Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1812-10-23

-,nsnt from the tomahaWk hhu scdiPhhS
"a Of their savage neighbours, quickly be
ne treat and powerful, and were admitted
a.p proper rank among the states. Our
- nsrce. protected and extended by advan-
!. -so1s treaties with foreign powers, encreas-
with wonderful rapidity, and, in a few
T. exhibited to an astonished world a mer-
sotl. marine, second to none but that of
c-,.t Britain. A navy was created for the
lection of this commerce, on which our
.s,erify depended, and measures were a.
S,oted Tor its gradual and progressive aug
r,snfation. The prosperity of our
,snsed agriculture to flourish. The honest
md Industrious farmer sustained the tolls of
bs occupation with a light and gladstone
heart. certain that he would reap in peace the
fras Of his labour. His midnight slumbers
were not disturbed by the apprehension of ru-
mons e~mbargo-laws, of non-intercours laws,
or of war nor did he then, as now, look for
vard with dread to each successive meeting
efthe national legislature. TIE national cha
r.cter was elevated by the magnanimous po-
lcy of our rulers. Prompt in demanding for
every insult and every injury, immediate sa-
t%sfaction, and ready to receive it when prof
iered, our government commanded the res
poct Of every foreign nation. BY a dignitied,
nd at the same time a cautious policy, it pre-
,A.ted the nation from being involved in that
tremendous conflict which The two greatest
powers OF Europe have SO long waged against
each other-a conflict in which all the repub-
lies Of the old world have been successfully
DESTROYED. The consequence was that we
reaped the rich harvest of neutrality. Never
was a people more prosperous, never was a
people more happy, than was this people, un-
Der the federal administration
Behold the sad reverse OF the picture. For
twelve years we have been governed by a de
m~ocratic administration, and where are we
now? Either actually suffering, or too GER
t&lnly knowing that we must soon endure all
the calamities of war, and all the miseries of
poverty. With an empty treasury, and with
out any means of immediately repienishing
with an army composed of few thousand
raw recruits, dispersed far and wide over the
whole surface ofour territory-with a navy re-
daeed by folly and infatuation to comparative
iasigniicance-with a half fortified maritime
frontier-our fortresses in the north and west
in a state OF decay, and almost destitute of
garrisons-not a single mounted cannon west
o. the Allegheny, to protect a frontier twelve
1undFed miles in eXtent-the British masters
efths lakes, those vast inland seas, the com
nand Of which is 50 important to us, in wa
glng either an offensive or defensive war a.
salnst Canada-such was the situation OF the
conntry, when the administration on the 18th
June, rashlg, prematurely and precipitately
declared war against Great Britain, the great
s't naval and almost the greatest military
power in the world.
What have been the first fruits ofan infatu-
alton so unparalleled ?-What is our situation
now An army captuFed-three fortresses
t@Aen--our country invaded savage foe,
encouraged by our imbecility, in arms against
uS~iaylnS waste our frontiers, numbering our
fsip!ess old men, our women and children
Whence these unlocked for disasters How
mas tins disgrace come upon us 2-How hap
pans 1t, that a great and powerful nation is
Guided, defeated and put to utter sheme-its
armies and its fortresses eaptured-its soil in.
vaNed, by a few h~alfnaked savages, and the
frontier garrison. of a contemplate provinces?
Fellow citizens, this accumulation of dis
assars, these foul blots on our national escut-
e6eon, can be imputed only to the deplorable
lncspacity of the men who now rule over us.
The folly and weakness which induced chem
10 commence the war without adequate pre-
''hp ~ sc hA0CfA W - }GdlCu, undIk
ssssry stage of it with disaster. A war, com
tl'eheed under such auspices, and carried on
IN SUCH a way, must eventuate in a disgrace
ioI and ignominious peace. This is only to be
avoided by a change of rulers.
bus how are the expenses of this war to be
oe'rayed Our is destroyed-the
scream OF wealth which flowed, thro' this
channel, into the national Golfers, has been
cried up by the flames of war. Think you
'nat the miserable sxpedients which have
mus lar been resorted to, can last the admin
'StFa'on long NO, fellow citizens, the ad-
m'nistration knows that they cannot. 1t has
'esorted to treasury bills-to loans-and even
Ihro Its agents in Virginia, to private eleemo-
'ynary contributions, that it mi ht be enabled
20 postpone, until after the presidential cleo
non tue imposition of those heavy taxes
"hlch the enormous expenses OF the war wiil
ltlIEr AlE0llfelV nn.acganv fna nla.k:-..