federation in the spirit dictated by its earliest founders .

    " I have entire confidence in Governor Walker that the troops will not be employed except to resist actual aggression or In the execution of the laws , and then not until the power of the Civil Magistrate shall prove unavailing " . Following the wise example of Mr . Madison towards the Hartford Convention , illeg-al and dangerous combinations such as that of the Topeka Convention will not be disturbed unless they shall attempt to perform some act which will

    bring them into actual collision with the Constitution and the laws , and , in that event , they shall be resisted and put down by the whole power of the Government . In performing this duty , I shall have the approbation of my own conscience , and . as I humbly trust , of my God . I thank you for the assurance that you will not refrain from prayer that the Almighty God will make my administration an example of justice and beneficence .

    " Tou can greatly assist me in arriving at this blessed consummation by exerting your influence in allaying the existing sectional excitement on the subject of slavery , which has been productive of much evil and no good , and which , if it could succeed in attaining its object , would ruin the slave as well as his master . This would be a work of genuine philanthropy . " This reply of Mr . BucH . or . pr is remarkable for its simplicity , its moderation , and its plain speaking . He ceases to talk about ' a

    domestic institution , ' and directly uses the word ' slavery . ' We point to the fact as an important eorroboration of our statement , that the discussion on that complicated and difficult question is gradually extending itself and becoming more practical . When the attempts to put down the institution by force are abandoned , when one State ceases to maintain a crusade against another , when the citizen who has been compelled to inherit the property that he did not create is no longer menaced with death or ruin as the

    consequence of his position , then perchance the members even of the Southern States will be able to join , as some of them are so well inclined to do , in the greatest reform that yet awaits the llepublic . When the republicans simply consult together on the mode of improving the industry of the South , the true beginning of reform will be in sight .

    47& The Leapeb. Ino. 394, Ooewaa, 10, 18...

    47 & THE LEAPEB . INo . 394 , OoEwaa , 10 , 1857 .

    Englishmen At Arms. Altj Sorts Of Small ...

    ENGLISHMEN AT ARMS . AlTj sorts of small suggestions are floating about , launched by all sorts of gentlemen , who are either blind to the real point at issue , or eager to evade it . We want a large military force for India , and cannot get it . liaise a few Calabrian regiments ; recruit among the Christians of Abyssinia , the Jews of Western Cndist , and the negroes of Africa , seek anywhere but in England for an English army . By a judicious mixture of castes and tribes we may restore what the Sepoys have demolished . This is theorizing at full cry . But avoid putting a Smith where lie might meet a Howard , a Robinson where lie might

    jostle against the tenth cousin of a Peiioy , merit where it may offend pedigree , the talents where they may distance the classics . There ia a charmed circle for graduates ; it would be painful to Bee them shouldering arms in the same rank with the 3 'ouiig gentleman wlvo had volunteered from tlie City . The gentry who declaim in this fauhion are in danger of forgetting that a university education does not necessarily make a man a puppy and a fool ; ho may be ' of Oxford , ' and yet retain the masculine virtues of the Eii ^ linh character ; ho may ho of a college , nnd yet of no clique ; ho may claim academic reminiscences arid public sympathies at the

    same time . The gentlemen of Engl and the cultivated , the liberal , the polite , wliom learned senates have honoured , sometimes lean to popular ideas and refuse to be represented by a set of fellows who could be named more freely by Mr . Thackeray than by ourselres Many of these gentlemen , the brain aud heart of the country , are of opinion that to raise a national army , it is not merely necessary to offer higher wages ; armies formed on that principle are by no means national . By such are constitutions overthrown . As we are sending men to India , where they will be

    accustomed to a fearful prodigality of human blood , it will be wise to obtain , if possible something better than a host of brave , raw ruffians , fit for nothing else than bay one-tin a-Sepoys or digging potatoes . If , then , you want superior men , you must offer superior inducements . Once for all , it must be understood that something more than a petty bounty , a few daily pence , rough rations , and no prospect beyond the rank of a noncommissioned officer , must be offered hefore

    any large numbers will present themselves who could find employment as clerks , shop-assistants , messengers— -ay , or even wearers of plush and powder . And as for the militia , what does the peasant say ? " Tou coaxed me into the militia when you were fighting the Russians ; you thought there would be no more fighting , and you turned me adrift without any trousers . " No one who has been at the pains to inquire why the recruiting sergeant has been so unsuccessful will have failed to understand why militiamen , at least , are ' backward in coining forward . '

    -Recurring to the army , the preachers of the metropolis , on Wednesday last , cast their thunders to the Horse G-uards , and sought to make the hearts of Englishmen leap at the call of duty and glory . Now , it seems easy for a beneficed clergyman to say shame on the craven that will not fight its country ' s battles—he himself is safe from all appeals ; and it is pleasant to hear Sir Btjxwer Ia'ttok , in his vivacious style , saying he would lead a battalion himself—if he were ten years younger "; and Major Beresfoed declaring he would enlist- —if he were ten years younger ;

    there is an if in all these cases ; and the young English bachelor also says , * I will enlist , ' & c . If what ? If in return for risking his life , for leaving his home , foe uxwiev ^ uing all the fatigues aud privations of the ranks in our Asiatic campaign , we give liim a chance of making his way by merit . Is that unpatriotic ? Is that graduating his noble rage ? Horse Gruard apologists tells us that a murderer is at large in India , and our young men want to be rewarded for flying to the rescue of their English sisters . If it be a murderer who has to be arrested ,

    seize hold of him yourselves , you who feel the full weight of the responsibility , and leave these young men at their quiet employments . But it is a long campaign , a terrible hazard , an entire change of pursuits ; the man who might retire upon a competency in trade is asked to take two or three sovereigns in advance , thirteen-pence a day for ten years , and the probability , by good conduct , of becoming a corporal or a sergeant , and dying on au infinitesimal pension . Ho naturally inquires , whv is Prince Albert- a Held-Marshal ?

    That ia not liis business , you say . ' lrue , but why is Sir Wilxiam Williams 01 ? Kaks a Major - General ? On account of his distinguished sorv . ices . An admirable reason . But if the aspirant ' s services arc also distinguished ; if he display a talent lor command ; if ho be at » superior to his comrades as IjViiaba . y is to an ordinary chouiist s assistant ; if ho have in him the stiill' of ft general , why is ho never to ho snore- thnn ft colonr-Horgciuit ? No one can tell him "why-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 10, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10101857/page/14/