The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-11-06

only by the bowling of the wolf. or the NOR,
horrid yell OF savage man, when our coun
try did not possess half its present popula
tion. wealth OF resources il was then our
ioretathers rose in the majesty of thei,
strength. and opposed successfully their mo
Their country For what not because she
had seized our seamen /; no, because she
had attacked national vessel; but because
she had assumed the right of imposing tax
es on us without our consent Yet notwith
standing we have been progressing ever
since on the high tide of Improvement. pc
pula,ion and wealth. unequalled by any na-
tion under Heaven, il is said by some that
we are yet in state of infancy, unable to
cope with those over grown ruffians, who
trampled upon our rights. and buffet us ar
their will Oh venerable fathers, give us
a portion OF that spirit which .in,pelled you
TO aFend the Gifts of Kings Mountain -
And may the spirit of WASHING ON the
Saviour OF our country-and CAMPBELL,
.s:= .: tic Guy ~ celebrate. nc si,ii
led in every American. and te ach the m
to defend their rights and liberties as
they did. Let it not be said the older and
Weather our country grows, that it is the
less able to defend that precious Inheritance
which was transferred to us by the best blood
OF our ancestors Yet trust it will not be
inferred. / would advise my country to en-
gage unnecessarily in a war with any nation
far be it from me War is the great
est calamity that can befal people, except
the loss of their liberties or their honor.-
These ought TO be defended at all hazards.
When these are brough, in jeopardy, all
considerations ought to yield--1o pause at
such Il period for the nice calculations of
policy or economy-To halt a morlieiit be-
cause we have an empty treasury, or will
be burthened with public debt, would in
my estimation be almost treason. The
Death of PEARcE the perforation in the
Hull ct the Chesapeake, are indeed matters
OF little Consderation--theo one is only the
loss OF fellow man, the other has been
patched up with the expence of few thou
sand dollars--But the blood of a fellow
Citizen. murdered at our very threshold -
the attack on national vessel within our
own waters, are deep wounds that calcuia
tons cannot heal or patch up. No! these
are attacks on the honor of the nation and
that must be satisfied. Cent her Centun,
calculations will not do The spirit of the
nation must be resorted to This is the Pal
ladium of our Liberty, the security for our
rights. Pardon me, fellow citizens, for these
warm expressions, and which may be tho't
aggressive from the object of this DAYS meet
ing. But have felt the wounded honor of
my country in the feeble resist ance of our
neutral rights by foreign nations. fear the
Spirit of 20 is lost in cold calculations of
profit and loss--that our national honor ia
absorbed in private ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Thir-
ty years ago. If l mistake not a different
spirit pervaded the nation heard it talk.
ed of; saw its successful flashes in de fence
of liberty, and trust caught spark, young
as was, which will cherish as my noblest
inheritance. To stand quietly with folded
arms and behold our shores stained with the
blood of our murdered fellow citizens to see
our national honor degraded by attacking
our national vessels, was not the spirit that
actuated the peasantry of Bunker's Hill ::
the Green Mountain boys of Bennington, or
the Mountaineers of Holston No They
rushed forward to the "tepted field" care.
less OF wealth ard regardless of life, in de-.
fence OF their rights, with the impressive
declaration Of Liberty or Dean i-Eyc
ry bosom glowed with the ardor of Liberty
Wealth and splendor were things of no
nioment-the luxury they sought for, was
the enjoyment of freedom. 1t was this spi
rit that sustained seven years war, under
difficulties and privations that no nation e
yer experienced before-without arms or
ammunition without men or money-wc
began the conflict against nation possessing
all The means OF death & de5truction-but we
fought for Liberty-they for CONQUEST. The
God of nations was with us And though
we passed through many a vale of horror
and distress, almost ready to despair a
CLEAN of hope would arise and invite us to
exert every energy which the God of ma
ture had endowed us with-Our cause was
just and we prevailed. 1t is within the re
collection of many who hear me, the Difficult
ties we had to struggle with. Attacked by
nation of the greatest celebrity of any il the
known world--possessng fleets & armies
at will, with thorough knowledge of the
art OF war--who were laying our richest
towns in ashes, and ravaging our sea coast,
on the one side-----and on the other by
cruel savage people, ignorant of the laws
OF humanity, involving all sexes and ages
In their indiscrimina' destruction Here
was state of things that almost appalled,
the stoutest hearts resistance appeared to
be tenerity; but our ancestors were deter
mined to- enjoy that freedom in death, which
circumstances seemed to forbid the anioy
nent of in life-HeDce death was disarm
ed OF its terrors, and they met it with all
that composure that suited the glorious cause
in which they were embarked. To attempt
to detail the various stages of this contest,
at this time would be. unnecessary. Ora
tors aud historians have done it in all it's
glowing colours. except the solitary instance
we now commemorate.
Suffice 1t for me to say, that ut the very
darkest and most gloomy period of those del
eteriOns times, our couBtTymen were hunted
from post to post in almost every direction
their spirits broken their resources gone
ready almost to yield the glorious conflict,