Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1806-09-06

ohCe, anu al may De launched about thS
same time. While the carpenters are
engaged in building, young men may bs
itrainsd in every port to understand the
duties of seamanship, so that when the
ships are ready for sea, each ship may
have crew sufficiently expert to perform
the necessary duties.
/ by these means, all at once, the ocean
will swarm with French and confederate
fleets, and al,ho' Great Britain, in the
mean time may exert every nerve to op-
pose and avert the storm, it will be i'm
possible finally to succeed, because the
same means and exertionsH which were
necessary TO build, equip and man, the
tlrst ilee, may be employed in building and
equiping second, and third, and so on,
until at last the sufieriorisy Of members and
resources mist and soA h,cuaR. To stop
or avert this irresistible Sc necessary pi Is.
Ject, provided it should be adopted, it is
hirst necessary to stop the course of pc.
pula;ion and vegetation for as long as
Children shall be born and trees shall We
getaie and thrive, so long will the rulers OF
continental Europe, if they are corftde
rated, be able to build. equip and man,
iieet afser tleet, equal 10 the contest.
And altho' teet AFTER Aest should be dis
troy ed, ger az hsf ne sutieriorisy ofnun,5eys
and resources, nfust, and mill fireval
10 give strength to these opinions, re-
ference is made TO The pamphlet called
:" War in Disguise" from which the fell
lowing extracts are taken.
Page IL. "Let US reAea what the na-
vies OF France, Spain, and Holland once
were, let Us Consider that these countries,
form but part Of those vast maritime
regions, the united resources of which are
now at the command OF the same emerge
nc government.
Page 10. "rhe finances of France. an
pear scarcely to be impaired, much less
exhausted, by her enormous military es.
tao'isiments, and her extensive enierpri
SEES, Notwithstanding the ruin, SO a,np an
narenI'y imposed upon her commerce.
Poverty, theIordinary sedative of modern
aIaeiion, The C mmon pcace,naket be.
tween exasperated nations, seems no lon.
ger TO e.he growth of war"
II Is necessary also 10 add, that the
computation IN England, for building and
ePnpIng SLIPS ofthe line, is one thousand
pounds tor each gun; every hundred guns
viii cost as many thousand pounds fac
cording 70 this, France, alone may build Sc
equip an hundred ships of the line, for one
fourth, or perhaps Fifth part Of her an.
nual resources. With such means il can.
not be denied That the fleets of France,
and her con!ederates, will very soon be
superior TO those OF Britain.
However, unpalalabie these truths are.
they ough, not only 10 be known, BIZ, well
considered by those, who pretend to see,
neither safety nor salvation, for the indie
pendence Of this country, longer than the
British, can support maritime superio
rty. Sooner or later, flat suheriovify nil
diS0flieor, and it 6eAopes us 10 an..cila,e the
Tresis,fote consequences ~!
But, IL will be said, and with great pro-
pr,ety too, that the British sailors, are
more expert in the discharge of nautical
duties, that the oHicers are more skjIfuI.
and that their operations are more coDsen.
laneous, and OF course more successful.
mo all this is true. yet il Cannot be pre-.
tended, or IT pretended, will il be admit.
Ted, that the resources for building and
equiping heeis, are greater IN ENGLAND,
'han in all Europe--or that the British
sailors are more brave, or more patienf,
man their adyersaries. All the naval ac
lions OF the present war, shew that The
French seamen have acquitted them
selves with the highest honor. The mum.
bers which have been killed and wounded.
before they have surrendered, affords
proof, that nothing is necessary bu, skill
and when we consider the achievements
OF her armies--the skill of the officers
and The resistleSs bravery Of the soldiers,
u cannot be doubted that after a while,
the French and British fleets, will be %.
on an equalliy--bUt even if this should
not be the case--and there should CONT
nue. 10 De disproporlon, as to &, or G.
ven 10 8, still the Emperor Napole on,
viii be able by his great and inexhausti
bic meansi to over match even this dis
pariiy--abd finally to over power by nun.
bers.
Reader, cast your eye from the Baltic.
TO the Adriatic, from Elsinore to Catarro.
or, herbafIs from St. Petersburg To Con.
stantinople (; follow the course Of the
ahores; measure the distance Of the Me-
anders, & you will find more than thou
sand miles, besides the shores of rivers,
Greeks and inIefs. yf,,, uili oI.o Cd 49,.