The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-06-16

/ iuOleC' OF muCn previous QncuinOn, and had ut
length been iecured to us by a foemn treaty,
is withheld by Spanifh Intendant Whether
this violation was authorized by the government
of Spain, Oh was wanton exercife of power in
its officer, was at firft doubtful. In either cafe,
an immediate remedy mutt be applied to the
| evil, and the great Queftion of Negotiation or
| War comes TO be difcu1ed in the councils of
the nation. What was then the conduct of the
ariftocrGtic phalanX! Let that famous triim-
virate Morris, Rois and Tracy anfwer. With
their uiual adherence TO the meafures which
tend to exalt the few and deprefs the many,
| they founded the dread toclin of war, and made
it ring through the continent. BY their unwor-
| thy articles and infammatory fpeechcs, they
| endeavoured TO excite thofe ftates, whole inte-
| refs were more Immediately jeopardifed, to
| commence hotilities; and either feparate from
the reft OF the union, or drag it along with them.
| p" The national bonom,' they exclaimed, /" has
| been ftained, and the honour OF the nation mutt
be vindcated by an appeal to arms. A tacred
right, fecured to us by the folemnity of a trea-
| ty, has been wantonly invaded, and TO recover
| this right and onajB the aggrsDor, we ought,
| mRontiy, to lead our armies into Louiliana, and
| plant the American Eagle amidit the ruins of
| its capitol. It's foil, to reajon, it is puGLaui-
mony to deliberate Such iummary proceed
ings, Felow-Citzens, might, it is true, have well
enough fuited two gallant knights of the Sword
in Mr.. Burke's admired Age of Chivalry, and
| would not perhaps have difgraced their cha
raSter; but was whole nation, acknowledging
at leaf in theory, no guide but reafon, no fove.
| reign but truth, and priding itfelf on govern
| ment which, even in practice, had adopted prin-
ciples of liberal policy and fubftantiaI iutce, to
precipitate itfelf into the greatef evil that af-
feGts mankind, without making an honorable
effort to avoid it |? Were they alone to depart
from the long ettablifhed ufage of all civilized
nations, and make what has been called ratio
ultimo regan the fyR refort of Republic ? IF
one individual in the zviid Gbnlt of Knight Err
rantry, and in mad fit of heroic ardour, thinks
proper, for fome .fqopojSd injury or infut, to
attack another individual, without aiking
precious explanation, is a wife government, an
enlightened and humane people with the fame
Quixotic or rather demoniac impetuofty, to
make it precedent, ruth into murder, and con-
vert whole continent into one vait laughter
houfe !? No. Experience, humanity, uhice, the
law of nations, the voice of wifdom, the tefti-
mony of hiftory, all fay no. The very men who
propoied it, mutt have been fenfible of its inn
policy and injuftice. They mutt have known
that fuch rafhnefs on the part of thefe ftates
would ftrke deep at the very roots of the tree
of liberty, and neceiarily lop offome of its fair
eft branches. They could not but have antici-
pated the certainty of its introducing, and the
probability of its perpetuating the Lbirt of delbo-
tim, But what were fuch considerations when
weighed in the balance againf private intereft,
perfonal importance, and ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The venal ltatefnan, the hireling of defpotifm,
is always an advocate for war, becaufe war
takes the minions who bow to their idol, from
the very back se:caad OF the human picture, and
throws them into confequence. Attend, for
moment, to its operation. In war, few gran
does, originally insignificant, and who in better
III tbs,rf
mon mortals by their tinfel hippery, their gaudy
equipages, their fplendid palaces, are fuddenly
inveited with ali the inlignia of power, and be-
come in truth and in fact very defpots. With
the boldnefs of ignorance and the "infolence of
Office" they alume the mott offenfive airs of fu-
periority, and fruit on the parade. before men
who from citiZens have been degraded into fol-
diers. &c Dreifed in a little brief authority"
freed from the reftraints of civil government,
and delighted with the novelty of command,
they are fond of exercifng their power and OPP
preiting thofe who are placed under them. Now
is the time for tanning the proud fpirit of free
dom now is the time for breaking down to the
yoke, the manly independence of the people !;
now is the time for curbng effeetually the i'm
pertinent feentioliuejJ of the many-headed
monitor" With drums beating and colours
flying the little defpots march triumphantly
through the land, and every where iniult, impo-
'Siiiu dhO nttiilDlS Tue T)SaCcaOle CltlZeTl.
But war has not only tendency to exalt the
few at the expence of the many, but by difufng
the military mania amongt the people, introdu-
cesa general corruption of morals, eitablifheS an
erroneous criterion of TRUTH and famiiiarifes the
mind to civil defpotifm. 1t produces general
corruption of morals, by giving to every clafs in
iociety habits of ideneis or lcentiouS activity,
by infpiring them with vanity and love of dreis,
by accuitoming them to fcenes of atrocious i'm
morality, of diforder, cruelty, rapine and hor-
ror. 1t ejtabhfhes an erroneous criterion of
truth, by appealing in every inftance to force in
ftead of reafon, to the fword intead of argument,
to the thunder of artillery infead of the thunder
OF eloquence. The Governors have difcovered
. that the found of cannon was more powerful To-
gic than any taught in the fchools, that the fabre
cuts away all oppoftion to their defpotic mea-
lures, when otherwife they might be hurled from
their authority; that fuccefSful military coup
de-rnain fwept away the firIneft barriers of IL
/ berty and humbled the muifitude in the " duft
and aihes," much more effectually than the
| How method of intrigue and corruption. It fa-
mliiarlies the mind to civil defpotifn by the
itrIct dicpllne it maintains, by the habits of I'M
pcit obedience it enforces. The folder is
taught to look up to his commander, as to be-
ing OF hyperion order to regard him with re-
verential awe to fear him as his tyrant, and to
tremble in his preience. He obeys every abfo-
. lutte command with fubmiffive humility, with