undred and twenty persons were killed and
captured by the savages, and several prisoners were roasted alive,
during that short period; at the expiration of which, the Indians
refused to give any answer to the proposition which had been made to
them.

But it was now too late to inquire into the justice of the principles
on which the war was originally undertaken. The nation was involved in
it, and could not recede without exposing many innocent persons to be
butchered by the enemy. Should the government determine to discontinue
the war, would the Indians also consent to a cessation of hostilities?
The government could not, without impeachment, both of its justice and
humanity, abandon the inhabitants of the frontiers to the rage of
their savage enemies; and although the excise might be unpopular,
although money might still be wanted, what was the excise, what was
money, when put in competition with the lives of their friends and
brethren? A sufficient force must be raised for their defence, and the
only question was what that force should be.

The calculations of the best informed men were in favour of employing
an army not inferior to that proposed in the bill. When the known
attachment of Indians to war and plunder was adverted to, and the
excitements to that attachment which were furnished by the trophies
acquired in the last two campaigns were considered, no man would
venture to pronounce with confidence how extensive the combination
against the United States might become, or what numbers they would
have to encounter. It certainly behoved them to prepare in time for a
much more vigorous effort than had hitherto been made. The objections
drawn from the increased expense which such an effort would require,
must entirely vanish before the eyes of any man, who looks forward to
the consequences of another unsuccessful campaign. Such a disaster
would eventually involve the nation in much greater expense than that
which is now made the ground of opposition. Better therefore is it, to
make at once a vigorous and effectual exertion to bring the contest to
a close, than to continue gradually draining the treasury, by dragging
on the war, and renewing hostility from year to year.

The supporters of the bill also appealed to experience for the
superiority of regular troops over militia, in accomplishing all the
purposes, even of Indian war; and those arguments were urged in favour
of this theory, which the subject readily sug