Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-11-04
ALEXANDRIA, D.aILYz GAZETTE.
"To sHEw
THE VERY AGE AND BODY OF THE TIME
HIS FORM AND PRESSURE.
MONDAY MORNING, .Nopen,ber 4.

The Session of Congress which commences
this day, is very naturally looked to with the
utmost anxiety in the present posture OF al
fairs. The happiness, the welfare, the very
existence of the nation, is intimately connect
ed with the course which may be pursued by
that body. Some of the leading democratic
papers, with modesty peculiar to themselves,
have already decided in very peremptory
manner the policy that ought to be adopted f:
this is no other than an immediate Declaration
of War against England. The Aurora, that
well-known political organ, denounces all
who shall dare to oppose such measure
The Baltimore Wing, the humble but steady
imitator of Duane, follows his footsteps, and
endeavors to exceed him, ifpossible, in ylru-
lence. His language is =" We have arrlv-
ed at that crisis when "putting off till to-
morrow" will not answer-some change must
take place, and what change can more Ell
fectually cement all parties than War-Party
distinctions would be lost in the national con-
cern-tories would be purged from the coun-
try" II is mistake but too generally preva-
lent, that these and similar newspapers ex-
press the voice of the nation. The fact IS,
then are rather the GUIDES, than the ECHOES,
Of hubHc oiiinion. Degraded indeed should
we be, were it true, that one or two foreign
ers, who have contrived to get possession OF
printing offices, should be the sole deposita-
ries of the nations will And equally degrad-
ing would it be, for an American Congress
to suffer itself to De dictated to and bullied
by handful Of disorganizers,-hr men, who
after having, for particular reasons, abandon
ed their native country, are using every ex-
ertion to bring about her destruction.
Unnatural as such conduct is, and eppos-
ed as it appears to every honorable feeling
of the human heart, we should take little no.
tice of it, did not these War-hawks endeavor
to compel us to participate in their parrlcidal
barbarity. One of the motives for war with
England is avowed with great candor by the
Wing in the above extract -" Tories would
be purged from the country" Who does
the Wing mean by =" Tories" Why, some
of the ornaments of this nation,-men, whose
talents and virtues would adorn any county,
who were fighting the battles of liberty when
their calumniators were probably cutting turf
in the Dogs of ireland. The destruction OF
such men might be one of the first conse-
ouences of a war; at least those who are strlv-
inc to promote war, ardent!y hope that this
would be the case. Let all who dare to differ
from the ruling party be exterminated, and
every thing would then so on smoothly in the
way of Democracy, without solitary voice be-
ing raised against any public measure, howe.
yer ruinous. But we trust our country is too
enlightened and too free to be prepared for
such state of things,-for the most odious of
all despotisms-the tyranny of mob.
What will be the policy pursued by Con-
eress, we do not pretend to anticipate. A
great deal depends OF course upon the tone OF
the Presidents message. Should that be OF a
pacific tendency towards England, which we
hope will be the case, in spite of the clustering
of hot-headed partizans, we may soon expect
more prosperous days. Should it be OF con-
trary nature, and Congress yield toits impulse
we may calculate on still more oppressive
times, if not on desolation and ruin. But we
indulge the expectation, that Mr.. Madison
knows his true and solid popularity is connect
ed with his country's welfare and further
that he himself must share in general Gala.
mity,-for in the fury of tempest, the most
exalted are the most exposed.
To CoRRESPoNpEN7S.