A Protest Against the War; Discourse, delievered at Byfield, Fast Day, July 23, 1812

A Protest Against the War; Discourse, delievered at Byfield, Fast Day, July 23, 1812

Author: Parish, Elijah, 1762-1825

Year: 1812

Newburyport: Press of E. W. Allen, 1812. — 28 p. I entreat you, my beloved friends, seriously to consider the prospects of the country. An alliance with France may be soon expected; it is virtually effected. Look to Europe, and learn the consequences. AVill not the same cause produce the same effects here? The lives, which have been lost, the evils already endured, are only the first drops before a rain of blood. If you remain silent, you may soon expect 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, famished, hungry horde of savage Frenchmen, with the profession of friends, but the actions of demons; with the voice of lambs, but the spirit of tygers. So they entered Holland, and Naples, and Switzerland, and Germany, and Prussia, and Rome, and Venice, and Spain. They went to give them liberty; they stayed to make them slaves; they went in the garb of friends; they stayed to rob their fields', to plunder their houses, their banks, their churches; to ravish their women, to murder their men, to ruin the country. So will it be here, if you allow the wretches to tread on your ground, or to breathe y