The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1813-01-02

of its pgov.sions and some faint feelings Ct
virt.. in endeavoring to secure its esta
bl.shment. Your own labored eulogies on
that Instrument, are a concession of more
than this: how then is il, | besecch YOU,
that administering this very constitution,
this very mau. can in no single instance,
ei,l,er acc wisely or feel ,irtuously; but
wamtonly heaps on eur heads every c;,lami-
" which wIcA sdness Can Gevise, or mad
ness provoke How is it that all right, AL
/, fairness are wrested TO the side of govern
ment once hated by Us all, as cruel and OPP
pressive, aud which you sir, will not cor
tend, is founded on even the show OF MAJ
,uralJus,ice? The people OF Nirgina arc
ut once Intelligent, gcoerous and grateful
Befors: they Will, on tue bare assertion Of
any man. or set OF me1, especially when
little known to them, abandon these s~nc
have grown old In their service they will
investigate the charges preferred ugaii.st
those tried servants, and the Cretensions
aud view of the men who seek to Supplant
them. We are aware that between anita
gonists, every privation OH the side, is
gain on the other, and that men often aim
ar consequence by derogating from the fame
OF their opponents. How stands the fact in
the present instancee You have common.
ccd your strctures on the course pursued
by tue general government, by assuming
The fact, that the administration has hii.,ss-
cd us into war which might have been
Eonorabiy avoided; and this bclu' assuinp-
tion you have rendered, if possible, still
more extraordinary, by prefacng it with
explicit Acknowledgements, that it belongs
not to you to question the motives of the
men in Office" Now, sir, this species OF
medley, it really requires SOME Skill and
astuteness to separate for to me it would
seem, that unless you have enquired into
and appreciated the motives and causes by
which the administration has been impellcd
: into the war, you must be most supertici-
al judge OF its merits, aud are guilty OF a
conduct at once cruel, unmanlv, in all res
poets unjustihable, III attempting to excite
antipathics against men and measures, when
in regard Il both, you are ConieSsedly igno-
rant. But l ask, has the administration
Plunged lis into war? / distiem a cavil a.
bout words not critically applied !; but what
is the common import OF this phrase 1t
can to eve.y understanding mean neither
more nor less, that an imputatiOn to The adj
nin,stration of Incorporate rashnesS, which
arerse from expostulation, has for trivial
or imaginary wrongs, regardless OF all prof
Hers dissatisfaction, hurried headlong TO thc
contest Really, sir, feel very little dis
position to enumerate here the repeated,
indeed the unceasiug and Illuminating out
RACES, committed by Britain against my
country, from the treaty of peace to this
day; injuries, aimed at the independence OF
the nation. and forming each of them Il
Justification for war. ! am as unwilling e.
Qually, TO recaptulate the protracted and
Irnitiess negotiations with that corrupt
power, and her final introduction even OF
remonstrance. They are fresh in the me-
.7nory OF ali, and in every one less heated by
party than you are, will excite astonish-
nent at the temerity of your assertion
Pray, sir, how often have you and YOUR po-
1itical associates, rallied at this very aGmi-
-nistration as weak and pusiilarimous, for
net repeiling in your own time and way,
offences of no greater magnitude from a
different power: And can you seriously
believe, that the people of this district will
not enquire, by what magic the chastise-
,nent of Britain for injuries, which when
i1n1icted by France, were deemed worthy
of immediate hostility, is converted instant.
ly into rashness and prccipitancy? The fol-
lowing solution Of the matter, viii no doubt
appear 10 you rather uncourtly; but il
seems to me correctly explained in this
way: Mr. Morris and his friends can never
hope for power. whilst the Present admins
tration shall retain its popularity (; every
failure To act by the administration, is with
Messrs. Morris. 9, Co. a subject for cavil--
every act it can perform, is equally so.
With a view, I'presume, OF sustaining
your Charge OF rashnces IN the admiDistra-
ton, you have said. that Britain had pro
missed to proceed in an equal degree with
France IN repeating her offensive edicts
This attempt, Sir, which in common, with
some others you have made, to avoid tine
real dispute, is truly surprising. An Ar
sument III fayur of British rapacity derived
from French violence, COMFORTS very lily
with the character Of an American citizen ;
not at all with that OF an American Stairs
man. When first announced in an English
pamphlet entitled War in Disguise, & rhro'
some of the decisions Of Sir William Scott ;
1t was received here with deepest iDdgna-
ton; and has ever been regarded by dis
passionate men as an attempt III Britain
Through her naval superiority, to bend the
rules OF national law and common honesty,
to her particular interests. 1t is in truth
simply this: Fvance robs Britain, and this
latter power, to make herself whole, re
solves to rob America and you, Sir, are OF
opinion, that we should quietly submit to
this robbery, because Britain has ia her
taithless promise, given us what yoh are
pleased to call -" Il pledge" that when
France shall cease to plunder, She will for
bear too. You really think the adminIstra-
ton might honorably have declined resist
ing such roguish pretensions. and has been
prec'pi;ate IN resolving to repel Them with
---- ------ ~;.',' =. 'l"'iiV7s 'V,tVristI aHUS
In the midst OF your professions Of Hmtrican
/eeHngS, y solemn abjurations of prejudice or
PrepOssession, now have you blotted from
your memory the correspondenceo Of Mr. L os-