From a 'Discourse delivered before the Congregational ministers
of Massachusetts'
One of the great springs of war may be found in a very strong and
general propensity of human nature--in the love of excitement, of
emotion, of strong interest; a propensity which gives a charm to those
bold and hazardous enterprises which call forth all the energies of our
nature. No state of mind, not even positive suffering, is more painful
than the want of interesting objects. The vacant soul preys on itself,
and often rushes with impatience from the security which demands no
effort, to the brink of peril. This part of human nature is seen in the
kind of pleasures which have always been preferred. Why has the first
rank among sports been given to the chase? Because its difficulties,
hardships, hazards, tumults, awaken the mind, and give to it a new
consciousness of existence, and a deep feeling of its powers. What is
the charm which attaches the statesman to an office which almost weighs
him down with labor and an appalling responsibility? He finds much of
his compensation in the powerful emotion and interest awakened by the
very hardships of his lot, by conflict with vigorous minds, by the
opposition of rivals, by the alternations of success and defeat. What
hurries to the gaming tables the man of prosperous fortune and ample
resources? The dread of apathy, the love of strong feeling and of mental
agitation. A deeper interest is felt in hazarding than in securing
wealth, and the temptation is irresistible.... Another powerful
principle of our nature which is the spring of war, is the passion for
superiority, for triumph, for power. The human mind is aspiring,
impatient of inferiority, and eager for control. I need not enlarge on
the predominance of this passion in rulers, whose love of power is
influenced by its possession, and who are ever restless to extend their
sway. It is more important to observe that were this desire restrained
to the breasts of rulers, war would move with a sluggish pace. But the
passion for power and superiority is universal; and as every individual,
from his intimate union with the community, is accustomed to appropriate
its triumphs to himself, there is a general promptness to engage in any
contest by which the community may obtain an ascendency over other
nations. The desire that our country should surpass all others would not
be criminal, did we understand in what respects it is most honorable for
a nation to excel; did we feel that the glory of a State consists in
intellectual and moral superiority, in pre-eminence of knowledge,
freedom and purity. But to the mass of the people this form of
pre-eminence is too refined and unsubstantial. There is another kind of
triumph which they better understand: the triumph of physical power,
triumph in battle, triumph not over the minds but the territory of
another State. Here is a palpable, visible superiority; and for this a
people are willing to submit to severe privations. A victory blots out
the memory of their sufferings, and in boasting of their extended power
they find a compensation for many woes.... Another powerful spring of
war is the admiration of the brilliant qualities displayed in war. Many
delight in war, not for its carnage and woes, but for its valor and
apparent magnanimity, for the self-command of the hero, the fortitude
which despises suffering, the resolution which courts danger, the
superiority of the mind to the body, to sensation, to fear. Men seldom
delight in war, considered merely as a source of misery. When they hear
of battles, the picture which rises to their view is not what it should
be--a picture of extreme wretchedness, of the wounded, the mangled, the
slain; these horrors are hidden under the splendor of those mighty
energies which break forth amidst the perils of conflict, and which
human nature contemplates with an intense and heart-thrilling delight.
Whilst the peaceful sovereign who scatters blessings with the silence
and constancy of Providence is received with a faint applause, men
assemble in crowds to hail the conqueror,--perhaps a monster in human
form, whose private life is blackened with lust and crime, and whose
greatness is built on perfidy and usurpation. Thus war is the surest and
speediest way to renown; and war will never cease while the field of
battle is the field of glory, and the most luxuriant laurels grow from a
root nourished with blood.