Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-03-05
alersaprtz Dai!p 0s,ste.
MONDAY, MARCH S.
To the Editor efMe AIsssnd,ia Casfs,s.


SIR,
A. this even,ful period, when our
country, from its SITUATION is entitled to
the sympathy and talents ofevsry individu.
al, who enjoys its protection, ] have ven.
tured to offer myselfto the public, under the
conviction that altho'my matter should no,
be interesting enough to command attention
nv motives will be sufficiently pure 20 free
me from censure. The dangers which
surround. US, and the destruction which
we seem scarcely able to avoid, have too
long been the subject of school.boy'ses.
SAYS, newspaper paragraphs, and con.
eress ional speeches, to amrse reader by
their novelty, or to en,i,le any future wri.
ter to patent for their discovery. But
the writer who now addresses you, is no.
anxious to amuse by the novelty of his
style, or the elegance of his diction and
it is equally foreign to his purpose, to
claim to himself the honor Of having been
the first to awake you to sense Of your
danger. He has hitherto been silent
and retired individual, whose youth and
inexperience have prevented him from TAX
ing an active part in that cause, which his
heart has ever warmly espoused but from
his retirement he has seen the enbarrass.
meht of his country /; and has traced il to
its source: He has heard the tocsin of
alarm, sounded by opposing patriotism
and has observed with regret, how many
thousands have heard, without attending
to its call: He has looked to foreign ma.
tons for the destruction of your commerce,
the neglect of your agricultural interests,
the diminution of your revenue, and the
consequent emptiness Of your treasury;
but his eyes have involuu,arily wandered
back to his native shores lie has anxious
ly endeavored 10 discover in foreign eIimes
the cause Of your divisions at home, and
of your present condition, 60 degraded 10
the estimation ofshe surrounding world;
uur mlrrur has every where been pre-.
scnted to his view, rejecting nothing but
the image Of his fallen and unfortunate
country. The following words Of csle:
brated political WRITER'S point With pccu.
liar and astonishing accuracy, to ,hs orJ.
nary source Of evils such as these and
implicitly propose remedy, the most ef.
fec,ual, yet the mos. easy to be admins.
tered by a free and independent peop's
"The ruin or prosperity Of a state (says
he) depends so much on the administration
Of its government, that to be acquainted
with the merits OF ministry, we need only
observe the condition of the people. five
see them obedient to the laws, pro,perou,
IN industry united at home, and respected a.
broad we may reasonably presume that
their affairs are conducted by msn of ex.
perenee, ability and virtue. Ii On the con.
.rary, we see an universal spirit Of distrust,
and dissatisfaction. rapid decay of trade,
disssn'ions in all ports of tho empire, and
total want of respect in the eyes Of foreign
powers, we may pronounce, without hest.
tation, that the government of that country
10 weak, distracted, aud corrupt" So
truly descriptive. Of the situation of our
country, is the latter part of this extract,
that had not the letter, from which it is ia.
k'n, been long before the public we should
naturally have considered i, as intended,
not for Great Britain, but for the u. States
and instead of the duke of Grafton, and
lord North, we should have looked to Tho.
mas Jefferson, and James Madison, for