Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1815-03-04

| u'cueY ont mere they are not to pay alike;
the journeyman taylor and the laborer are
not to pay like the merchant and farmer
every man of the twenty-five is to pay
IN PROPORTION to his Property and thus
does the burden of defence fall with arith-
mehcai correctness on the thing to be defen-
died.
And this, my Lord is what Mr.. Walter
calls a Z" Conservation :" this he calls mea-
sure OF 6arbdrous humiliation" to the
people OF America /: for proposing this
measure he calls Mr.. Madison a '' s0ngui,
nary deSfot )" this is the me asure which he
saws will never be submitted TO by the Re.
publicans. The foolish man will soon have
10 ammo Il nee his establishment at the com,
pete success OF the measure; if he has not,
| l VIII acknowledge myself to be as great a
fool as he
But, to proceed, our Local militia were
TO serve only within their several counties.
out their service has now been extended .
though, except in cases of urgency, thew
are to be called out only month in the
year. Here 20 man must get the means of
hiring substitute from any Irsura nee ar
Cfn6. He mus. make no bargain with his
master 70 work cut the amount of the pen
! a'y. He must swear that the ten bounds
comes nut OF his own present means, or he
| must serve in person, In this case. how,
ever we approach a little nearer Mr.. Mon
roe's excellent scheme for in this militia.
we proportion the fine, in some measure, to
the property of him who refuses to serve
though rich farmer still pays only about
twenty pounds, while the poorest OF his Ia
borers must pay ten pounds, though certain<
| ly the property of the former may be esti..
mated at two or three thousand times grea-
| ter than the property of the latter Now,
according to Mr.. Monroe's scheme couple
| OF farmers would Ind Themselves classed
with twenty>three laborers and iourneymen
blacksmiths, collar-makers, wheelrights,
| &c. exc. And, ofcourse, the two farmers
would pay 24>25ths of the penalty or,
which would be the natural result, one man
out OF the twenty FIVE, with a handsome ren
ward from the rest, would cheerfuIy take
up the musket instead Of the dung folk, or
| the siedge-hammer
! but the most important distinction sill
| remains tobe noticed that ia to say, that
| we nave, tor twenty years, had militia on
foot, uader martial law, under officers CON-.
manded by the King, under the regular dis
| cipline, lodged in camps or barracks,
marched to every corner of the kingdom,
without any actual invasion of the Country.
nese regiments have been kept up, the
oaliotlng has been going on, aud no inva~
ders have come to burn our villages, towns.
| and cities ; or, to plumber them, or Law
| them under contribution. While, in A.,
merica, we are invading and laying waste
we are taxing perm anent possession of one
| district; We are compelling the people to
swear allegiance to our king we have a
| mighty naval force continually menacing the
sea cost we have the army afoat here,
| another there, more are going out and
this Mr.. Walter is calling till he is boar
| tor more troops to be sent to deyastate ard
divide the country, to overturn the repub-
llcan government and reduce the people ia
unconditional submission all this he is do
/ ing, while he is, at the same time, CRYING
| out against the 4" barbarous" scheme NJ
calling upon the people of property to de-
tend their Country, either in their persons.
or with their purses. Aye, my Lord, fool
as Mr.. Walter is, he perceives, that Mr..
Monroe's is an infallible scheme for raising
an army in a short time, and for keeping
that army complete. He, fool as he is, smells
| powder IN every line of this scheme But it
IS MS business to misrepresent, 10 disfigure.
to induce his well-dressed rabble Of rea.
ders and you too, if, possible, to believe, that
the scheme will fall, and that, therefore,
we ought TO carry on the war with all inn
aginable energy trust, however, that you
are not to be misled by him, or by any b.
! dy else trust that you will see the dang
er which this wise and equitable plan pre-
sents to IA. trust, that you will at once
1
| sion from country which has now she Wn.
that difficulties and dangers, as they press
| upon her, only tend to increase her energy.
to raise her spirit, and make her more for.
! midable. Ihave respect enough for the un-
derstanding of your Lordship to believe.
that you have not read Mr. Monroe's let
ter to the Chairman of the Military Com.
mittee with great attention, and not with.
out some degree of alarm But the concIur
sion oft is so very important, that I can.
! not refrain from agaiR Calling your atten-
! ton to il.
should" says he, :" insult the usder-
standing, and wound the feelings of the
| committee, u l touched on the calamities
incident to defeat. Dangers which are re
mote, and can never be realised, excite no
alarm with gallant and generous people.
! But the advantages Of success have a fair
claim to their deliberate confederation
! The effort we have already made has at,
tracted the attention and extorted the
| praise of other nations. Already have most
OF the absurd theories and idle speculations
on our system of government been refuted
and put down. We are now felt and res.
pected as power, and il is the dread
, which the enemy entertain Of our resources
and growing importance, that has induced
| him to press the war against US after its
| protested objects aad ceased. Success bv