Gazette Of The United States And Daily Evening Advertiser

In every nation there exists a set of men, who at all times delight in war. Incapable of fulfilling the laborious duties of civil life, their turbulent spirits pant for the active scenes of a military one. Their restless tempers, disdaining the drowsy toils of a counting-house or work-shop, seek with impetuous ardor the glorious exploits of the camp : they burn with impatience to exchange the pen for the sword, or the hammer for the truncheon, and to obtain by a coup de main that glory and wealth which the ignoble drudgery of many a tire-some year would not have yielded. If destitute of property, while they apprehend not the losses of war, prize-money, plunder, and other emoluments are lures irresistible : if destitute of reputation, while the tranquil times of peace afford leisure to contemplate the villain's conduct, the hasty scenes of war snatch him from the view and hide him in the confusion of martial battle, and a lucky exploit in a military station, may throw a tinsel lustre over a character tarnished by a dishonorable act in a civil one. If trammelled with debt, the confusions incident to war may free him from his embarrassments by a temporary suspension of payment, or by a fortunate intervention of depreciated paper money. These worthy characters, prompted by so natural an antipathy to a state of peace and such passionate fondness for war, will ardently grasp at every circumstance which can promote their ends: any irritation of the public mind, any just resentments for unprovoked injuries, are fine materials for them to work upon ; the peaceable citizens are roused by the clamor of revenge, their pacific dispositions are stimulated by appeals to their national pride, and any kind of negociation is reprobated as a dereliction of our character, and an abandonment of our interests. These appeals are reiterated in public and in private, in speeches and in print, by the individuals and aggregately in their clubs. Not content with the existing causes of irritation, the ferment is increased by an industrious circulation of false rumours and exaggerated injuries: denunciations are hurled upon all who recommend peace, till negociation has failed or the country is better prepared for war, and no endeavors are neglected to destroy those who thwart their views.