The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-01-12


TO cut it by. Bet a war take place. and we
shall be every where presented with the new
and melancholy spectacle of Carpenters
without axes, Masons without trowels, Shoe
makers without avis, and BARRIERS without
either razors or soap. Nor is there any class
or description of men who would not have
cause to rue the day which broke off our in
tercourse with Great-Britain. The Epicure
would miss his porter and cheese the
sportsman his blooded horses and mares, and
the beau would be all in the dark whether
his coat buttons should be yellow or white.
concave, convex, or fat. Even you, Mr..
Editor, would feel the want of those news
papers which furnish you SO copiously with
materials for filling up your own. AS to our
wives and daughters, they would be reduced
20 the condition of mother Eve, and be oblie-
ed to trust to their native loneliness, tho
confess some Of them seem to be already
preparing themselves for the sacrifice. Mr..
Randolph has indeed said that we might get
blankets at ST. Thomas's, but begging his
pardon, many man can raise dollar who
can't raise joe. As to the project of cotton
blankets that is talked of, Sir, they won't do,
they are mere trash--let any man say whe-
fhcr he ever caught flea i'm one.
Sir, among other idle boasting, il is pre-
tended that we may clothe ourselves by spin
ming and weaving our own cotton and wool.
Supposing this might be done, in the course
of time, how are we in the mean while. to
endure the summers heat and winters cold |!
And when we had done our best in this way.
our clothes would not be half SO good as those
which G. B. now furnishes for our negroes.
Then too, what a. set of Goths and Vandals
we should become. 1t is ten to one Gthat if
the war should last three OF four years, we
sheuld become so fixed. in barl,arity as to lose
our taste for British manufactures altogether.
The other morning happened to ask my
wife, who piques herself OH her skill and taste
in dress, how she woNid like to wear home
spun, and thought. the dear creature would
:lmve tainted; and MY daughter Clcmentina
protested the feel of Virginia cloth always
gave her an involuntary suddering / was
very sorry afterwards that touched upon
the subject, fer they, have looked detected
ever since, and seem. to take pleasure in no
thing but frequenring those cheap stores
where goods are sold for lass than they cost,
that they may be prepared for the day of scar.
city, Certainly, Sir, the happiness of one
hat OF the community ought not to be indif-
ferent to- US.
Nor is our moral Improvement to be dis
regarded. Heaven forbid tn we should es-
tiuiatesovery thing by dollars anu cents, Ma
tional character Is in fact national wealth
Let IL not then be forgotten, sir, that a war
puts an Immediate stop to those visits which
the most enlightened English travellers have
occasionally favored rs. They take the trou-
Bile OF voyage across the Atlantic, and in
cur the still greater pcnance of spending some
> time among us, with no other motive than
the Improvement of cur manners and Gus
toms. With dclicacy that can never be
sufficiently praised, they discover no symD-
toms Of dlspieasure or dislike until they are
quite out OF hearing. And then they convey
their friendly adnoniticns in books, profess
ing 10 give mere narrative of their adven-
lures, but evidently written with the design
OF eulogiZing our national character and
showing their sense of our hospitality. Nor is
r their humility, when here, inferior to their
gratitude when they have left us. Sir, one of
these good natured gentlemen, when he was
IN Washington, was in the habit of visiting.
the Presidents house, purely to see if he
could find any dust OF cobwebs in it, and such
was his extreme modesty, he always prefer
red clarnbering over the temporary sti,e in
the back of the enclosure to entering thro'
the gate in front. What greatly enhanced
the merit of both these acts was, that the same
gentleman was very short, lame and near
sighted. But for these generous missionaries,
we should have been now little better than
Hottentots, and such we shall soon become,
II their labours are interrupted.
Sir, what can be more serious mischief
70 country than that rage for military pa
rade that is now so prevalcntf Consider the
money laid out in regnentaIs, drums and
colours besides gui,s, powder, balls, and all
the other Internal paraphernala of military
stores. Then too the idleness it must neces
sarily produce. Husbandmen are taken from
the plough, and mechanics from the work.
bench; apprentices are decoyed from their
masters, and boys run away from school,
Why, Sir, my second sony who is lad of
spirit, and has long been able to shoot duck
with bullets, last week enlisted under brick
makenin the neighborhood who is trying to
raise regiment.
But, sir, it would require volume to emu
meratc all the mischiefs which war would
infallibly bring upon us. Nor is it necessary.
1t is enough thar ] have pointed out some that
are at once among the most weighty and the
least obvious to ordinary observation.-Let
me now briefly noticc:on or two objections
That will be made to my propositions.
1t will be said perhaps that they will give
umoragc to Bonaparre, Sir, sufficient for the
dayis the evil thereof. If we aim at pleasing
every body, we shall be likely to please no
body: not even ourselves. We have already
suffered enough by our inconsiderate zeal to
supply the French and Spanish with the dain-
~ products of the West-Indes.-It is now
high time they should depend upon them
selves We ought to thank God we can get
these good things for our own use, which as
the great author ] mentioned before says
We have not long heen used to. CHI rity is