Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1808-01-22
ssFIheED

ibis subject; ADD hs felt ila duty 10 assign
fhase reasons which weold induce him 20
vote for the bill uader consideration
Hssgrea,ly regretted thar the house had
nc general system 81 dsfeas,e laid before
,hssn, fos the protection Ct the coan,ry&
n. respectfully Of It's vulnerable points
ef "a a plan weuid have been attended vita
4Eell consequences; it would have eoabled
sasfn 90 progress grsduslY from one point
tSaaother, feeling as they @eot along, so,
that whether the event were peace or war,
the honor Of the nasson nigh, have been
preserved. fle took up this aobjecs as pre-.
ssn,ed TO him By the committee who were
appointed DOT 10 devsse a dttence tor our
shores, but for our ports aud Eesbors I; aad
IN ibis point of view the bill did MT sstke
him as comprising a general system OF de
fence, bot as a particular measure for aid
Ing % tbe protection sf the MOST Promi-
peot parts Of our country. He aid not
like tina. different psr,s Of great n~asional
sabject should come before the rouse from
d ifryfnt coEtmiuees, because they should
properly form Q connected ssries ; but as
the measure had comesunder consideration
10 Ibis fosn, he would endeavor 10 shew
that The PRINCIPLES Of the bill as far as shey
did GO, were correct and proper.
Mr. had no doubt bul IN for nning 4
general system of defence some few fri
gsses would be fennd necessary but be
s,Iopgly feared they could neither COO
ssruci line OF battle ships or friga,es be-
fore /, would be necessary 10 use ihem.
Some gents=mea had asserted fEs, the IA.
tion was al war he would not combat this
position, though it was not ,ensble. Seine
gentlemen said we were on the ese OF war,
wi,hwhom he thought. If they were en-
gsged in war, it would nc. be IN any osher
part of the frontier than that accessible by
water; o. course sbc most vulnerable
points OF the country were upon the sea
sho,e. He therefore thought that every
species of defence competent TO the pro-
fiction of these points shaul5 be adopted,
sand of this description were Notifications
aud batteries, aided bv gun boats, not thar
they composed The besi possible means ct
dsfsuoe,, but the bss, that could be COZ.
swuc,ed W hin q given time.
Ii had been ss,d that gun boats could
not act tfnciensly alone but he believed
that, as auxlliaries 10 iortSGcaucns. shey
could be applied insnch manoer aod uoder'
such ,rcum stances, IS TO preveni ships CT
war from acting TO tftc,, /, was kuowo
that ship of war IN making al anack co
any particular polut, always placed herself
in such a manner as would enable her to
acs with the gres,ess effect she anchored
w,,h her brGsdside TO tie battery ; acd
under such clrCumsisnces.gu boats were
competent to make her change her sta
tIoo.
There were, as iatas Mf. K. knew. in
m&dern. tia,es boz TWO Instances, aud bu,
one that VAS re markAble, of the efficacy OF
gym boa S as a par, of a system. Cue case
was the defence Of Caa,z, when Nelson
! and his whais Acct anchored in the bay Of
Cadz, and y - repulseG principally he be
leved BY he iuslrrmvn:aiisy. hut cerlaiuly
b the assistance CT gan boats. In case Of
ats-ck made on U ports, gun bnsSs being
: locomotive, woaid 10 such circr II starces
be advantageous. Auo,her case Of the sue
cess of gun boats, occurs 10 the bay OF
Gibraltar ;~,hsy sre-1here secured from
attack until, like spiders darling upon fiss.
they spring out IN calm weather, aud al
ways capture their prey,
These gun bears rook their origin ID 80
early Psrtdf Ibis century when Gibraltar
was sosp'iEtdb by The enemy gun baats were
then introduced into The GUT of Gibral ar I;
and from the time that Britain captured
Gibraltar, TO the present day. ssch had
been The eH-cs of sshese boats, that The Bri.
tish wereobliged always 10 send supple
pndpresisions TO Cibfsitsr under convoy,
He had mentioned this scircnmstsnce q
sbew thst goo boats had acted 'cffeasivel.
as well ss dffensiyely. :