Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1815-03-11


| newspapers on the Naval Administration,
which really appears to have done more in
Canada than could have been expected at
their hands. You see that the opposition
here are supported by the couatry, who
will blame you. bla ne Sir George Provost,
blame our powder. shot, ships, gun locks-
blame any person or thing ! blame and eY.
ecrate all the world, rather than acknowl-
edge The Republicans are. gun to gun and
nan TO man, our masters upon the sea. Far
be il from me co censure reluctance to come
to such an acknowledgment The reluc-
lance arises from love Of one Of the beat
profe' o,s of ones country; namely, its
fame in deeds Of arms. hut then. it is man
Hest, that this patriotic feeling, IL not sub
jccted to reason and enlightened views, may
be productive of great injustice towards
comwacders, or Ministers, or both and
may expose the nation to great and lasting
misery. The opposition are fee ding this
feeling-They ascribe every failure to you
and your colleagues and they studiously
keep out of sight the real cause of tho.e
failures They Justify the war on our part
they fan the flame they excite false
homes. of future success they say to the
people, we have failed hitherto from the
fault of the Ministry and, thereby, they
cause it 70 he believed, rhat better may he
done for the future. without any radical
change in our political and naval systems;
and, in dong so, they 10. ia my opinion, as
great an injury as they can possibly do 10
the country.
Next to the Ministry comes Sir George
pregost. Mr. Horner did not know which
was 20 blame, he Ministry or the Colonial
Gvverror. The feet had been beat and
captnred, and Mr. HorHer vas sure that it
Il.
than the fleet ITSELF or a. least its com.
mande-s: T. never could b. their fault 80
Men, who fought two hours and twenty
minutes within few yards of the mouths
of the opposing cannon. and whose vessels
had not mast or any thing standing TO
which a sat, could be fastened Such men
could not be in fault. They fought mest
braVely. They were overpowered, They
lost their fleet, but ung Fateful il the couu.
try. and base tie nj an, who iusinuates that
they ought to have done more. They could
do no none. fthey had continued D. fight,
they must have been all blowa to pieces,
without the power Of resistance. No: it
was not the fault Of the officers { our feet
lit was the fault ofthe Yankees, for be-
ing so strong in body, so agile, 80 dextrous,
and so determined. Mr. HOrner SHOULD
have made motion against them. Suppose
hrasecs,ipE ttem .lf wa.eould ge, at them
in that way,t scaid soon oeaunio their fa-
is.
I" Ave- say the people about Portsmouth
and Gos1ors, " II is time an enquiry was
made il is share thas ST. George Pre-
vast is no brou7ht home and punished ~
can assure your Lord hin, that this is their
language and they will be quite outrage
Gus, when they fad that he is not to b.
punished ; but, on the contrary. is To renain
where he is. There il no one hereaSouts
who does not think that Sir James Yeo's
letter to the Lords Of The Admiralty is a
fHtSher for Sir George. To such a pitch
OF folly has the natl on been pushed by h sr
notions of the t7vnci5ility of the Navy, that
a Captain ia that service is looked upon as
tue absolute arbiter of the fate of a Lieuten.
ant General OF the army, and the Cove nor
OF Province, under whose command he is
serving. Sensible men we're diSgusted at
the arrogance of Sir James Yeo's letter
out 1t was well suited to the Capacities and
tastes OF those who sing, or listen toDibden's
nauseOus trash about the feet and sailors.
Upon the heads of those who demand
tnese enquiries and e5rhosuree, be the cons
sequences. These consequences will be,
Ger proof that our naUaL oficers had
"'tV'ttt'fIy " |O'ce upon OOth the OCCASIONS
aiuneh %, and that thru we're to blame, if
any BODY vas, for their defeats. Sir George
frevost viii never suffer himself to be re-
farded as the cause uf these calamities and
d,sgraces and am very sure that the
Ministry, having the power, will not neg
lect the means IF justifying themselves-
90 that al this STIR will only tend to make
the modification of the navy greater than
II now is the pref udices of tho nation VIII
only receive the greater shock and the
world will only have completer proof of
those very fscts which we are SO anxious
to disguise or dis6gure.
- j. was observed during the debate, that
though our ships Of war we're quite sufi.
ciertly provided with the messs of" COM
batting an ordinary foe, they ought to have
been fitted out in an extraordinary way to
Combat such q foe as the Iplerfcans !'-
But, suppose the Admiralty not 20 have
hted them out IN this egtraordiuary way
Were they to blame for thatl Was there
a man IN the country no did not deShise
the american navyS Was there a public
writer besides myself, whe did not doom
that navy to destruction in month p
Did not all parties exceedingly relish the
description, given in very august Assem-.
bly,, OF half \ dozen Of Gr frigates, with
6its of strihcd bunting at their mast headsp"
Did not the Guerrero sail up and down the
American coast, with her name written an
her flag, challenging those fir frigates p