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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmi A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, da gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ta m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^;1 W \^-'^:M i> ■< ■e^^ W. '1?. ■^i?" -i*' .APROT|:|f AGAIN '4: '.'THE WAa».: u^-' k, I 5 ^ Mr- y*. ^* .,^.,;^,,^^W%H , ^,_^ i'> i'-k- ^.*?^-' t.. ISC «■ *,. 5i' • UftSE %■ y, 'r DELIVERED AT '. t « .1 ■ B Y F I E L D, PAST DAT, JULY 23, 1812. ,v,. .^^ By E. PARISH, D. B, Hi ■< " My lenience is for open war : of wiliii *' More unexpert I boast not— shall " Millions, who stand in arms, and longr wait •• The sif^nal to atcend, sit lingering here, " Heaven's fugitives, «nd for their dwelling place, " Accept this dark, opprobrious den ot shame." MOLOOK. ■»^ .y '%/* f ) t NEWBURYPORT i IKOM TUl PllESB OF S. W. ALLllT. Ilia, '« I » % ill .^J W-'^'i' ■**=v • / ... /' '■#■'■ -* w *■-%>■ ^ • r * I .' ■*• DISCOURSE, ISAIAIT 21, 11. He CALir,ETH TO ME OUT OF SEIR. WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT ? Watchman, wfjAT of the night i ^f\ RANGE of mountains on the sonth bor- der of Judea in Arabia was called Seir. One of the Arabs in these mountains, is represented in the vision of the Prophet, as awakened to enquire of him; "Watchman, what of the night?" What are the tidings ? You stand on the watch tower, to des- cry danger ; you are always awake ; what do you discover ? What is the voice of prophecy ? What time of the night is it ? When will it be morning ? What is the aspect of the times ? What is to be done ? To such enquiries the prophet points out the duty of his hearer, and the signs of the times. Like him, as far as I am able, I would consider the signs and duties of our times ; but alas, my replies will be as much inferior to those of the inspired prophet, as my hearers are superior to an assem- bly of Arabians. Yet with perfect reliance on your candor I proceed to observe, I. The woes of /ion's long night of affliction are coming to a final close. That the church of Jesus Christ is in a de- pressed, afflicted state, has long been felt by her \ r It I- ! ■i-i' > tl ,< • ■\t I -'*" ,1 friends, has long been matter of exultation with her enemies. Once Christianity adorned the crowns and sceptres of the world ; once kings and emper- ors were happy to bear the cross of Jesus, to be the powerful advocates of the Redeemer's cause. But long, long has this ceased to be descriptive of the church. Long has she been deserted by her powerful friends, her royal benefactors ; she has long been '^ in the wilderness," either persecuted or forsaken. This state of adversity and exile, to be endured by the church, is in scripture described by various figures and emblems. Rev. 12. 6. "And the woman," die true church, "fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her dicre, a thousand, two hundred, and three score days," or twelve hundred and sixty days. One rule of prophetic writing is, to put a day for a year, which is so gen- erally admitted as to require no proof. Kere then \\e learn the exact period, during which the church sliall be afflicted, tv/clve hun- dred and sixty years. Other passages con- firm this. Rev. 11. 2, 3. "But the court, which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given to the gentiles, and the holy city, i. e. the church shall they tread under foot forty and two months." Reckoning thirty days to a month, as was then the custom, furty-two months are pre- cisely twelve hundred and sixty days, or years ; during this period the church is "■ to be trodden under foot," as it now is. The next verse more plainly confirms this. " And I will give power un- to my two witnesses, and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.'^ Agreeably to this, we learn that the triumph of scoffers and persecutors will continue just twelve hundred and sixty years. Rev. 13, S. ^' And there was given to it" (tlie beast) " a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto it to make war* forty and two months." Thus twelve-hundred and sixty years is the period, during which bhisphemers shall prevail, and the church be afflicted. The same fact we learn from the old Testament. In Daniel a dread- ful power represented by " a little horn," which, like the " beast" in Revelation, " spoke great words against the most High, and changed times and laws, and into whose hands the saints were given," is to continue " a time and times and the dividing of time," that is, a year, two years, and half a year, precisely, forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty years. Having repeatedly discussed the sub- ject, I shall spend no time in proving that the pa- pal church is this persecuting, blasphemous power. The question remaining is, %vlien did that church become so wicked, as to be no longer a true church and therefore, represented by a beast or the horn of a beast. Could we ascertain this, we should know when the Church v/ould throw off her sack- cloth, and come up from the wilderness. This point has been investigated according to its great importance. But the nature of the case shows that the exact time cannot be demonstrated, till the period specified is fulfilled. We need not, there- fore, be surprized, that different writers have a- dopted various opinions. Some have gone back for the apostacy of the Romish church to A D 257, the time of Stephen, an arrogant and haughty Ro- mish pontiff. Others, for various reasons, which we have not time to discuss, fix their eye on A D GOCt, when Phocas, the emperor, conferred on the bishop of Rome, the insolent title of universal Bisli- • Dr. Doddiii'.j^e. op, and virtually delivered the whole christian world into his hands to be persecuted and humbled. Others think the apostacy commenced, and the true church was driven into the wilderness A D 755 or 6 when Pepin king of Freince constituted the Pope the prince of a considerable country. If we prefer the first period, and add two hundred and fifty seven to twelve hundred and sixty, it brings us down to 1517, the Vffry year in which M. I.uther appeared to dispel the darkness of papal night, which some, perhaps, would consider the dawn of the millennial day. If we fix on six hundred and six, which to most divines seems to be the true time, it brings us down to 18S6, which is fifty four years from the present time. This, certainly, is a short period compared with twelve hundred and sixty 3'ears. Let the church then be calm and quiet, tho' the moon be turned to blood, and the stars fall from heaven, her time of suffering is rapidly coming to a final close. II. Does any one, like the man of the mountains, repeat ihe enquiry, ''Watchman, Watchman, what of the night," I a.^-.iin reply. It is the reign o{- Aiiti-christ^ the short triumph of thai tremendous king mention- ed in I'anicl, who does according to his fFill. The world has never seen such a Power before ; the book of God has described no other like him \ we cannot mistake him ; he has no fellow. Tho' the papal power was in some sort to be the agent, or instrument of /ion's woes, during the whole period of twelve ^ hundr xl and sixty years, yet toward the close of this time, another Power or " beast"' was to rise up and destroy thi.-> papal beast. Hence we see, they must for a certain period exist together. The ten horns, or kingdoms of the beasi, or Anti-christian Power, arc said " to liat« the mothci' of harlots, or the papacy, and to make her desolate, and naked, and to eat her flesh, and to burn her with fire." Has not this of late years been astonishingly verified in the miseries, which the Anti-christian armies have inflicted, par- ticularly on the papists of Europe ? Again St. John saw the Romish Church in the form of " a wo- man, arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, riding" to destruction " upon a scarlet colored beast, a cruel monster, covered with blood, and full of names of blasphe- my." Just so have the last pontiffs of Rome been seen by us all, leaning, or " riding," depending up- on the tyrant of Europe, flattering him, calling him their Dear Son^ and anointing him emperor, till they are themselves crushed under his feet. Whe- ther there now be a Pope is uncertain. If he ex- ist, he has ceased " to speak as a dragon," and is what St. John foretold, that he would be in his fall- en state, " a false prophet." Daniel described the character of this Power, which should thus destroy the papacy, more than twenty three centuries be- fore he arose. " And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every God, and shall speak marvel- lous things against the Cod of Gods. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the de- sire of women, nor regard any C.oi^ , for he shall magnify himself above all." Vv^e icnow that the Messiah was the desire of women. Each hoped to be the mother of that illustrious son, who should rule the nations. This Power does not regard the Messiah ; he denies him and the Father. He is an atheist, and the scourge of christians. According to other scriptures, " all the world are wondering after this beast." The prophet says, " All who ^ \ \ i-i I i VJ: 1^ i f '^■^ / ■C'd kings, v/lll then invade Palestine, and occu- ]evitably his war. This has been so often proved as to need v.o confirmation. I might as well prove that the sun shines. If we engage in this war, then we take side with the despot ; we enlist under his fatal ban- jier ; we make a common cause with him, and must share in his ajiproaching destruction. Can I say any thing more to deter every considerate man, from embarking in this terrible conllict ? Other arguments, as weighty as the world, which admit neither cavil nor reply IVom inlidcliiy herself, " I \ 12 '■iv ,1 \\ f press themselves on our attention. Yoii love yoiu' families ; your domestic supplies and comforts arc dear to you, as the blood, which rolls thro' your hearts. It fills your minds with rich delight to supply their wants, to swell the tide of their plea- sures. But you do hiow, that this war will arrest the prosperity of the country, and the prosperity of yowv families. This war stabs your commerce in the vitals ; tliat commerce, which has enabled you to enlarge your possessions, and to improve your affitirs ; that commerce, whieli has diffused glad- ness and activity over the land. You cannot so far stifle the convictions of your understandings ; you cannot so far degrade and debase your minds, as to believe that your commerce can flourish in a war vllh England, while her thousand armed ships carry thunder over the ocean. Will you attempt to calculate the distress, the poverty, the ruin, which will follow the ruin of your commerce ? To those, who love their fam.ilies, to those, who re- gard themceives, need I say any more ? If you proceed to v/ar, then a farewell, a long Farewell to ])rospcrity, ;ind domestic comfort. Hy the little, the wry Ut:li'., com[)arfttively, which you have endured by embar,p;o, d,\\i\ non-intercourse laws, you have had scarci'ly a :;ip of the deadly cup, which you must drink to ilie very dregs. In these partial, temporary calamities, your Rulers intended only in a gentle manner to I'eel your pulse ; now they in- tend to lop oft" yoiu' limbs. If you commence the ^Var, you understandingly abafidon your indepen- dence and yotir freedom. If you commence the war, this tyrannical, cruel, miserable state of things becomes fixed and permanent, as the miseries of * Holland, and Prussia, and (iermany. Then no more petitions, no more asscmi)lages of the people to manifest iheir patriotism. Already, is il high inir \ 13 time, that petitions and remonstrances should be laid aside. You have tlir-^ n away enough by sending them to the Potuni .., to Ibrm carpets for her palaces. Go and petition the grave to close her gates, and admit no more ot" your dear friends. Go and implore grim Death to cast away his quiv- er and his fatal arrows ; if you succeetl in moving the dull, cold ear of )eath, then, and not till then, renew your petitions to your Rulers, ply them with new prayers and supplicadons. By abject submission, by passive obedience in the ranks of war ; by extingui^^hing your reason, your conscience, and your spirit, you may readily avoid all politictl debate and strife. The dead calm of a military despotism soon dift'usas silence, solitude, and darkness over the land, intcrruptr^d only by the exultation of masters, and the despair- ing agonies of their slaves. The oyster slumbers in her soft couch, undisturbed by the billov/s of the ocean, which burst over her house of pearl, unaf- frighted by the thunders of heaven, which tenr the world in pieces around her. So must you become, my beloved countrymen, engaging in this nefarious warfare, to shield yourselves against the intolera- ble vexations, the maddening disappointments, and desperate losses, which you have begun to endure for several years past. But, if 1 understand the character of New-Eng- land, this passive endurance of needless, useless, wan- ton mischief is not comjxuiblc with your views, your temper, your invincible determinations. You must change tite radical traits of your character, you must cease to be Ncw-Kngland men, before you can ex- hibit diis tame, African, slavidi df'porinKnt. The effect will not be trivial ; for the authors of this war have a character, as fixed as your own ; or if they for a moment should seem to recede from thci|r < I u t>l i ft purposes, it will be only to resume them with jl^rtalcr advantage, and a thousand fold energy. You have experienced their daring obstinacy, and have been humbled under its force. Those who haw proclaimed this war, will sacrifice their own existence, bciorc they will give up their claim to domination. They will level the motuitains, before tliey will coinc down to ecjuality, and an impartial deportment towards New-England. They have not a fiber of sympathy with your dearest interests ; their coiu'se is destructive to your prosperity ; their .attachments ingulf you in ruin. The war will give full play to their hostility, and overbearing power. You bend before their influence, you are di^:m -.yed. Long have yott expected relief from their fatal meastires, long have you submitted with the patience of Issaehar, who like a stupid ass, bow- ed down between tv/o burdens. And still, do you hope, and hope, and hope, for a change of meas- ures in the rreneh citiijens, the Gallatins, the Jef- fersons, tlie Burrs, and Madisons of the comitry ? You may as well expect that the freezing blasts of winter will cover your fields with corn, your gar- dens vvidi bk)ss(jms. I'hey will as soon give lib- erty to tiiea* African slaves as uneiiibarrassed com- inerce to their New-England subjects. Will yoti then du-ow yourselves completely into their power, by stun ring this warlare to proceed ? Will yon ad- mit soiulicrn troops into your borders? Will you permit Erench soldiers to land on your shores ? Will you endure the sight of I'Vench oifiecrs at die heail of your ranks ? Ilathev entomb yourselves a- mong your father's bones. I,et the slaves of Napo- leon sleep on your pillcvvs, and riot at your tables, btu do not let them domineer over the proprietors. You have p;uienlly demonsli^ated that p\iling, and whii^.ing, and petiiionlng, iind feebly resisting, will your 1 bers, to be whai tomm( post ft eargo( day th 1 lave J'-urop >«)iir s trom p ilic dn tie, to gar- lib- w ill 15 redress no grievances, will prevent no evils, will command no attention, but scorn, and derision, and accumulated insults, and increasing privations. Of these you have already had enough to satisfy any man's conscience. Pause then — consider — form your immutable resolution what is the result ? Have you concluded, for yourselves, your chil- dren and children's children, to subject to greater commercial restrictions, voluntarily to submit your- selves to the miseries, now endured by a hundred million slaves in Europe ? then, it is suitable and fit, that you should be slaves. You are strong, and ar6 able to hew wood and draw w^ater for French Tyrants. Have you concluded, like Jewish slaves, to nail your ears to the door-posts of your master's house, and to go on buffeting the storms, and hew- ing down the forests, and dragging your timber from the hills, v/hcn yovir laws, virtually declare^ it shall rot on the shore ? Have you concluded to send yoLiO" ships to sea, to load them with rich car- goes, and as they are moving from the shore, bow your heads, while a voice from the secret cham- bers, the dark caverns of Congress, forbids a sail to be imfurled, while your ship is fastened to the wharf, as by the spirit of magic, her cargo consu- ming, her timbers the food of worms. Have you concluded, after your ships are abroad in a lawful commerce, to vield submission to an execrable ex post facto law, which declares that your ships and cargo(;s are forfeited with treble their value, the day they return to the waters of the United States I Have you concluded, quiiJtly, to see the Tyrant of Europe, who is also the 'J'yrant of America, burn \our ships, chain your sailors, and march them Irom prison to prison ? Then blow the trumpet, beat the drum, fly to the war, march to the houest bat- tle, to subdue his valiant and invincible foe. In \:' I I 16 your foreheads, or in your hands wear " the mark'* of imperial slaves. But as you are voluntary, be cheerful in your cliains ; do not murmur or com- plain ; do not look sullen or sad ; submit like Dutchmen, and be faithful slaves. Is this too bad for New-England spirits ? Then, do what is infi- nitely easy ; let there be no war in your territories, proclaim an honorable neutrality ; let the southern Heroes fight their own battles, and guard their slum- bering pillows against the just vengeance of their lacerated slaves, whose sighs and groans have long since gone up to the court of the Eternal, crying for the full viols of his incensed wnith. Rise in the n'rajesty of your unconquerable strength, break those chains, under which you have sullenly murmured, during the long, long reign of democracy ; batter down those iron walls, which have incarcerated your souls and bodies so long, and once more breathe that free, commercial air of New-England, which your fathers always enjoyed. While the tyrants of your country are unitedly, gradually, and incessantly wasting your strength, and drying up your resources, breaking down your spirit of entcrprizc, and demolishing the means of your independence, will you rise and reproach them for the tardiness of their deleterious measures, with both hands, will you lay waste your own fields, set fire to your villages and cities, and sacrifice your own sons and brothers by waging a wicked and mad war with the only nation on the fiice of the earth, who can essentially injure your interests, or blast your hopes ? Then send to the miserable peo- ple of Turkey, send to the banditti of Tunis and Algiers, invite the abject creatures of those na- t". >as to conic and stuiiy the science (jf slavery in l\t vv-rlngland. They have ni:ver endured such wanton, capi'icious abuse ; such useless, inconsis- corn- like D bad infi- ories, thera 3lum- f their i long ng tor in the : those nured, batter aerated L'. more igland, nitcdly, rcngth, rn your leans ot h them s, with Ids, set :e your :ed and of the rests, or ble peo- nis and lose na- avery in :'(! sueh iuconsis- 17 tdnt vexations ; they do not change old habits, and assume a new character to serve a tyrant's pleas- ure. Here you may teach them something new in the history of slaves ; not the silent, despairing en- durance of men, trembling at the appro ach of a mer- cenary army, but of those, who have the power of redress, j'ei? in their own hands. Show them that for once, by a kind of magic infatuation, men iilay be slaves from choice ; show them how to love their chains, enjoy their miseries, and " worship" their masters. If you have not so resolved ; if you have some of your father's blood, yet in your veins, then pro- test against this war. Protest did I say, protest ? Forbid this war to proceed in New-England. Let your puissant lords be satisfied by inflicting the bloody lash on more than ten hundred thousand African slaves. I must add, what is imperiously required from every Minister of the Prince of peace, that if you suffer this war to proceed, it will throw you into the embraces of that terrible Power, which is soon to be destroyed with his vassal allies. You expose yourselves to the contagion of her mental plagues, and to her judgments. By this war, you fight the battle of the infidel king ; a com- mon interest is produced between the two countries, as there has long been a common sympathy be- tween the two governments. Who does not trem- ble at such an intimate alliance ? AVould you throw yourself on the bed of slumber, when you saw the house was already on fire ? Would you inhale the deadly, burning wind of the African desert ? Here a remark forces itself on my attention. You may all have observed, that our mo^t profound Pol- c ■ f 1 la I i iticians and serious Divines recoil with the sam6 unutterable horror from an alliance with France. By a careful investigation of prophecy, Divines form precisely the same conclusions with the learn- ed Civilians, who are men of more extensive ob- servation, and more various science. This ought to strengthen the convictions of both, and encrease the reverence of Politicians for the holy scriptures, and the esteem and respect of Christians for the sagacity and wisdom of learned Civilians. It should excite them with mutual confidence, to aid each other in saving their country, I might sooner have said, that there is an infi- nite difference between an offensive and defensive war, between murdering your neighbori and broth- er in the bosom of his own family, and defending your life in the sanctuary ot your own house. In all wars, every person slain is virtually murdered. The aggressors arc accountable for every drop of blood. The present war is offensive on our part. Every person slain, enemy or friend, is murdered, and his blood falls on us. Already lives have been lost, lost ; already agonizing spirits have been sev- ered from their bodies ; they have ascended to their Judge ; they have given in their awful testimony, before the throne of the Eternal. The recording angel has noted down their words, and they are sealed up for the day of r-ctribution. Woe, woe, be to the authors of this war ; woe be to the soldier, who stains his hands with blood. Unless the sun would stand still upon Gibeon, I could not iu one day, enumerate all the arguments against this pernicious war. The war is uureasoti- ahle ; no sufficient provocation has been given. The war is unnecessary ; an accommodation might have keen obtained. It is ?ipuerik^ useless war ; no con- i (( 19 »:*!'■ le same France. Divines e learn- sive ob- s ought ;ncrease •iptures, for the t should id each an infi- efensive d broth- ::fending ise. In ardered. drop of Lir part; ardered, ive been een sev- l to their stimony, ecording they are , woe, be soldier, }ibeon, I guments mrcasoii' mn. The rht have no con- siderable advantage can be expected. It is a war, in its tendency fatal to Christianity in this country, as the war of Mahomet in the East. It is a war disastrous to the cause of Christianity in foreign countries, by dissolving the sacred union of efforts, now making by the good people of Britain and A- merica, to spread the triumphs of the Cross in Asia. It is a war absolutely fatal to this ^ountry, by in^ volving us in the awful destruction, coming on the kingdom of Anti-christ. In moving strains the prophets have described the approaching woes of Anti-christ, and his vassal allies. Such woes, the world has never endured. The armies of Atheism will tread down the earth ; already are they a mil- lion men, fierce as tigers, and terrible as demons. Their ruin makes haste. Zachariah says, " Their flesh shall consume away, while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets ; and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." The sword, thirsting for their blood, shall devour them. Isaiah says, " The land shall be soaked with their blood, and the dust shall be made fat with fatness," with the oily substance of their carcases ; and again he says " The mountains shall be melted with blood. As a handful of clay, soaked in a vessel of water, seems to melt away ; so the mountains of Palestine shall be soaked and melt- ed, as miry clay, with the blood of the Anti-chris. tian army. God compiands the prophet to invite "every feathered foul and every beast of the field to assemble, to eat the flesh of the mighty and to drink the blood of the princes." I see an angel standing in the sun ; he cries with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls, which fly in the midst of heaven ; come and gather yourselves together, unto the supper of the great God. that yr t I 20 1*1 \ I may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesa of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of hors- es, and the flesh of those, who sit on ihem, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great, and all the fowls were Jilled with their flefli." Can you endure the idea, that your be|oved fons, and grandfons {hould feaft the fowls of heaven in a foreign land ? Does not the thought freeze your foul with ter- ror ? Then drive away the demon ot war from your coaft. The Puritans of New-England muft not, will iiot, cannot be dragged into this execrable war. Other arguments press for difcussion, but if thefe do not convince men, neither would the voice of one from the dead. If you join with Anti-chrift in this war, you muft drink the cup of his plagues, the mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it. On which fide are you ? A more folemn queftion, none can propofe to his confcience. It is not enough, howev- er, to feel a ftrong conviction of the turpitude and mifery of the Antl-chriftian caufe. You mud manifefl: your ab- horrence in all prudent and lazvful methods, manifeft your dctcftation of the ferocious myrmidons, engaged in this perfidious caufe. The man, who now boldly keeps the post of duty will be flrong like tiie houfe of David, glorious as lyiofes, wrapt in the thunders of Sinai. Acrofs the Atlantic behold the nation of your brothers glorioufly, united to refift the domination of Anti-chrift. Briton, like Shadrach and his company in the furnace of Babylon is furrounded with burning flame ; but receives no harm. She looks abroad upon the ocean ; not a friendly fail meets her eye ; the navies of the world dif- gorge their thunders at her bread ; the ocean blazes around her ; nearly the whole continent kindles into a rampart of fire at h-r approach j yet like the invincible hoft of Ifrael, marching thro' the Red Sea ; {he purfues her courfc ; the wrecks of her enemies cover the ocean ; flie fwells the fong of praife. In the fires, intended to make her the vi6lim fhc triumphs, and like the angel of Ma- noah, afcends in the flame to higher glory. Her banners yi'iW ., :ve viurfues her ocean ; Ihc led to make igel of Ma- Her banners Jdon, while the blood of her enemies will flow to the horfes bridles, and the flefh of their vaflal kings furnifli a fupper for all the vultures of heaven. A new era of American hiftory now commences. Soon ihall we be eftablifhed as Mount Zion, or thruft down to ruin. The circumftances and charaders of dillant gene- rations will be formed by measures now adopted. "When they come to the prefent page of our miferable ftory, fu- ture hiftorians will paufe, for fear, that the truth Ihould feem the effufion offaifehood or delerium and prevent the fale of their work. To write in a fober hiftory, that a nation with more than a thoufand miles of fea coaft, a- dorned with a rich border of affluent towns and cities, without any commanding fort, or army, or navy, or any adequate defence, and with uncounted millions on the ocean, or in the hands of the foe, did in 1812 declare an offenfive war againft the moft powerful raaratime nation on the globe, will bid defiance to all belief. Yet this is the fober fa6t without figure, or coloring. The wicked archives of all the wicked governments " from Macadonia's madman to the Swede," furnifti no parallel for this profligate meafure. It is this moment more owing to the forbearance, the clemency, and mag- nanimity of the L'ngUfli, than to any preparations of defence by our government, that our cities are not burn- ing from Maine to Georgia, that one blaze of towns, » thoufand miles in extent, does not amaze the world with its fublimity and horror; that a million people are not wan- dering to-day over the aflies of their dwellings, without a home, without employment, and without bread. The general government cannot provide any reafonable de- fence. They cannot raife men ; they cannot borrow money. Their drafted " confcripts" will fooner be mur- dered, than march at their orders. Like the decrepit, expiring government of Turkey, ours can crufh its fub- jedts, but cannot afford them fecurity. They " can call fpirits from the vaft deep ;" but the ipirits will not come. Our country is now prelerved like the prophet in the den. of Babylon ; the royal lions difdained to devour the in- nocent viclini. The late declaration of war will be re- corded among " the wonders of hiftory.'* The ftory of h'? 22 Herod ^ '' '''»y''»f »!' 'be babes of Bethlehem will give ^lace to - -re cnorm^ js iniquity. The wickedncfs Itt; 'Ug (he ji,,'')ngcfl refeni^ !iO(e to that of our govern- m«^t is that ot ivero. Nero had heard of the burning of T%oy, and his mind was fired with a d( (li-e to witnefs fuch ?• i&wie of horror himfelf. He, therefore, caufed the fa- Ml#iis city of Rome, ihe metropolis of the world, to^Ri f^t on fire in different places ; the flames spread, kuA the conflagration was universal ; the fire raged lor nine days. Nothing was heard a- mid the roar of the flames ; but the crash of falling temples and palaces, the cries of mothers calling for their children, and the shrieks of thousands ex- piring in the fire. Nero enjoyed all this, and from the top of a high tower feasted his eyes with this scene of misery, playing on his harp and singing the woes of falling Troy. Just so, it is announced in the papers, that the President of die U. States was cheerful and gay, after he had signed the wick- ed declaration of war, which has already covered^ the land with sadness, torn many bosoms with an- jijuish ; plunged numbers into the eternal world. He like Nero has kindled a fire, the future miseries and conflagrations of which, nj fancy can realize ; no pencil describe ; a fire which may burn, not nine days alone, but nine years, or half a century ; a fire which may not only consume one city ; but fill the whole continent with misery and blood. Who can describe the woes of this war against BritJi'n ? War against Britain did I say ? It is an abuse of words. The leaders in this abominable work are deceived, if they suppose, we are tVeir dupes. We understand the fare The govern trrtt^ know perfectly well, that they cannot carry or. -.r- formidable operations of war. Without the means, what can they effect ? Will their blustering mani- festo bi\ r down the Queen of Isles ; will it tear ;) ,1 )\ ^ 23 down the walls of their Gibralters ; or 'Silence the thunder of their navies ? Then, havi" they little to fear ; then, this is really a dec! iration of war a- gainst N'ew-l^nglnnd. The spirii of the declara- tion may be thus expressed. " Whereas the President of the United States finds it impossible, such are the complaints of the people, any l.mger to maintain the continental sys- tem of l.i. Mr iter Napoleon by commercial restric- tion . ihereiore, war is declared against Great- Britiin. hoping and expecting, that she will be pro- loked to blockade our whole coast^ and destroy our commerce, and so more effectually execute the wishes of our imperial master, than a perpetual embargo. This measure is also endeared to us by knowing, that a gredt part of the personal property of New- England is always abroad at this season of the year, and must be lost. This will crush their spir- it of enterprise, and terminate the opposition of the Eastern States to our great and good Master Napo- leon." This nefarious declaration of war is nothing more, nor less, than a licence given by a Virginia vassal of the French Emperor to the English nation, authori- zing them in legal form to destroy the prosperity of New-England. This is the grand design, and chief expectation of the government. My heart bleeds for my country, going like a lamb to the house of slaughter. Never, -..ever, till this moment have I so deeply lamented my ordinary talents, feeble pow- ers, the want of utterance, and the powers of persua- sion. I can tell you only what you already know yourselves. Doc-iowt* cloubt perplex your minds concerning the path, which you ought to pursue ? What would your fathers have done ? Wliat did they do ? Even, wh'-n th«y were on the other z\d% i Iv ,♦) ' *.«' '24 i. \ •, t 1 I the water, only a feeble church^tliey disdained op- pression ; they crossed the ocean^ and hung the standard of hberty and the standard of comineree on the oaks of New-England. Instead of bonds, and forfeitures, and restrietions, and hundred per cent duties, which you have borne with the meek- ness oi' martyrs, they would not advance a cent for all the herbs of China, for all the luxuries of the East. They did not put on the chains of slavery, to see how they would suit their active limbs ; the proposal fired their indignation, and made them in- dependent. But you have drunk and drunk the cup of vexation to thfc dr^jgs ; you have worn the galling chains of commercial tyranny, till the spasms cf phrenzy have shattcrred your frame ; till the gangrene of submission threatens your speedy dis- solution. Survey the ruins ; contemplate the miser- ies already produced, only by these preparatory .steps to this war. A doleful picture i:> presented to the weeping eye of humanity. Were the Angel of storms to rouse the elements, and shipwreck ail the vessels of America, loaded with riches, from the I5altic to the Chinese sea ; should he move the foundations of tb.e deep, and choke up all your harbours ; should his furious blast penetrate the country, dash in pieces the timber, wither half the fruits of the ground, tearing up the fields, and t/t'- stroy'in^f half llwir vdhic^ would you not beseech the Almighty to destroy this angel of mischief, or chain him in the bottomless pit ? Stop — stop — Have not the general Government vir- tually done all this ? Were the continent ]nii up at auction today, would it yield \\i\i' t/ic .sum which it would the hour before the rei-:i of Mr. JelYcrsju commenced ? 'I/w/i, -he countrv' ':d to a gallant sjh^/, coming 1. 'i;v\r ^' b. comp;.r* licr sails I 25 up- the erce lids, per leek- it for f the sails •?*iveacl, her streamers flying, her crew rejoichig ; her cargo the riches of the East. Now^ the coun- try is a solitary wreck, cast ashore on the rocks, ?-tript of her tackle, robbed of her cargo, deserted b) her people. There is but one remedy for this evil ; you must extinguish the sparks of this abom- inable warfare. You mnsifbrcvtr put to rest the hope^ that you ever will engage in such a mad cru- sade. I entreat you, my beloved friends, seriously to fconsider the prospects of the country. An alliance with I'rance may be soon expected ; it is virtually effected. Look to Europe, and learn the consc- (jucnci's. Will not the same cause produce the same fjftects here? The lives, which have been lost, the evils already endured, are only the first drops be- fore a rain of blood. If you remain silent, you may soon c::pcct to see your cities wrapt in flames, your country towns covered with desolation. You will soon see, not a band of Britons, but a meager, famisiicd, hungry horde of savage Frenchirifjn, with the pruf:>);ion of friends, but the actions of demons ; with llie voice of lambs, but the spirit of tygers. ^o they entered liolLuul, and Naples, and Swit7.er- land, ;n,d Gerr" ..ny, and Prussia, and Rome, and Venice, and Spain. They went to give them lib- erty ; they stayed to make them slaves ; they went in the garb of friends ; they stayed to rob their fields, to ])lund(.r their houses, their banks, their ehurches ; to ravish tlieir women, to murder their men, to ruin the countrv. So will it be here, if vou allow the wretches to tread on your ground, or to I'reatlu' vour air. M'liev will then drive you from ycjur liouses ; they will drag your sons in chains to their armies ; \niivcrsal plunder will des- oL'x the countrv. Eamine and death will close the \ 2$ scene. This is reality ; it has actually taken place thro' a great part of Europe. You do love your country, your children, your privileges, and the temples of your God ; then I beseech you by your love of country, by your love of your families ; — for God's sake, I beseech you, exert every lawful method to extinguish the kindling fires of war ;' tear yourself from those, who are accomplices in the fatal measure, from those, who are covering the land with misery and death. Were your boat fastened to a fire-ship, just ready to explode, would you not cut the painter, and bend to the oar, till the ocean sparkled around you ? Then break away from this tremendous war, which is sinking you, and your posterity, and your country into the abyss of ruin. r I /