Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-02-12

long Will tie war last? supppsv ill.,.
long as our revolutionary waY-ccsa,, ~.
cost ut Sooo,0oo,ooo. When begun. + III
depend OIL US to end it. Our enemy u.
| ing its r,linous effects on our rcsougc.. 4
prefer continuing it, till want, Dcce..;,
misery shall enable them to break asn5aa,'
feeble ligamenis that bind us tose,5a,
this state Of things, tie West maybe ten,,
to seperate from the East, ard the North =,
the South: and these scpcrate inteex.
local riEaiships which have proved the c,,
and ruin Of the other portions of the word
may innict Oh US the same scourgcs y,
! truth is, neither are our present ye,o,..
adequate, nor is the form of our goyerr,n,..
adapted to carry ON any bat defensive w.,,
Our deliberations are too slow and too pp5r,
our preparations admit not OF ccnccgm,r,
Our projects will always be discovered by.
brave and active enemy in time to defca, then
If the lust of conquest has seized our her,
I'VE must change our government--we ,Dp.
vest our President with the regal powers q
war and peace-wc must give to our conrres,
a more complete command Of the persons an!
property of our Offensive must lessen Il.
=. n &c +h
deprive them of the ability by their intere,
epce Of frustrating the measures of the ~.
tional policy. In fine, we must give to On,
empire more consolidated form Li,,
France, we must become one and indeyhbI,
one system of laws must peryade our terri
tory, and one will must rule throughout
Like France, we must have our conscripit5
system, which will compuisively force our
youth into the ranks of our arnies--we must
not rely on voluntary enlistments. Are We
prepared to change our free and happy coDl.
ton for military despotisga. Can the paty
ambition of conquering Canada, Nova Scotia
and the Floridas SO intoxicate our minds, asts
hazard these consequences: namely the do.
solution of our union or TO treueat Mst:
the establishment Qfa tyranny2 In these views
the proposed war then can nett II be cons.
dered as necessary, as polite or wise Let|
r L. Il
bility of raising the army required for it
Our constitution vests congress with no
power to raise an army for foreign conquest
but by voluntary enlistment. For the defence
of our territory, their power over the force q
the nation is ample and complete For plF'
poses of conquest and ambition, feeble and re-
strained. We do not believe that for such all
object in the present state OF our poPulatler'
under the present habits and pursuits OF cur
citizens, that an army of thirty thousand men
can be raised in the United States by voluOa.
ry enlistment in two years-perhaps not "
five-especially if the period OF service s'aH
be uncertain or long-uness IN fact the pe'Nl
Of service shall be so short, as OF ltse"
render our army Though expensive "'"
tory and unfit to execute any lnpor''"' -
ject. And this army will not consist OF the 'A'
roburoue ItaIi;e," but of the very ieco'S'''
and dregs of our society. From such q ','s'
can we expect brilliant achievements O
rious conquests Were the nation S"''s'-N
the necessity, the policy and "'So'.
tie war-dii they see ample and stable '''i.
first provided to carry it on-~-ln that ''''
might be possible to raise an army COMP
of the flower and strengths OF GU .ah"--'
my which it might be honorable TO '0' ",,,
TO whom the nation might with co'"''
commit its safety and IFS Liberties NV .o,
out money in our t-easury--Wlth i'n