Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-05-07

may exClaln, as 1t has been done often times
before, Oh war, how brilliant art thou IN
history, but how terrible in battle" Terrible
as war is, there certainly are periods, when a
nation must adopt it as the only course they
can follow with honor. Peace has her de-
lightful charms, and like the, soothing beau
~ by whom our hearts have been touched,
lulls us into soft repose, and presents all the
sweet illusions SO dwelt upon by poetic fan
cies. 1t throws over the soul still, quiet
and holy calm," and makes US think of area
dian happiness and golden times, periods
which seldom are, but often enwrap the brain.
This quiet in private life is often times inter-
rupted BY perverse and malicious ncighbor,
who envies our happiness, and will not let us
enjoy ourselves in that peaceful manner, which
every thing seems calculated to promote
We. are at last compelled to resort to means
to check his infamous career, and to adopt
measures necessary to curb and punish him.
Such is the case with nations. Though every
man will allow that the season of peace is the
most delightful and pleasing beyond measure,
yet be will take FIRE at insults which are Of
fered him, andredress his wrongs. A nation,
like an individual, having gone down the cur
rent of time III quietness and calm, at last
finds it necessary, in order to preserve itself
from breaking its bark on the sharp rock, to
make desperate attempt, and depart from
the usual track of lis voyage. War then takes
place of peace and tranquility, and though the
draught may be bitter to the palate. the patient
is compelled in self-preservation to swallow
it. True il is, that the United States has en-
sioyed an unexamp!ed state of peace andpros-
perty, and indeed the only nation in the civil
lized globe which can be said to be truly hap
py. When she is IN possession OF SO much
felicity, not fanciful but real, ii is her duty to
preserve it, and not to throw 1t away for
phantom, not to desert the certainty for a
bauble 1t Is necessary to ponder and reflect
before we undertake any act of SUCH immense
magnitude as war, and think well of all the
circumstances which may attend it. The time
is fast approaching, when the American 60
yernnent must be unique with the French;
when every act of ours must be identified with
theirs If we go to war and have France for
an ally. what may we not expect? We very
well know, without the necessity Of person
coming from the dead to tell us, that the
French poison, like the spells OF, Circe, pos
sesses the quality of changing every thing it
touches into Frenchmen. They certainly are
people, whom we ought to admire for the
spIendor CT their genius, the vastness of their
designs and the nlagni6cence of their political
system; but we ought not to be dazzlcd by
every Offering toy which they present to us.
How unranly is to be seduced into the most
corrupt and wanton conduct by the arts and
smiles OF a tneretricious woman. Does not
the truly great man, the man of soul and
sense, the instant that he beholds a person of
that character, avoid her as quickly as he
would the poisoned chalice. The devil him
self seduces only to kill; he smiles to fasci-
nate he fascinates to fang. Were it posi-
bic for skllful anatonlist to dissect France,
how many states and Kingdoms would he dis
cover buried in her maze. It appears to me |
that she possesses something astonishingly |
peculiar Else how does it happen that she |
has subiugated so many states and nations |
There is something in her, mortal to the sight |
deadly to the touch, gangrenous to the
heart. They who are well, say the scriptures, |
require not physician, and above all things, |
that physician should not be France. An |
honest one always gives wholesome medicine,
but she takes care to mix poison with that |
which she administers to diseased natons- |
Holland thought herself sick, and applied to |!
France to cure her. France gave her a killing |
pill She siekened, and she died. Let NOT |
.4merica re&ort 70 thar Mternat emhyr1c 4pho |
t0tes delight in counting the uictims zyhom she |
has siam zpho sis IN ecStacy oOer the Fraves
Of oiardered millions; zvho riots I'm the SPOIL, |
ard IKE the ifehld Of repeage, laughs at the
niSeftes which she has caused. If war is the |
remedy of our disorders, let US consider whe- |
ther the remedy is worse than the disease
If we continue IN our present health, we may |
cxpsctataall events to live strong and athletic. |
1t is true that by the conduct of the bellige- |
rents we are prohibited from filling our veins
with luxury, and INDUCING too much in the !