The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-11-05 00:00:00, page 1

WHEELING REPOSITORY.
(VoL- *•) Thursday, $tk November, 1807. (No. 26.)
For the Wheeling Repository.
Tills Farmer accuses me of la
bouring with the ostensible purpose of
proving the Fditor of the Aurora in an
error:” hut my “ real design,” he says,
for my “ essays to act as a lullaby up
on the magnanimous spirit lately so ge
nerally expressed, by all classes of true
Ann ricRns,again the unparalleled insult
received from Britain.*’ This is a dis
ingenuous misrepresentation* Upon
what authority does the Farmer attri
bute to me other designs than those I
have avowee ? He lias no authority. It
is a suggestion ol his own brain.
1 have declared it was mv object to
demonstrate the illiberal;of denoun
cing, as cm n..es of their country, all
who oppos l war with Eng ad. To
efi ct this, 1 have produc d from the
Aurora of March and Apt. 1708, the
do. trines, i the subject oft at that
time mu, mined by that paper. 1 have •
atu wn, i at ;v* 1798, the friends of the
pr s riadministraiion ridiculed the plan
oi .it lending our sea coasts bv militia :
rn.it y acclaimed about the* expense
and miseries of war: that the y proclaim
ed our weakness and inability : that tin y
asserted, war was desired by the friends
ni the administration for the purpose of
increasing executive influence : that
while they lamented the distresses of
those engftgcd in commerce, they de
clared their disapprobation of seeking
redress by arms : finally, that they bore
testimony against war in any shape, or
with an}' nation, unless our fcoUntrv was
invaded. I have shewn this • things,
not for the purpose of “ irritating Du
ane;" not for the purpose of exposing a
ny man’s inconsistency; hut for the pur
pose of shewing that an American citi
zen may oppose the war nu asuw s of the
country, without forfeiting the character,
of a “ true" American.
L have thrown out no reflections upon
the motives of any person. 1 have only
asked,and that with ail humility, to be
indulged in thinking and acting . the
great men ol the day once tlv u hi ,nd
acted. I entered-into r.o argument to
prove that the conduct of England was
justifiable, i expressly declared my opi
nion, that tile attack upon the Chesapeake
could only he xviped away by reparation
orxiar. Yet the Farmer has discover
ed that it was my “ real design,” to lull
the spirit of the people asleep upon this
subject. 11 is vision must be uncommonlv
penetrating :
For he has optics sharp, I ween,
W ho sees what is not to be seen.”
I have deemed it necessary to say this
much in defence of my intentions ; but I
will not dismiss the Far.mf.r without
examining some of his positions. He
asserts,that the “attack upon the Chesa
peake was premeditated; that the Indi
ans were stimulated to renew their sa
vage murders : that the English were in
collusion with Burr to destroy our in
ternal peace and that these things
tool: place in consequence of a “prede
termination to go to war v ith us.” All
these as ertions of the Farmer mav be
true ; but there is no evidence of tlu ir
truth before the public. There is no
certainty that the Indians have hostile
intentions. Indeed we know' that some
of them have solcmnlv declared the con
trary. But the Farmer found the as
sertion in the Aurora, and he looked no
farther.
It has been repeatedly declared in the
Aurora, that the “■ F.nglish were in col
lusion with Burr.” .Therefore the Far
ur.R lias “ no doubt" upon the subject.
But the assertion rests without proof;
and the President, In his message to
Congress, of the 22d Jan. 1807, gives it
no credit. lie rays, “ Surmises have
been hazarded, that this enterprise is to
receive aid from certain foreign powers;
but these surmises arc without proof or
probability71'he Farmer, however,
hazards the assertion that such was the
laot; anti perhaps he is better advised on
the subject than the President. If he is
not, it is rather rash in him, thus to im
peach the President’s veracity.
ii the Farmer is correct; if a plan
to 1 attack us in every vulnerable quai*-.
ter,” was formed at the time of the last
coalition with Russia and Prussia; if the
strengthening of Quebeck, the move
ments of the Indians, the treason cf
Burr, and the attack upon the Chesa
peake, have all taken place in pursuance
of this plan ; and if the Farmer knows
these things to be so, how does it hap
pen that the Executive have remained
ignorant of those important facts ? Surely
if the administration had a knowledge
of these things, they would have made
some preparations for defence. Alter
the national sovereignty had been out
raged, and according to the Farmer,
the country invaded, in consummation
of a “predetermination to go to war with
us,” the Executive dispatches an express
to demand explanations! ! Explanations
of what ? Explanations of open, undis
guised, “ predetermined,” authorised
acts of hostility// Certainly not. The
President would never have thus com
promitted the character of this nation,
by sending express to England, to ask
them what they meant by authorizing
hostilities against us. Yet this must
have been done,or he is ignorant of those
important facts of which the Farmer is
in possession.
bo much lor the Farmer s “ reai signs
of the times.” J will now pass with him.
to the questions respecting the impress
ment of seamen and the carrying trade.
These, he says, I would u give up with
out a murmur.” He is right. What I
am compelled to do from necessity, or
what I choose to do from policy, 1 would
do with the best possible appearance. I
would not pule, and murmur and mut
ter; I would not scold, and vapour, and
threaten ; I would not cry villain, rob
ber, and murderer, when I did not in
tend to strike. To the Farmer this
conduct may appear like a display of
“ magnanimous spirit but it is to my
mind the u real sign’ of littleness, ma
lignity and cowardice.
Putting the matter of right out of the
question, there are two reasons why I
v ould not engage in a war for these
supposed advantages. First, u 1 would
never consent to gb to war for that which