Virginia Argus

FOR THE ARGUS.

MR. PLEASANTS,

I request the insertion of the enclosed essay, written upon the first appearance of Philo Laos: it was shewn to a friend, and upon his suggestion withheld from the public at that time; subsequent essays upon the subject to which it relates having in no wise changed his first impressions, it is now forwarded for publication by

AN illiterate Old Soldier of the revolution, who humbly contributed by personal sacrifices, to rear the fair fabric of our glorious Independence--one whose zeal for the public liberty and the rights of man prompted him under the sacred impulse of duty to his country, to enroll himself under the banners of the immortal Washington; and who still venerates his sacred memory---one who still maintains unpaired the same sentiments which animated the whole nation during its arduous and undivided struggle for liberty and independence; to maintain which his whole life has been ardently devoted;-~-one, who has ever been, and still is, in heart and soul attached to Democratic Republican principles-one who disclaims all predilection for either of the European belligerents; esteeming them both as friends in peace, as enemies in war and who is solely an American by birth and in principles;--now solicits a portion of your useful paper as the vehicle of public communication, to a great, a generous and a virtuous people; to publish the following crude and spontaneous remarks, occasioned by the perusal of an address to the President of the United States, which lately appeared in the Spirit of '76. An address which whilst a single vestige of American sovereignty exists will not fail to interest the attention, and excite the most sympathy of every friend to his country.—In reading this address I could not suppress my surprize and indignation at the statement therein given of a French faction formed in the heart of our country and in the bosom of our public councils, composing not only the second grade in our administration, but also a Senator of the United States, an ex-representative from Virginia, and others, who from public stations, wealth, and influential family connections, render them fit objects of jealousy and distrust. When a statement relating to this subject was some time ago, published by the Editor of the Enquirer, with his commentaries thereupon, I could not have believed, obscure and uninformed as I am of the intrigues which it now appears are carrying on. but for the manner in which it was treated by him, that there was in our country either an Imperial Duchess or a Prince of the French Empire, around whose royal standard a party so formidable in all its ramifications, composed of Secretaries, Senators, Ex-representatives, Uncles, Cousins, an innumerable train, and allies of every grade and denomination, all gaping and cringing (an hopeful group) in anxious expectation of the final consummation of their fatal ambitious designs, rallying all their baleful influence to subvert the free and happy constitutions of these United States, and to establish upon their ruins, for self aggrandizement, a new member of the Bonapartist confederacy. But upon this occasion as alarming to the republic as it is extraordinary in its nature and tendency, it is somewhat remarkable that little further notice seemed to be taken of that communication. The cautious silence observed by the Editors attached to the faction claiming at the same time the exclusive republican patriotism of the country, was doubtless intended to retard an investigation of this deep-laid stroke of imperial policy, by permitting it quietly to sleep; other objects (real or artificial) would in times like these soon intervene to divert the public attention from this, and the virtuous and unsuspecting part of the community might repose a little longer in their apathy, and fancy themselves safe: their conduct however tended in some degree to establish the truth of the story. The silence observed by their typographical chiefs at Philadelphia and at Washington imposed a sullen pause in their camps, and like well skilled sappers not yet ripe for the fatal explosion, mum was the watch-word throughout the whole line of disciplined subalterns. But thanks to the genius of America: the republic is not yet lost! A veteran of the old camp, a disciple of the old political school established by Washington, Sam: Adams, Franklin, Hancock, Henry, Jefferson, and their glorious cotemporaries, a friend of the sovereignty and independence of the people, and an enemy to faction, having reconnoitred their ground and explored their strength, has at once the zeal, the courage and address to attack their whole line, and by holding them up to public view, will e'er long divest them of their half-made plumage, and leave them as impotent and nerveless as the ** * ** * * * *

To the author of Philo-Laos (be him whom he may) all true Americans will e'er long tender their grateful homage of respect, the zeal and independence with which he has engaged to unmask this odious and execrable faction as well in our public councils as in the country. will not fail to secure to him (if he should succeed to the extent which we are led to expect) the esteem and confidence of all good men, and whilst it will entitle him to the thanks of the friends of freedom, it will ensure to him the applauses of a grateful posterity. It is therefore hoped that his patriotic heart, guided by the vast intelligence of his mind, will prompt him to persevere in the exposition of this deep laid plot to subvert our liberties; and thereby expel from our public councils, the base and Ignoble Demagogues enlisted under the baneful banners of this Royal sprig of Baltimore and his beautiful though unfortunate Mother.

Was it for this, O my countrymen, my compatriots of those times which emphatically tried men's souls: Was it for this that our glorious revolution was achieved? Was it for this that the best blood of our Fathers was poured upon the embattled plains, and exhausted on board prison-ships and jails? Was it for this that your best treasures were exhausted, and all your resources of men and money strained to their utmost extent in carrying on a long and perilous war? Were all your sufferings and privations so nobly and patiently endured and all your virtuous energies so gloriously exerted, so soon to become the prey of an hateful Aristocracy: -the ruin of the nation! Oh Washington, the Father of our country! The faithful and undevia-
ting guardian of its independence, permit one who shared in thy dangers and who still venerates thy memory. to approach thy hallowed tomb, and solemnly invoke thy sleeping spirit to arouse, not to disturb thy peaceful repose, but to inspire the virtuous unsuspecting offspring of thy devoted Country, to rally around the holy standard established by the genius who guided all thy actions, and to maintain inviolate the sacred inheritance bequeathed by thee; Oh spirits of Warren, of Mercer, Montgomery, and all ye thousands of holy martyrs who nobly perished in the sacred cause of independence, inspire your successors to rally around -the glorious boon!

People of America! Ye pure and living descendants of this holy train, arouse from your lethargy! come forth in the full power of your constitutional strength!

Rally around the standard of your liberties, nor cease to exert your God-like energies, by the free and independent exercise of your elective franchise until the traitors who attempt to betray you are forever extirpated from power, and indignantly consigned to eternal oblivion. People of Virginia! ever foremost in the ranks of freedom and alive to usurpation, will you suffer yourselves to be duped by a cunning and designing faction?-If you regard your national sovereignty, your dear-bought independence your inalienable rights! be not deceived by the arrogant denunciation of self called republicans, so easily distinguished by their cringing courtly sycophancy, the most prominent features in their character; believe me the blandishments of power the allurements of office, with all its evil train of pride and avarice, and insolence and corruption, operate too powerfully upon the human heart, to be resisted by men of ordinary integrity; before you repose confidence in such men bring them to the standard; test them by the unerring spirit of your glorious revolution; and if found wanting in the balance reject all their professions (however ardent) as false and spurious and only designed to aggrandize themselves at your expense and that of your innocent & unoffending posterity. But I have yielded perhaps too freely to the feelings of my heart. I have followed perhaps with enthusiasm the impulse of a pure and honest zeal for my country; I cannot forbear; the preservation of the republic is dear to my heart; the duty which I owe to my country supersedes every other consideration. It is to the great body of yeomanry: by far the most respectable portion of society throughout this vast extended domain, that I sincerely address myself; it is their indulgence I solicit.--A plebeian by birth, I trace no noble ancestry of which to boast, the characteristic traits of my progenitors, uncorrupted by the pride of office or of wealth, are virtue and sincerity. With this and the recollection that I have been a soldier of liberty, and the consciousness that I have long been a faithful servant of my country, I am content. The smiles and the frowns of the supercilious great are alike indifferent to me. I envy not their grandeur or their wealth. I know them well. Whilst they flatter and caress you with their smiles and lead you captives to their will, they laugh at your credulity and mock when your fear cometh. Whilst they disguise their real objects with the illusive cry of national honor, and of peace, peace, so dear to every real friend to his country, sudden destruction cometh upon you as of a woman in travail. The real Patriots of my country, the genuine friends of liberty and independence, of whatever condition, exclusively & alone claim my regard, and if the poor and feeble efforts in plain and simple style of one of themselves can arouse them from their supineness before it be forever too late--if an honest appeal to their reason and sensibility, can but contribute to awaken them to a just sense of their national, their sovereign rights; and to appreciate with due regard their real honor, their sacred independence, I shall esteem it more than all the honors, of all the Kings, & Princes, and Princes Regent, actual and expectant upon this terrestrial globe. It is therefore with respectful deference to the great body of the people that I presume to ask their patient indulgence, confidently anticipating the unison of sentiment which each one will accord with me. When a soldier of the revolution it was my lot to act in concert with the armies of France for the purpose of subduing those of our perfidious foe; it was therefore natural to feel towards that generous people all the gratitude which the importance and magnitude of such an occasion could inspire: It was just, as well as natural to respect as brothers in arms those who fought by our sides. This sentiment will be co-existent with my life. My heart and soul was devoted to her cause during the infancy of the revolutionary struggles. I thought them identified with our own, and most heartily wished them a similar success. But when the motives and views of the French Revolution changed in their nature and its object-.-when every noble sentiment was extinguished and every generous passion suppressed-when a bold and daring faction by arts -seduction and intrigue, practiced to successfully against that magnanimous and wonderful people, succeeded the real patriots, who devised and planned their emancipation from slavery and tyranny; when a Danton a Marat. & Robespierre, the vile monsters that ever disgraced any age or country, assumed the reins of government; when a bold and daring military adventurer, bold like a fairy from the land of Egypt and with an armed banditti, dispersed the national assembly in its sittings-struck with Pained at the monstrous outrage, all shapes of liberty in that great and generous France, tho' devoted country, ceased to exist, and despotism with all its horrid train of misery presented itself in full and hideous form; from that moment my anxious solicitude for the success of French arms (now contending for universal empire) were turned into a contrary direction; & my fervent prayers are that the hands of the tyrant may now under the auspices of divine providence yet be restrained. Here let me ask where is the genuine American, the real friend of the Revolution, of liberty and independence, who has not experienced sentiments and emotions similar to my own and who in the face of this great and generous nation will disavow these Sentiments? And yet, oh my beloved country, art thou after all destined also to become the sport of ambition? the slave of the tyrant? Shall an unprincipled and corrupt Junto, as false as vicious, under the high and imposing sounds of patriotism, lead their blind confiding country, into the gulph of despotism? And shall this mighty work be effected without a struggle? without an effort to avert the fatal catastrophe? Forbid it Heaven! Genius of America forbid it!! No! Sooner will the sons of freedom, the legitimate heirs of the glorious spirit of '76, rise in the majesty of their strength and die in defence of their liberties, their independence, their sacred constitutions. Go on, then, thou patriotic sage, who boldly defies the rage of the impious faction; hold them up to public view, and they at once become as impotent as they are vain. Go on! and if to ruin and to martyrdom thou art doomed for boldly unmasking the enemies of your country, its independence, and sovereignty, to whatever foreign faction these belong, believe me, that thousands, yea tens of thousands of your faithful countrymen, indignant at the perfidious treachery, with kindred spirits approximating to your own and ready to avenge thy holy cause; will not merely envy thee thy glory; but follow thee to the scaffold, and upon the sacred altar, immolate their lives also to the God of Liberty.

AN OLD SOLDIER.

January 25th, 1810.