Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-03-21

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Larb,ffp Gazette. S DoRdrs.
WEDNESDAY,, MARCH 81. =
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FRsM rnrrSrrkIr OF SrvExrY.S TX.
Letter to TAsmSs jefferson, cide0anf Pre-
.sident.
SIR,
Retired from public business into the
shades of your beloved Monticello, your
mind is at ease, to contemplate the inHu.
entss Of your councils on the desslnies OF
your country. Nothing can be more ia
vsrable than ycur present situation to sucn
view. In retirement the passions lose
shas ardor which d;sturbs the accuracy OF
the reasoning power. Reflection there dis
cnehar,s objects Of that deceitful lsstre that
attracts in the hurry of the transactions OF
life. Ths man who has. moi enlarged his
understanding and settled his principles in
retreat can never appear on the theatre OF
uubiic life with credit and distinction. The
passions heated and inAamed the chace Of
honors, never suffer the understanding to
ACQUIRE that solidity which forms the lead
ing feature Of every great mind. 1t is the
same when choice leads, or disappointment
forces the statesman into retirement. The
hustle Of men and things settles down into
the calm Of philosophy. Then comes the
voice Of an, approving conscience and whis-
pers those grasulations, the sweetest that a
virtuous. mind can know. AL that he has
left behind him IN the tract Of ambition is
as dust. The pomp and peagantry OF office
disappear, and the mind strong in its W
integrity, shines out with = majesty that
the gilded draPery of power would only
debase;
One se~if.approving hour whole years out
weighs
OF senssless clamors and of loud huzzas ;
And more true JOY Marcetlus exiled feels
Than Cesar with the senats at his heels.
If thru, sir, as a philosopher. you have
been accustomed to compare causes with
effects, he, me ask in reviewing your admin
istra,ion, if you have felt those consultations
which have power to disarm the ~reProaehes
of enemies and TO blunt the arrows OF n.
yestiye? A:e there but few If any acts of
your adm: niftra,ion I'd which you can re.
call with pleasure to your mind Through
out the dssart tract of your politics, is there
arrnIai spo, on which the moral eye can
res; with satisfaction? Have you strength.
ened The foundations of the liberties 4; have
. augmented the opulence ; have you al.
tered the character OF the people ; or, have
YOU prepared the causes Of their future
greatness and prosperity? No. BusaEon
have gwen a fatal shock to theif lib ;
you have degraded their characterS and
a.ong with a besgarsd ex~chequsr, have
handed over to yonr successor, the sprlrc''
pics Of a ~ruinous policy. You began by
saving the peoples money, and you ended
BY I~saving them in besgary. One was
tempted 70 think that you had studied IN
the sordid school of Diogenes ; SO far did
ysu carry your ideas of political absse mi.
ousness. 1t was this saving spirit that
made you destroy the naval defence OF
YOUR country. In the zenith of your po-
llllCA SCOnOubSS ShS g hno
those injuries and indigni,ies which our
national honor has sustained.
need not remind you, sir. that the at
fair of the Chesapeake, that ranking wound
which perhaps has set perPstual disau'on
bsrween this country and Great Britain. is
to be sseribed to your policy, which did
not foresee that to be respected it is neccs-
sary to be feared. do not say We might
suddenly have a maritime force capable OF
masiering the triumphant asess of Britain.
Blu, thsre was a time when this country
did not want a band Of martial virtues to
strengthen and adorn that navy which has
ingIoriously psrished under your parsimo-
n;eus administration. There 10 an elasti.
e;ty IN rspuhlicsnism calculated to lift the
.seul 10 the most daring height Of energy
and heroisn. Let the march Of u htle
.rmv across the desarfs of Barra-Les the
~ :n~ a. Tvino1i hear fesfi~a.