The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-12-03

} nion. l beg your pardon, Mr.. Speaker; ]
ask tiiat of the House. for the laiisuage !
am compelled to uss but so tong as 1 am
! a man, 10 help me God, when ! am told |
am actuated by an atrucious principle.
vii throw,it back ia the teeth of the as
sertor as an asrucious falsenool. Lack
back Oh the principle adopted by the friends
OF that gCnilencr--l wish l could saw
who were his f.iendS--l 90 not call The
honest fvdrrAiist. who IS willing 10 sappart
his country's rishts. his frien,i--cven in
England, the nation FROM which lie ttihS Of
| receiving his ;elisiOa aud morality, and /!
| might add, ms !Leas OF oar rights--eNca
IN that Country they do not prevent enlist
ment OF mnors--that is, ;hey are hot dis
charged on tie ground Of minority. ! have
| said before, SIR, that we had examples in
u1r own government, drawn not to be sure
| from the purest times, but which more
| thau covered thc whole case. 4 law was
passed III 1898 which authorised the en-
lIstmcht not Only OF miners but every deS-
cription ofpetsons whom the President OF ,he
U. ,. thought proper to have enlisted
winch authorised him to send his recruit
ling scrseants into every family and take
those who suited him best. This was the
principle OF his friends. Does the gentle
man say that 1t was atrocious in 1898 to
defend ourselves against the French But
1t has become 80 now seeing the defence
we seek is against the English. The gem
tleman has said we act on an absurd prin-
| c;p!c that we have mistaken the means of
carrying on the war to effect we want the
moral means. BY this presume he would
be understood that the people arc opposed
to the war, particularly to our land opera
tons There seems then to be no cmoral
objection 70 the wa.. on the ocean : and Sir,
1t 1t be not immoral to support the
war on the ocean, on what possible princi-
pie can 1t be immoral, in the same
cause, to support it on the land -
The war on both elements is for the same
| objects not, as the gentleman says, to rob
and plumber in Canada, but, according to
| the motto of the gallant captain Porter, for
Tree trade and sailors rights" Will the
gentleman take time TO tell us, when he
next draws comparison between the con-
duct of the East and the South, what are
the southern motives for urging the prose-
cution OF the war; Will he tell me that
have brothers or friends impressed in the
British service There is scarcely man
from the southern Country in that situation
Where do the majority of your sailors come
from From the southern states or from
New England And! will the gentleman
tell his constituents, when we are laboring
to rescue their connections, their friends,
their children-when we point the bayonet
towards Canada, for the protection of their
sailors, our only object isrobbing and plum
der! Sir, We shall be to all intents and pur-
poses colonists, or we must fight ourselves
independent. Is there any one principle of
colonization which has not been brought to
bear on us by the British government with
more rigor than on the island of Jamaica
Colonization has been brought home to the
ha6itation of every man. Does not the
gentleman know that the British functional
ries have refused to release the friends,
the children of his brethren, of his constitu-
ents! Is not any argument to the CON
trary worse than false? Sir, recreant
coward CT 4 treacherous traitor has
brought stain oil this country which no.
thing but physical force, filling the ranks
OF your army can wipe off To effect this
desirable object the bill has been introdu-
ccd, to which all this strange and violent
opposition is made. Is your recruiting Off
Ger ordered by this bill into the work shop
of the artizan to seduce his apprentices p
Is he ordered into the houses of your farm
ers to steal away their sous No. sir
its object is to prevent collision and fraud
to prevent depreciation, as it has been called
on your ranks. 1t is sanctioned by prece-
dent; it is enforced by necessity. Under
such circumstances individual convenience
ought not to preponderate against the ge-
neral good We ask not for the sustain
ment of an atrocious principle, or for the
adoption of an immoral law but for the mems
to support a just war until we Can obtain
an honorable peaCe--as much Tor the con-
venience and real benefit OF that gentlema an
and his friends as of any in the House,
Sir, hope the House, Notwithstanding the
terrible picture which has been attempted
OF the resentment which will be drawn down
on your recruiting officers, will not suffer
itself &c be influenced, much less frightened
by the gentleman, from the pose cution Of it's
true interest, as at the repeal of the en-
barge. If you will yield to threats from a.
ny quarter, better at once abandon your
seats and return to your homes Let Mas
sachusetts, as the gentleman has threatened,
resist the law /; / thank God there is yet
no point OF contact between US, but il she
snail contrary to our mutual interest, array
herself against the general government, /
for one shall not hesitate to search for the
proof that she is only a component part of
the Union--not its arbitress.
(De6ate TO be contirued.)
-E@9&SGNStIS
PRIVATE CnppE CpnNDENCr3