Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1811-10-17

and Mat nothing ~ oblituity of yisi.
oa-cIa tny thing crooked NIT. There is
nothiv iiaehdntmeEt; nothin.- of "dreamed
Merlin aud his prophecies" about it--Ihere
are, however, some of our public writer's, who,
approving OF tue call of Congress, and acquics-
ing in the period of its meeting, insist tIat the
President must arrayhis first messagci in flames
and speak the language ora fury. This is what
they call Energy and they proclaim that the
nation VIII be everlasting'y ruincd unless the
dawn ofthc Session is indicative of blood and
thunder Brave ideas Bold, valiant Thoughts
AID noble, warlikc breathing but, in the
hrsi0k lance, We would enquire Of these Grto-
SOS, ether they conceive that good conduct in
warEnd peace is at all connected with turbu-
ienc& whether Congress may not, with calm
ness, do rs much service to the country, rs by
wild uproar and "a sort of legislative ANARCHY !
we ask them Ii they have calculated how many
good soldiers it Will require to garrison our CT
ties and protect orr sca-hoard! How much
treasure it will be necessary to furnish for the
payfrN subsistence OF these men We fancy,
after " RAiipman Imagination has run through
all Its %Ecuties, that 1t will be found that war
nSe love and matrImony, must be, in essentials,
carried on III the old fashion,; that no mummcry
OF WORDS can Change the eternal nature OF things
ana tlt 81 the incantations of all the scribblers
IN tlS>0nio;Nwill not suffice TO subduc regi-
ineHot lnyadSs or to capture single ship of
Wan LIN bei'E the case, would il not be as
wei% M CAg-ess, before making war. il
war NrTsNa5ieSto consider OF the mems of
mailine<.vr 1 hat is to say, would it be a
miss for tAst Body, in the first instance. IN as
Certain the real number of men that can be
Drought into the field, the condition OF their
arms, their actual discipline, the precise state
OF our Notifications, whether new ones .nr, NOT
| necessary, the number of troops requisite to
| garrison particular posts to establish mso.a-
ines 70 look to the comrnissary Department 4;
n a. Nar that. L
| died IN a General Staff; and to hunt uD the
remnant of cur old revolutionary officers. with
| whom IS all the military experience of the coun
try There surely can be no harm in all this
Ii war must be resortcd to. II Is idle for men
10 discourse OF war in the lump, when, perhaps,
they - not know what il would cost to maintain
an ANY often thousand men for a single month !:
1 andf4 wStIN inddAd be exceedingly ludicrous
to SO thSPdNlic iVind led astr;y by their non
sensv RsEwhH in general, arc for making,
war V&hOW deiibf }itIon, are sufficiently ant to
deiibefl$e fr peads which, ifwar be not success
iui' is' in'sSnSra}ssiow enough in returning
And let us look a little further forward: Saw.
| ta,t war "iHSt DC made; is IL not worthy of con
| sIderatlon, whether We shall make if defers;ne-
" or ogeaSively If defensively, whether the
| defence shall consist in well-enforced exclusions
OF foreign trade and traders or of mere reDul.
sion OF ntriders from our sea-coast and in the
prosecution OF an armed commerce to ports that
are open to our products and navigation Or
Ifoffenslvey, whether the offence shall he Chief A,
on the ocean or be mainly directed upon the
British possessions to the North And, IN
case OF an attack upon the contiguous nrovin.e.
| OF Great Britain, what military force viii best
insure success What naval preparations viii
| De required by way of corporation with the at
tack by land And, furthermore, what under
III such event, 1t will be proper to have
with the Spaniards & Portuguese in S Americ,
IN order TO avoid collisions with them whilst wc
are at war with England? What steps must
De taken TO prevent France, during am point ot
the CONNECT, from interfering in our concerns
and T. press he to the restitution of American
properly AnN to conclude with particulars
VIZ w RtheEest means of raising Revenue
VIII ths2eaS yeEation and oppression of the
PedRIe '"ha$ cry the 9aidauncs, 8. ~
these$tinsS to beSbnsidered ?" Ave All these
and may more" Those, therefore, who CRY ont
that Congress must proceed at once to hosti,i.
ties, to an open declaration of war, CRY oi,f fo,
very absurd thing; thing which cannot han
pen without total sacrifice of discretion. Iiy
the way, and before Congress meets, we tbint
1t would not be amiss for the SOriteys ofbyo;cct,
Tor national salvation to agree among tie,, sels,
on the proper plan for, whilst one is for omen
interminable war, another is for commercial re-
strlctions; third is for a navy and n largo. re.
guiar army; fourth for neither navy nor reer,l.
lar army, out Tor an entire reliance on the gen.
- f'>~A ~ VI Oui and the SDOu.
taneous efforts ofthe militia; whilst a fifth land
here We particularly alludc to Mr. Genet1 ;s r.,
an armed Neutrality. OF all the projects thouobt
OF, this OF Mr.. Comets is the most ,.id;cuIo,1s
for, IN advocating the effective maintenance ~
neutrality, he advises an immense war esto5I;sb
ment, and the pursuit of such measures 80 ire
IN themselves, a departure from a neutral nos
ture The writer Of this Article has aIHa,,
been otf'Pinion that an Arr1ed Neutrality IL >
cont7eiiction in faSt as well as i'm terms. 70,
the Nbnent encutraHty is armed, il assumes +,
Po'T#e chaFaeter, al is no longer neutral Ma.
tom hat n neutr, inay combine for TIC IVA va
tectIce Of DIR rights but the instant tbev ero
to iightspr Sh~h'tl are at war. Tl,c NM %
ment IS for the defence of right; and will ami
TO any right whatsoever, rs well as = ne,u,tr:.l
right. Indeed, it is one principle Of ueutrsI;i,
under the law OF nations, that states NOT cnoc,'
ged III war shall not increase their military force
during the continuance of the war; tlat r. tbcy
| 90, the 6eiligcrcnt powers are authorised 70
| demand an explanation OF the cause of sncb i'm.
crease and, indeed, the principle is justified
! ny SOUND reason because, If it were ailovsble
| ior neutral 70 arm 20 a formidable exlen, dur
ing state oi neutrality, it might suddenly fail
upon one OF tle parties at war and turn The tide
OF victory ~ tavor OF the other But in relation
| 70 what IS meant by an Armed NeutraI;tv tLn
coh'stion OF the world has so completely clisno-.
CO. since the days OF Catherine IT, that The ter,
| i''eh must explode. Then there were sc,er,i
| -.