Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1815-04-29
THE GENERAL's ANSWER.

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TIE GENERALS ANSWER.
Fetiow Sotdiers.
Popular favor has always been With
0e, secondary object. NV frst wish,
m political life, has been to be useful to nv
country, Yet. am not insensibe to the
good opinion Of my fellow citizens would
do much to obtain it but, Icannot, for this
purpose, sacrifice my own conscience or
what l conceive to be the interests of my
country
These principles have prepared me TO re
ceive. with just satisfaction, the address
you have presented. The first wish of nv
heart. the safety Of our country, has been
accomplished, and it affords me the grea-
test happiness TO know that the means ia
ken to secure this object have met the an
probation OF those who have had the best
opportunities of judging Of their preprieiy,
and who, from their various relations, might
be supposed the most ready to censure any
which had been improperly rcsorted to-
The destincticR you draw, gentlemen, be-
tween those who only dec,aim about civil
rights and those Who fight to maintain them,
shews how Jus, and practical knowledge
you Rave OF the true principles of liberty
without such knowledge all theory is use
less or nischievous.
Wheneverthe invaluable rights which we
enjoy under our own happy constitution are
threatened by Invasion, privileges the most
dear, aud which, in ordinary times. ought
TO be regarded as the most sacred. maybe
required to be infringed for their security
AT such crisis, we have only to determine
whether we will suspend, for a time, the
txercise OF the latter, that we may secure
the permanent enjoyment of the former. Is
1t wise, IN such moment, to sacrifice the
spirit CT the laws to the letter. and by adj
herring TOO strictly to the letter, lose the
substance forever. in order that we NAV,
TOT an instant. preserve the SHADOW /, II is
not TO be imagined that the express proyi-
sious ct any written law can fully embrace
emergt nci-s VIII IN uppose and occasio, the
suspension 1T all law, but the highest and
the last, that ct So preservation. No right IS
more precious to 4 freeman than that OF
suffrage, but had your election taken place
on the, 8th of January, would your declai
mers have advised youto abandon the Gle.
fence OF your Country in order to exercise
this lnestimable privilege of the pollsi Is
1t to be supposed that your General. if he
regarded the important trust committed to
his charge. would have permitted you to
preserve the constitution by an act which
would have involved constitution, couDtry
and honor, in one undistinguished ruin
what is more Justly important than per-
sonsi liberty yet how can the civil enjoys
ment of this privilege be made te consist
with the order, subordination and discipline
OF campf Let the sentinel be removed by
Sncfoeno from FIs post, let writs IF hdbeas
eo'fns carry away the officers from the
lines and the enemy may conquer your
Country. by OILY eppoyisg lawyers to de-
fend ycur con3tituN u.
Private property is held sacred in all good
governments and particularly in our own,
yet shall the fear of invading it prevent a
general from marching his army over a
cornheld, or burning house which pro-
tec's the enemy
These and Thousand other instances
might be- cited TO shew that la VS. must sur,e-
tiises be tilent when necessity speaks Tne
only question with the lriepd of his country
will be, have these laws been made to lie
silent when n cessity speaks. The only
question with tn friend of mis- country will
be, have these laws been made tn be silent
wantonly and unnecessarily? RI necessity
dictated the measure. if resort to 1t was
imPoftabt for the preservation of those
rights which we esteem So dear and in de
fence of which we had so willingly taken up
arms surely il would not have been becom-
ing ia the commander in chief to have
shrunk from the responsibility which it in-
vowed. He did not shrink from It. In de-
clarpg Martial law, his object. and his only
object, was u embody the whole resources
OF the country for its defence. That law,
while It existed, necessarily suspended all
rights and privileges Inconsistent with its
provisions. 1t is matter of surprise, that
they who boast themselves the champ ions
OF those rights and privileges, should not.
when they we're first put m danger by the
proclaim ation of martial law, have manifest
cd that lively ssnsibiity of which they have
since made so ostentatious disp lay. So far,
however was this from being the case that
this measure not only met, then, the open
support OF those who when their country
was invaded thought resistance virtue,
and the silent appreciation Of alL--but even
received the particular accommodation and
encouragement Of many who now iRseigh
the moss bitterly against IL II was not un-
I'll victory, secured by that very measure.
had lessened the danger which occasioned a
resort to It, that the present feeling guar
dfaDs 2f our rights discovered that the com
manding general ought to have suffered his
post to be abandoned through the interior
ence OF a foreign ageut--his ranks to be
thiSned by desertion and his whole army TO
be brok on to pieces BY mutiny while yet a
powerful force Of tile enemy remained on
your coasts aud withina few hours sail Of
your city.