Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1820-02-03

,.;s;nn - a.. an oehold a powcr
rising IN tue west, terrible when MY
voked to hostility. fertile in eynea pro-
%andaciots in enterprise, and wEoaa mt !
ntute seems to gather new rpsouas
from embarrassments. A free SesE
must from the very nature Of tha rs'ple
be a terrible people. That libert Ease, /
thought, and of action-that rroc OF
course and interchange of opinion '' S;r
c e.ha IN all u acts of private I Gs'
when once summsDed to answer th "s'
Emergencies of war, will always be a. &
more than competent to encnu,to, "D"u
a crisis. Defeated in one battle. e rurls
men return more vigorously IA ~.
Charge their late discontinue en. 'e|
them to explore new resources If ' c"at:
tnde and of enterprise. to cousoIiaa4,
their actions, and to lay the sure fo"u
datlons of their glory on the tomb Il
their recent disasters. This has hos,
the history of all free governments.
occasionally wild, turbulent. temnasta
Gus and lm~practicable, they rise with
renovated yisor, and repair all thai"
disasters. Little is to be feared r"nn,
foreign hostility /; terrible as thai bo,,i
lity may be. But this spirit. this life.
giving l"'isoratiDg principle, able. as
by magic, to turn venerable oaks into
proud and ma este navies, bowling fl,
rests into populous cities. wigwams in
to temples, aud to compel the e~verIsst-
ing ri ers to forsake the channels If
nature, and to flow intothose construct.
cd by art this liberal spirit demands
to be fostered, patronized. cherished
and sustained by a legislation as large.
and as liberal. When fettcrcd, when
restrained. when crampcd up by a SCR.
did, narrow, selfish,cold, ungcniaI poll.
cy, 1t bursts its way as a mountain ca.
taract bursts the boundaries of a rivulet,
There must be a Legislative opening for
so mach enterprise /; legislation cannot
obstrnct the course ofthis mora! stream;
it a only teach it to flow in formal
majesty. We hope that our Legislators
at Washington feel, what we will ven.
ture 70 denominate a patriotic sensibili.
ty that they contemplate the grandeur
of the occasion on which they are cal.
led to act. This is an important thing,
important to the present, and to the fu.
ture destiniNs of this country.
Let it be remembered, that legisla.
tors in a free government, do not. and
cannot form public opinion; they are
the mere organs of public opinion for
instance, we will suppose, that the pub.
tic voice uttered from Maine. and re.
sponded from Georgia, demands a
Spanish war; what are the resolutions
of congress-, to prevent such a crisis
what all their fleets, and what all their
armics-what are they all. either single
or cunfedcrated but a cobwe6 opposed
to a t%lunderbolt. Our Legislators with
such evidence before their eyes, are
called upon to adopt a policy cores
p0ndcnt TO the crisis it is in vain to
temporize it is IN vain to finch dis
cussion it is in vain to resort to the
previous question in ~po1icy-the iorcS
of public sentiment begins 10 thunder
from behind there is a power IN mo-
ton, over which they cannot have re-
straint, and which must be obeyed'"'
We do not say in what particular chan
mel, this torrent will flow whether 10
its course. it will wear a channel TO
the east, or to the west. to the norm, /.
or to the south ; but it wiH fOw, and II
a passage is not opened by our ieSlS'"-
TORS. t will find one for 1tSetf..