STATE PAPERS. 



437 



late 80 frequently and violently in- 

 culcated, that when war is once 

 declared, all inquiry iato its justice 

 and expediency ought to cease, and 

 all opposition to the men in power 

 immediately to be abandoned, is 

 essentially hostile to the vital prin- 

 ciples of our republican institu- 

 tions ; and ifadopted, would change 

 our present government into one of 

 the worst species of tyranny which 

 the ingenuity of the foes of freedom 

 has yet contrived, — a government 

 republican in its forms, in spirit 

 . and practice arbitrary and despotic, 

 —that it must be obvious to the 

 most ordinary capacity, that were 

 such a doctrine to prevail, an ad- 

 ministration which by its corrup- 

 tion or imbecility had justly for- 

 feited the confidence of the people 

 would be tempted to plunge the 

 nation into an unjust or unneces- 

 sary war, for the sole purpose of 

 perpetuating their power, and thus 

 building their own greatness on the 

 ruins of their country. 



Resolved, That without insisting 

 on the injustice of the present war, 

 taking solely into consideration the 

 time and circumstances of its de- 

 claration, the condition of the 

 country, and state of the public 

 mind, we are constrained to con- 

 sider, and feel it our duty to pro- 

 nounce it a most rash, unwise, 

 and inexpedient measure ; the 

 adoption of which ought for ever 

 to deprive its authors of the esteem 

 and confidence of an enlightened 

 people — because, as the injuries 

 we have received from France, 

 are at least equal in amount to 

 those we have sustained from Eng- 

 land, and have been attended with 

 circumstances of still greater insult 

 and aggravation — if war were ne- 

 ceaiary to vindicate the honour of 



the country, consistency and im- 

 partiality required that both nations 

 should have been included in the 

 declaration. Because if it were 

 deemed expedient to exercise our 

 right of selecting our adversary, 

 prudence and common sense dic- 

 tated the choice of an enemy, from 

 whose hostility we had nothing to 

 dread. A war with France would 

 equally have satisfied our insulted 

 honour, and at the sume time, 

 instead of annihilating, would have 

 revived and extended our com- 

 merce — and even the evils of such 

 a contest would have been miti- 

 gated by the sublime consolation, 

 that by our efforts we were con- 

 tributing to arrest the progress of 

 despotism in Europe, and essen- 

 tially serving the great interests of 

 freedom and humanity throughout 

 the world. Because « republican 

 government, depending solely for 

 its support on the wishes and 

 affections of the people, ought 

 never to declare a war, into which 

 the great body of the nation are 

 not prepared to enter with zeal 

 and alacrity; as where the justice 

 and necessity of the measure are 

 not so apparent as to unite all 

 parties in its support, its inevitable 

 tendency is, to augment the dis- 

 sentions that have before existed, 

 and by exasperating party violence 

 to its utmost height, prepare the 

 way for civil war. Because, be« 

 fore a war was declared, it was 

 perfectly well ascertamed, that a 

 vast majority of the people in the 

 middle and northern states, by 

 whom the burthen and expenses 

 of the contest must be borne 

 almost exclusively, were strongly 

 opposed to the measure. Because 

 we see no rational prospect of at- 

 taining, by force of armt, the ob- 



jectd 



