The Sun.
London, England, 1814-04-15 00:00:00

AMERICA.

VOICE OF THp PEOPLE.

AMTIEP,STRESOLUTI.ONi.---At a legal town mtet-
--" ing held at Amherst on the 3d day ofJan. 1814, to
see whether the town, in the present alarming
state of our publia concerns; word(' take any •rpea.-
sures to redress the wrong?;' which we,suffer, and
ward off' -the gi-eat Gvils .NaliKi impend over us,
' under the present system of .embargo, !apt-inn,
and oppression of the GenetaliGovernment, Noah
Welist'ar,'Esq. was chosen Moderator, and the
'following ResOrutions and Votes'passed ; viz.—
Resolved,•ai the sense of this Meeting, That the .
political affairs of this country have arrived at an
alarming criais-, which .not only justifies, but de-
imuld's•a full and decided expression of thesenti-
' ments of the" people, and particularly- in: the
Northern States,' . •
Resolved, That the people of this common-
wealth, in acceding to the Constitution of the
United States, expected, as they had a right
~to
expect, and to claim from the -General Govern-.
ment„, that they should enjoy the_benefits. which
are declared to be' ti:c" Objects of the-Ftaleral Com-
, .
'pact, viz. "'To forM a e perfectunion, esta-
blish rustice, ensure .lomestic tranquillity,. pro-
' vide for the common Pfenco, promote the general
welfarc„•• and 'secure the blessings of liberty to
ourse)ves and Our posterity." UnfOrtunately) the
measures of the Generalfini,ernment, for a nom=,
• ber of years past, have, in our apprehension',
tended to cent:Ail-act and defeat every one of the
above stated objects. Instead of
.confirming the
Union, - they. have alienated the affections of the
people, the strongest bond of union b6tween the
several States, and have introduced enmity., jed,
lousy, and discord among the citi±eus, ,Instead,
of justice, the peinple- have witnessed:the foulest
partialities in dispensing favours, a"nd the emolits-.
ments of the -Govern:tient—in sacrificing coin-,
merce to the views
.of the dominant party--rand,
attempting to foster one branch of business at, the
expense of others ; and in midtiplied.acts of op- •
pression committed by the military power. If
our domestic tranquillity has not been intei'-
rupted by insurrections, yet the party spirit which,
bas_ been nouris'aed has- planted the seeds of aiti;'
mosity and diScord, impaired private confidence
and social harmony, arid corrupted the elections.
to an alarming degree, thus gradually undermin-
ing the fOundation of our. Governments.
Instead of promoting the general welfare, and
providing for-the common defence; the commerce
of the country has' been nearly annifiitated.by ern-
bargoes;and other restrictive measures—intended.
ostensively to operate coercively on' Great Britain,
on whose• syStein they bare not the.
smallest effect ; While-they impoverish our own-
conntry,„and exhaust it/'resources ; convert a fair
commerce into the low business of 'smuggling,'
unhinging private credit-and public morals. In-
stead of public- peaCe, we have been.rashly aril)
wantonly plunged into a War, th'e greatest'cala-
mity that can befal a. nation. Even' bad justice,
or the hOriour of our natinn,- demanded a resort
• to this last --alternative, the folly of beginning
war without a full treasury, and ample prepara-
tions, is perhaps without a parallel in the history
of weak Governments. To restrain commerce,
and dry up the sources of public revenue ; to staf-
fer our fortifications to decay ; and', above all, to
neglect provisions for a naval force, the' natural
defence of .the country against a foreign
.enemy,'
and then to 'declare war, are facts which manifest
-a degree of rashness,' or of folly, Well calculated
to destroy all public confidence in the doininant
powers of the country.' Nor doet ate manner of
conducting the war evince more ability or wis-
dom ; while the attempts to convert. tire militia
into a permanent army, and to
,employ them for
the invasion of a foreign territoq, white the de-
fence of the several States has beenn-wholly ne-
glected, or partially provided for, manifest a dis-
position to violate the spirit and the letter of the
Constitution, in its most,important article.
. Resolved,, as the sense of this Meeting, That
the alleged reasons for declaring War were, at
no. time, sufficient to justify a measure which is,
vecessarily attended with immense
,pvils, public
and'ln'irate—But since the repeal of the British
Orders in Council, and the repeated Offers of the
British Government to settle the question of ha-
pressment upon fair and -equitable principles, we
. consider the continuance of the war as destitute
not only of hut even of pretext. Under this
persuasion, we, consider it as a sacred duty to our-
selves and our connEiy to withhold,- as far,as le-
gally practicable, all supplies for tnaintaining the
war. All that the Government can expect from
menWbo conscientiously believe the war to•be as
-unjust as it is calamitous, is, that we shall not-
resistiits Officers in taking from us our hard-earned
property. •
Resolved, That the principles adopted by the
Administration in regard to the ,protection of fo--
reigners-; who may enter into the _American ser•-•
-vice, and the retaliatory steps taken, are alarming
to all nations, and revolting to humanity. Whether
men hai-e-a natural right to expatriate themselves
or not, is a. question ‘vhich We deem it not ne-
cessary to have decided ; but so long as foreign
nations maintain the principle that their native
subjects cannot discharge theinselves of their al-
legiance, and • that they are -not absolved from
flreir duties to their own Government or Prince
by naturalization in a foreign' country, it is the ,
sacred duty of our Government to respect the
principle. Our Government has no right to inter-
fere with this establishedprinciple- foreig,n na-'
Lions, any more than with any other municipal.
law of regulation. To attempt to counteract it,
and to compel foreign nations to yield the right
of demanding the services of their native sub-
punishing them for fighting against
jects, and of
their native country, their fathers and their
brethren; is an unn:arrantabie attack upon the in-
dependence of nation's', and the sacred right of
self-govertanent, incident to every sovereignty,
Nor-is the principle adopted by our Administra-
tion,less alarming, as it.regards our own country
and its, independence; as it would require, to be
consistent, that our own Government should aban-
don the right to the services of our own seamen
and citizens, 'even in time of war ; and would
tape from it the right to .punish Our own na-
tive citizens, svb9 might traitorously cuter into the