Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-08-20
For the dlerandria Gazettt.

Is
subject Of conversation, than the alarms excit-
ed by the conversations and declarations ofour
internal foes. They are reported to have de-
clared 8 that the marching OF the militia VIII
be the propltious moment Tor actlen--for al
though men mag be left behind, alt the arms
zvNl be carried off TO invade Canada and pro-
tect our seaboard" Does not this present to
orr minds, a horrid picture OF the wlckedness
and folly Of our rulers, in the mad career they
have commenced of foreign warfare. The
southern men, and Yi,Sinia'IS most prominent,
have led the way to the present alarming cri-
sis of our fate. How much safer, now much
hyppier, how much more respected should we
now be, if instead of expending millions on
standing armies for toreiga aggression, we
/ had pursued the advice OF the Patriot Kan
doIDh, and with them armed all our militia tor
our internal defence, and equipped navy "a
gainst foreign force, Were these men lgno-
rant of the total weakness of their country IN
this respect. What every one else knew,
they alone were either pretendedly or actually
Ignorant Of, that arms zoere qoaatins 10 defend
our AveS and properly asainst internal, atfAe
moment they qoere couTting external a9,greS-
sion. Will the sober, thinking, industrious
farmer-will the affectionate parent whilst ne
casts aalook of tenderness on his offspring la
bic to be the victims of infuriated man I" seek
ing through blood and Slaughter his long lost
liberty" any longer patrcnlze the men, who
have ieopardized their existence, to serve
despot's views? Will the unattended and un-
protected inhabitants of our country any longer
place confidence in men, who have robbed
them OF safety, Of tranquility, OF every spe-
cies of domestic happiness, and every pros
pect OF future comfort, for visionary principles
of commercial consequence, which they were
once the first to reprobate and explode re-
ally believe, fopdly hope, that saving spirit
hath gone forth over our land, and that the
God of oar fathers, who protected us from
vice on the other side of the Atlantic, will save
us, from its effects, in the more seductive, but
not less violent conduct OF our present rulers.
If the declarations above alluded to, had
taken place previous to Mr.. Madison's mes
sage to Congress recommending war, they
certainly might have formed as good cause
of accusation against Great-Britain, as his
dear-bought bargain from Henry, or his insi-
nuations upon the subject of Indian hostility.
Is it not natural principle, and Is there any
thing, except inveterate hatred and malicious
accusation, that would lead US TO doubt, that
the time when those zvhon1 zve esteemed our
natural enemies, were from tdeir o7vn folly, or
any other cause, nUotVed in difficulty, was not
the most favorable moment for gratifying re-
venge or recovering right? Have our ances-
tors or ourselves so conducted, as to take from
the Indian the sense OF violated right, and do
We suppose that incendiaries are alone want
ing to rouse the feelings of injured reason
No, my countrymen, prudence might have
saved you from the il-judged conduct of your
ancestors, by preserving you in that enyied
state Of peace, which Providence had afforded
you, by means of which YOU might have opt-
grO7vn the evil but the prejudice, the violence
and factor. of your rulers, may yisitthe sins
of the fathers upon their children
But if Mr.. Madison supPoses that British
agency, and not the folly and violence Of his
partizans, in this, as in the other ceses be emu
merates, has been the cause of our distress !;
let him say, that another $4,000 dollars shall
reward the discovery and although he may
not learn the names of the disa1ected, ne Will
no doubt have the agent concerned, with az
thentic flafaers, soon laid before him. He may
then attack the integrity of the Southern, as
he has that of our Northern brethren. Here
partizans viii not fail to fill up the list of the
prescribed, and the fate ofthe brave defenders
Of private property in Baltimore, may await the
first patriots of our land. " To this favor
have you come at last" ye free and unsuspect-
ing citizens of the last Republic of the world
Bonaparte has destroyed the rest
If ysu wish to be happy, let Peace be your
watchword. If you wishto prosper, let Peace
be your first snd dearest object If you wish
for domestic ease and safety, let Peace be the
subject of your addresses to the Throne of
Grace. If you wish for Peace, be no longer
governed by atSJoea.
AGRICoLA.