Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1812-10-26

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| AM an American am farmer (;
| have fought the battles OF my country
in the revolutionary war, and am willing
again to shoulder my musket when, In
nv opinion either the defence or the
rights of my country require my ser
vices. | was enlisted in the democrat
ic ranks ever since the division Of par
ties IN this country, until | read the adj
dress Of the minority of congress to
their constituents, written III conse-
quence Of the declaration Of war agaiDs
Great Britain have exclaimed, long
continue james Madison TO preside over
US long live his patriotic sdministra-
ton because was inloi med by the
leaders Of my party In the lower towns,
that our government had assumed a
neutral independent ground, with res
pect bothto England and France and
that England was continually impress
Ing our seamen without Offering the
least reparatlon ; that her object was to
place King over US and that the
measures which France pursued to.
wards our nation were purely for our
good, this statement | was not led to
question in the first place, because at
that time found no difficulty in paying
my taxes and providing beautifully for
my family, at that time the produce Of
my farm brought cash and | supposed
that the nation as Mr. Jefferson has de-
clared s was in the full tide of success
full prosperity" But thanks be to
Heaven my eyes were open in season,
the film OF prejudice is already removed,
| am no longer deluded by the oppro.
brious epithets OF Tory, Traitor, Rebel,
SC which have been so successfully re-
tailed against some of the most honor
able men the country produces, men
who were fellow labourcrs Of mine in
the revolutionary war. But fellow Cit
liens let US examine for ourselves and
see if our rulers are as Immaculate as
they are represented. 1t appears from
the address OF the minority Of Congress
30 their constituents, that the alledged
reasons for declaring war were the
impressments Of our seamen
and the orders I'D council. Now with
respect to the Bloc6ades, there was the
same reason for their being considered
a sufficient ground for war, when our
made the arrangement with
Mr. Erskine that there is at this time,
but not word is mentioned upon that
subject, in the negotiation but was
viewed by our Minister as measure
rather TO favour than injure
Us. With respect 10 the impressment
of our seamen the limits of a newspa-
per publication will not permit me TO go
deeply into the subject; therefore suf-
fee it to observe that III 1902 when MIR
Rufus King was our minister in Lon
don, he obtained from the British Gov
eminent a disavowal of the right to inn
press American seamen as we'll natural
lied as native, and at the time he was
engaged in this all important negocia-
ton, was recalled by our government
The next proposal of the British Gov
eminent was to JOIN ours in adopting
laws making il penal for British officers,
to impress American seamen provid-
ed our government would not grant IL
censes 10 British subjects. " hat can
be more honorable than this 2 we
want neither British subjects nor the
subjects of any other nallOn /; we have
sailors enough Of our own and it is
we'll known that every foreigner who is
employed on board of American vessels
is employed at the expence of an A
melioan ! az that is while the for
eigner is receiving his months advance,
our own couniryman is laying on his
oars. Think on these facts, lellew eiti.
zens, for they do not appear to be the
principles which ought to guide repub-
LEANS who stand on neutral and indie
pendent ground Too long have rene
gado foreigners had hearing in our
national councils let them all be re-
turned to the places from whence they
came, let our rulers no longer give pro-
tections to British subjects; let them
no longer harbour and encourage the
abandoned and pgoflIgate of other ma
tons, to serve their base purposes in
this and England viii cease to take A
metican born subjects from American
bot,o and mobs, those destroyers
of human independence, will cease to
disgrace the pages OF American His
tory. The orders in council, which is
the third alledged reason for declaring