Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-11-11
ALEXANDRIA.
THURSDAY, NovEMBER II.
40 sHEw
Hx VERY AGE ( RoDy OF tn. TINE
ms FoRM AND PRESSURE"

us F0RM AND PRESSURE."
The following striking contrast be
tween Peace and War, is extracted from
an excellent little work, entitled The
Plea of Reason, Religion and HumaHity
against War, by Erasmus. 1t is recon-
mended to the particular attention cfthe
, American reader, not only for the beau.
tyof the style in which it is drawn; but
for the correct view which it affords of
the FOLLY and wickedness OF those, who
without cause, and regardless of civil or
religious obligations, involve aw hole ma
lion III the horrors of war--a An e.
vii. of all human evils, the wors, and
the foulest; so destructive an evil, that
alone it exceeds them all in mischief so
abundant in misery, that it comprshends
every kind of wretcheaness within it.
self; SO presidential in its nature, that il
loads men with guilt, in proportion as it
gals them with woe"
"Peace shines upon human affairs like
the verDal sun. The fields are cu1tivat-
ed, the gardens bloom, the cattle are fed
upon Thousand hills, new buildings IA
rise, ancient edifices are repaired, richie
flow, pleasures smile, laws retain thei
vigour, the discipline of the police pre-
walls, religion glows with ardour, JUS
lice bears sway, humanity and CHARITY
increase, arts and manufactures feel the
genial warmth of encouragement, the
| gains of the poor are more plentiful, the
opulence of the rich displays itself with
additional splendour, liberal studies h"u-
rish, the young are well educated, the
old enjoy their ease, marriages are hap
py, good men thrive, and tie bad are
kept under consroul But no sooner
! does the storm of war begin 10 lower,
than what deluge Of miseries and mis-
/ furtupcs seizes, mandates & overxheims
| III things WITHIN the sphere ut Its ac,Iu.!
! The hncks are scattered, the harvest
trampled, the husbandman butch, ed
viilcs and villages blu mt, cities and states,
that have been ages risiag to their hou
rishing state, subverted by the fury o.!
me tempest, the storm of var, SO MUCH
easier isihe TASK ofdcing ha' III than ofdo
ing good of destroying than OF bu: lding
up The earnings OF honest Industry,
the wealth OF quiet citizens are trans'er-
red tn the pockets of sxecraole robbers
and murderers Private houses eXhibi;
the dismal effects ct fear, sorrow aud
! complaint, aud all places resound WITH
the voice of lamentation. The loom
| stands still the trowel, the axe and the
] hammer are silent; and the poor manu-
lecturers must either s,arve, Oh have re.
course to wicked practlces for daily
| bread The rich either deplofe the d.
minution and less Of their property, Or
lie under terrible apprehension for what
remains in beth circumstances rsnder-
ed by war incapable OF enjoying the COM
,oon comforts Of life. Marriages are
few, or attended with distressioi and ia
tai consequences. Martens, deserted
by their husbands. now forced to the
wars, pine at home in chlldiess solitude.
The lays are compelled TO silence, cha
rity is lauged at, justice ha, no dwelling
place, and religion becomes an ooJcc, vi
scorn, till DO distinctions is left between
the scored snd the profane. Youth Is
corrupted by every species of vice; old
men lament their longevity; and their
| grey BARS descend with sorrow to the
grave, No honor is paid TO learning,
| sciences, arts; the elegant pursuits ut
| liberal and honorable minds. In a word,
more misery is felt from war than the
eioquence of any man, much more than
mine, is able to describe: yet 1t might
be born patiently if war made us mise
rable only, a, 4 did not corrupt our mo-
raIs, and invoVe Us in guilt; II Peac
| made us only happier, and not better {:
! bot the man who engages Id war oy
! choice, that man, whoever he Is, is :
! wicked man: ae sins against nature, a
gainst God. against man, and is gully
5, of che most aggravated and complicated
impiety.
| Too many alas are the evils by which
miserable mortality is of necessity r.
mented, worn out, x at last overwheim-
ed. Two Thousand years "go, no lever
than three hundred names OF dangerous
| diseases, besides their various sp cies
and degrees, were discovered by the
| physicians aud every day, even now,
! new diseases arise. Old age itself is
disease, an incurable disease we read
of whole cities buried in ruins by earth
uuakes, or burnt to ashes by lightning
whole countries swallowed up in chasns
occasioned by subterraneous cohvui-
sions; not to mention how many men
are lost by casualties, which by the ire
| quency of their occurrence, cease to sur
| Prise how many are drowned In seas