In her conduct towards her enemy, no reproachful
sentiment lurks in secret. No sense of injustice is left upon the
mind. Untainted with ambition, and a stranger to revenge, her progress
has been marked by providence, and she, in every stage of the
conflict, has blest her with success.
But let not America wrap herself up in delusive hope and suppose the
business done. The least remissness in preparation, the least
relaxation in execution, will only serve to prolong the war, and
increase expenses. If our enemies can draw consolation from
misfortune, and exert themselves upon despair, how much more ought we,
who are to win a continent by the conquest, and have already an
earnest of success?
Having, in the preceding part, made my remarks on the several
matters which the speech contains, I shall now make my remarks on what
it does not contain.
There is not a syllable in its respecting alliances. Either the
injustice of Britain is too glaring, or her condition too desperate,
or both, for any neighboring power to come to her support. In the
beginning of the contest, when she had only America to contend with,
she hired assistance from Hesse, and other smaller states of
Germany, and for nearly three years did America, young, raw,
undisciplined and unprovided, stand against the power of Britain,
aided by twenty thousand foreign troops, and made a complete
conquest of one entire army. The remembrance of those things ought
to inspire us with confidence and greatness of mind, and carry us
through every remaining difficulty with content and cheerfulness.
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