Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-03-05
FOR THE VIRGINIA ARcus.
&ENopAoN-No.u.

xENoPHoN-No. IT,
Aroused to action, doubt not the U. States
would require, in a war against Great Britain,
army OF fifty thousand regular troops but
it does not follow that the whole of this number
ought TO be authorised by single vote OF the
Congress, nor that all the men should be raj
sed in the first year OF the war They must be
enlisted, during the war, as citizens can be in
duced TO enter the service. A wise legislator
would take care not to depreciate the induce
ment But MIR. Randolph, in this respect, has
strained his lungs and refined his subti.ty 10 re.
press the ardor OF the country.
According to the political tcnets of this gen
tleman, the person who transfers himself from
civil to military life, barters the fair general re-
putation OF a citizen for an infamous character:
yet he cannot demonstrate that the name or the
condition of soldier, carries with it either the
idea OF villainv or dishonor. Those who, in the
heart OF the community, are debauchcd by plea
sure or depraycd by vice, may merit censurc or
provoke reprobatioH ; but when they repair to
the national banner, no matter what the motive,
whether patriotic or merccnary, their situation
is ameiiorated, the sphere of contagion from
their example is contracted, their evil propen-
Sites are rebuked, what remains of virtue in
them is cherished, they are excited TO a mar
tial ifnot 20 moral spirit and the honor of the
corps corroborates and sustains the feeble SEN
sations ofrectitudc that Gngcr in the breast of
the recruit. 1t may, indeed, sometimes happen,
that mere mercenary troops, who fight only fer
pay, making trade of war, would, under a pro-
mise Of plumber or with profusion of larges-
ses, follow the arbitrary directions of an aspir-
ing leader, and lend their aid to subver the free
dom of the republic; but this can rarely occur
IN sparse population, or where the advantages
of treason outweighed by the benefits of fl
deity. The difficulty of filing the ranks with
regulars in the United States, is proof enough,
Alae,
predominant on the side OF civil pursuits: There
is neither corruption nor sufficient wretched-
ness among us to render enlistment in the army
III agreeable =eliSf y IRore powerful impulse.
must prevail; and none, is so Influential with
Americans as iove ofk5ouEtry. When that is
once awakened, and the animating voice of the
government infiames it into passion, the batta-
lions of the Union will exhibit an array of stur-
dy yeomen, neither debilitated by pleasure nor
debasedby vice, preferring the sweets and hap
piness of peace to the inquietudc and turbulencc
of hostilities, and only repairing to the field of
battle from sense of national injuries and
determination to participate IN common dan
gers. To faint these with the blasting breath
ofpestilential denuRciation, to mark them as
outcasts and reprobates the moment they grasp
the arms and clothe themselves in the Uniform
of their country, to designate them as odious to
liberty and unworthy of her service, is to petri-
fy their hearts to the call of patriotism, to I'M
arm government in the hour Of peril 1t can
not be possible that the few dssipated crea-
lures who are picked up for the army in our CT.
ties can pollute the whole military mass nor Is
1t just disgracefuly to brand the entire class for
the vices ofso small portion of it. 1 need not
dwell upon the impolicy Of such wanton de-
graduation. Where is the eye that brightens I'M
der the pressure of unmerited reproach Or
where is the arm that cheerftilly eNerts itself
in fight beneath the paraiyzing finger of
scOrn
Nothing could be better calculated to lessen
the soldiers OF a republic in their own estima-
ton, than the proposition of Mr. Randolph to
convert them into common laborers. His re-
ference to the discipline of the Roman legion
may delude those whose knowledge Of ancient
history is superficial; but those who are deeply
read will be sensible that the labor of the Ro-
man soldier was alone confined to military
works. TO the opening ofroads, to the fortif-
cation Of camps and cities, and to the erection
-of magnificent edIfices commemorative of war
like achievements. Every employment Of the
Roman soldIery was closely connected with the
glory Of ther arms The highways that were
- opened facilitated the march of the legons TO
a province or territory already conquered or
still to be subdued the labors Of castrametati-
on rendered the troops secure from surprize or
open assault by the foe; and the arch Of tri-
umph or the pillar of renown, reflected the
splendor of the successful leader and sublimed
the vanity of the private warrior. Yet even
these undertakings, interviewer as they were
with the martial feelings ofthe armies OF Rome,
were frequently productive Of murmurs and Of
ten ofinsurrections. At times, the imperial au-
thority was inadequate TO the suppression of
these sgitations; and, on one occasion, in push
ing the point oflabor too far, the emperor Pro.
bus fell victim 10 his ill-iudged severity.
From the general tenor Of Mr.. Randolph's
arguments, it is 20 be inferred that he considers
An army ofregUlar troops, in any exigency, in
compatible with the freedom Of the people.
This opinion takes it for granted, in the first
place, that the militia organized and per-
fcctly disciplined; and in the second that they
can be marched beyond the limits of the Uni.
Ted States. Neither of these suppOsitions is
true. The militia Of the Eastern States have,
1t is admitted, preserved from the early regula-
tons oftheir original settlements, when an In
dian neighborhood compelled them to unite the
use ofiire-arms to social industry, and from the
customs Of the revolutionary war, a habit Of
muster, drill and manocuyre bat these are
not 90 be found in the other States Of the Union.
Mr. R1ndolpi's boosted proposition 90 put arms
in the hands the militia, would, therefore, in
the present emergency, DC productive Of little
benefit; for Of what Immediate utility would
musketsb be ~ the hands Of men who know not