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V1 ,-0 ::V7::V-r;:-; L Ml &fr )0 'Coll e cJ'i 7 ' THE RAEE INERVA 6 tassM pot-tuns rJ, RALElCH,N.C PUBLISHED (wuiT) BY LUCAS AND A. rL BO YL AN. O 02 50 CSV lt ADrjXCB. A 71 .Vol. 17. FRIDAY liIAY 2 181. No. 342. -i IGH M 7U" a. r. Political ! Y v ; Trom. the -BottwiPRefiertwit i to the citizens of the common vVealth of Massachusetts. . ''i'onatinedbjrtny,Virctrmstances,'-'to the coh Want laborious management -of my little farm. I can'ijl pare the time necessarv.iQ the examina ioa of the sate of our public affairs, and the cont duct of our rulers.;" But,-I consider my farm, my. labour, and my fife of small account, If our '' public, fcjir are to pnkd4nLbeir present dajwu ifpv ward course. I therefore suspend raf labours in Order, tQ lay betore you tome tacts, some truths; and sains reflections, , which t conceive highlf im portant to your interests,' safety and freedom ; villi vKich my own are inilis sol obly united. -The attempt, I confess,' is attended with discoursge Dents.. . Newspapers are the usual means of con. veying information to you ; and a"freers7has ever $een considered as the shield of our fights and liberties ; but those' means are perverted, and that shield is changed into a mischivous weapon of annoyance. Misrepresentations and falsehoods enread over the countrv in' NewiOaoers devoted .not to the public welfare,,but to build up and sup-1 France., As he had left France long after the 'first, the newspapers, and admit of no doubt ; yet are port ypariy.wrio seek their own; itnd not your ad.' of November 1810, on which day Mr. Madison jdtiving the United S ates irflo a war with Great . antage? have deceived you into a4elief, that yourhad proclaimed the French deer es to have been ( Britain, (for such is the avowed object' of all their 'natio.Sier have conducted your affairs wisely revoked, it was supposed he could settle the point! war preparations) underthepreter.ee of perform ed honestly; and that they and those who are whether they had been revoked or not; lor the jing its unfounded compact with a faithless tyrant I heir professed admirers k abettors in the several cooduct'of the Emperor, in seizing and detaining I repeat, that even if the Berlin anr Milan de stares, ire the only friepds of the people, the only American vessels subsequent to the fiiht day oi fcfees had , bten publicly and fcrmally revoked, the real patriots. And how are you to be undeceived? : v how. are you to come to the knowledge of theidulqus and devoted partizans of France, whether truth ? A vast proportion of the people read those ! the decrees had been" revoked. The then Secre ' .Newspapers only, which with fatal industrydis- tary of State, Air. Robert Smith, affirms that he eerninate; the misrepresentations, and falsehoods ! very soon expressed his doubts to the President,. Which have deceived I you. They studiously omit jeven within about a month after his proclamaiion and reject all those .truths which would correct had been issued. . He was, therefore, the more uthe ejrrofs bywhich so many ' are influenced to i ready to seek information of the new French mi their owp harm and the approaching ruin of their j nister, as soon as he had been received' by the Pre-, country. , It, however, my "voice- cannpt reach J sident. Mr. S. accordingly conversed wn.i, the .you all it may be heard by many, and Contribute! French minister on the subject of the decrees, and , Tto their confirmation, la the patriotic course they the situation of our commerce svith France ; con now pursue. . . WAR WITH GREAT41RTTAIN. Yesterday I received from an experienced, dls- i f v erning, and upright member oi congress, a (et- ter dated the 3d instant, in which he says Ihe s " anect nrffaira more strontlr indicates WAR in. ; hiirgachiaB' than at any other period during the ((. -..'"z.-r - f . C-ti. 11.. kWil. Jitt: r-t ...., .-, , --- i sesauaJ4Milie! r aince as oeen piaceo in wc cncn ui vur starc- ' crow, plan of ..warfare, or that thi AiXk of our pre ; par at ion should produce, on the part of G. Britain, relaxation in her maritime system. It has en. i tirelr Tailed in its intended effect; and has, oh the contrary prodMcedAinion in G. Britain ; so that! ary, 181 1, and Congress was of necessity to close liow our government has no 'choice left, but 'ei-1 their session bn the 'Si of Mvcii.. The infonna tber to recede from the ground they have taken, 'tion sought by that question, was of the highest or proce'ed to the lut 'retort .tiiat itf, to WAR. .importance 'to the -comnerce ; and now in itsco;i .V I hayeS ail along been fearful that a series pf b'lun , sequences, to the fieace of our country; But, Mr. .' -fieri airid mismanagement, to give them no harsh Madison disapproved of it ! Mr. ?mtih " entreated r epithet would lead to that result. -My fears him, hut in the most delicate manner, not to with are 1 believe like to be realised. The high sense hold from Congress any inform ition that might ' of honor wVich- the advocates of the present mea-i be useful 10 them at so momentous alunctnre," . ' sures profess forbids a retreat: there is, therefore, Such are Mr. Smith's own words, in the public no alternative but lojight. If the people at large ' ; htive that high sense of national, or rather ' V"? V. " metUonal honour, which men of this, stamp pro , . CoV'they have nothing to do but to shed their ' olood ana waste meir treasure, m uic wrosccunon pJ tbis war." My respectable friend then adds, ; .'-' The crisis is" l&st approaching. The advocates J : of the. present war have all along been flattering f themselves thai if would be a popnlar war. That r . Iropression w31, I think, prote fallacious. Great i attentiori Will belaid to the approaching elections. ' -livery tote given' for Gerryt in Massachusetts will '.' be considered here as a vote in favour of the war . . ;: measure i Congress." . ' . ' . , . Yes, fellbw.cHizens, abandoning lynar great eii ahC best incercsts, you are to engage in a destrup . tive war foy wnour You are to fight -for honour , tor yCohgrttsionai honour' ( happy disftinc ' - . tibri of rov friend's) pot for national-honour, but ,; lor ik& honour of a set of men,i ar' majority of , whomi 'together- with the administration, and' Thomas. Jefferson, (tneTnasLerspnng at theirnead) have been 'revjled, and figuratively' speaking, " V : cuffed ani spit' upon 'by.' Bonapartc-rTb his own ubjectK WDlie ne gruius iiicm i puwucr uy uis exactions' for his treasury and 1iis armies, he ye( , shews some respect, but to our'ruWrs in all his i'. !, - word and actions for four years past, nothing but i ' cdtempV .And finally, 'he' has told them explicit , ly that they were destitute if honour !'' all which "v they h'ate'borhe. with the tameness of slaves.lBnd V ?yet these men now talk of honour 1 and are urging it is aiwar to rescue them from merited disgrace, ;. A ' .rilul not" to save or defend the honour ofourcoun- 1 try. Fhe French Emperor; has Conrnved to twist ' . knot about our necits, as.w-w iw mviirucis f iaid, ""A knot whichhe added, must be cut :. by th& sword of war I" But war with whom ? with '.Mm who twisted the knot? No, with G Britain! Lut ho w could Bonaparte twist such a knot about ; our necks without the aid, the co operation of our f ; r, ;.ri rtilerS 1AtiA if. in concert with them, how r'. V' ; ; but by lrealhery I But, it is Said, they have ro'adej ' " contract's with', him I (and ;thi is the knot; V. iwisted about our necks) ; ana every, agreemeni "TrTolScredy r rformeaTWsI'honest seirwillwavs fulfil iheir -engagements tbut ' ' momiaes and compacts" are mutual, i,m knmihlnp- is to be performed on one side ' " ;!. U;,, -he Ather. if one party fails in the rforraance the ojfcfr a dwctiar4hrprt tended "compact" was, that if France revoked or modified her dectees so that they should cease ,lo vioiaic our natural, vumuicibc, uu v f'f did -not revoke or 4nodi:y her Orders lft caancil in like manner, then the United States were to prohibit all importations of the products and mer chandize of the British dominions But France did, not' so revoke or modify he'r decrees : arid President -Madison's proclamation of November 2, 1810r.stating that the French decreesrin ques. tion had bten so revoked or modified ivatJaUe in 'art; for the Emperor's declaration in the letter jorhia minister Champagny to the American mt ntsur H f4rir- conditional, amounting cmy -LM.jiroMt9e-a revoke, his decrees, on certain - turetvrnta, which might or might not takeplace. Bit it was the Jaci of their haual revocation not a ftrotuiae to revSkej which ihe Piesident was author. ied by'lawo proclaim. It was this unfounded proclamation, for issuing "which Mr. Madison ought to have been impeached ; combined with the Em- perors conamonai promised revocation oi nis ue crees, that twisted knot about ourneds, to cut which, the government is now preparing to plunge rour condemned i - his imperial majesty himstlt Ire country into a war with Great Britain, liur, be- quently sitting and passing the iniquitous semen fore this knot received the finishing twittf by an ces and condemnation. . The. President and Con. 'act of Conttress. a new minister arrived from 'November, had excited doubts even among ere- eluding the interview by observing to tiie rrench minister, that he would propose in writing, the several questions which had beea stated m the conversation. Mr. Smith committed thtm to pa per, in the form of a letter to the French minister. The first question was " were the iBcrlin and Mi la,n decrees revoked inwftoror m part on the first posteribr to that day been so 'revoked, f Or, huvejloffrtby the greatest wound to tbe legal cou yoii instructions from ydur government to give .ui'stitution, which the most poweiful and most ar- his government an assurance or explanation in relation to the revocation or modification of those decrees ?' This letter was dated 20ih of Febru statement of the cast. The reiter was npl' sent. Thie information Was rtotobtaine'd. And Congress, (groping in the dark, or rather Ava!kin only by the light shed up oil their rjh by Mr. Madison, a lightjhat served, but to. make darkness visible) by an act passed the second of March forbidding all importations from Great Brkain, gave the finishing twist to the knot. Our commerce consequently, for -a whole year and more, has been struggling for breath unJetMhe hands of. the hangman, and now by the embargo it is strangled. Nothing remaifis, bat to cut down the body and buYn it under the ga!lv8.irhis the impendinc war' is to accomplishi -But why should President Madison oppose Mr. Smith's most irrt portant inquiry : It is the President s cpnsruutional duty to 41 give toCongress infornation ol the stale of the onion and his oath of office tjp forces the obligation. C"T he-state of the union'' rostn the situation or condition of the United States in re. gard to foreign nations as well as among them selves- -- ... r"V . . Was Mr. Madison afraid that the real truth should be known ? Did he fear that, by the con fession of the French minister himself, his No vember proclamation should be procd i.nfounded and false ! Or was it a blind devotiwi to, or trea chcrous concert with France, which. governed his ; conduct in this matter i I have stated the material facta t vim will form vour own conclusion's, a series of deceptions and douole-dealingrWch I have witnessed in the Eecitives oT the United S. for several years past, some of which ! have here- tdfore exhibited to the public leave me no choice: cah formut onrco?ru'on,.andthatis, tfiat youau s wcu wounyi our imitation, lhe bouth are beiravedi that vour best interests are saciili ced, and your safety, liberty and independence rded io enable the French Emperor; to extend haza his conquests, and Anally to destroy the onhfiowcr. yet unsubdued. - '. I have already remarked, that where promises ox compacts are mutual, where something is to be performed on one side as well as on the other, it one party fails the performance, the other is discharged. .Now if the French emperor's Berlin and Milan decrees, wh ich so atrociously violated oujrrigtitO thcri thCiiSiiJedlStatea weve not JMundtbi revive and enforce the non-importation Jaw against Great Britain. But these decrees, were not revoked, on the 1st November 1810, nor have they been since xeyekcdynfiebnuary theemperor lias re- peatedfy declared . theta jtd'be fundamerttanaws of his empire. Nor. has he so modified them as that t'hjey cease to violate bur neutral rights. ' v." , s -Man'Jrof our vessels have been captured infi condemned, .which were Tairly engaged in the commerce which no other taws prohibited and theirr' cdnderhnaUon proves those decrees ' to be still in force.. But of what avail is it if those de crees were repealed? The mutual rights and the interests of the United States, require that our c&mmefce should be , perfectly free with all na. tions which arc willing (o admit bur vessels into Weir ports! wnemer mcy oe neuirais or me ene mies of Fra-i. Notwithstanding which the arm ed vessels of the emperor, take, barn, sink and destroy all our vessels destined to Spain or Fdrtu gal, and their dominions, which he hastreacher ously invaded and endeavored to subdue. But be has not stopped here. In the Baltic sea, French armed vessels make, prizes 'of all the American vessels they can find, although bound to' Sweden and Russia, nations at peace with France i their papers sent to Paris, and all are indiscriminately gtess know all this ; for fte facts are published in pretended 44 compact" would not be binding on the United States ; seeing the French emperor thus causes our vessels and their cargoes to be captured and condemned, or burnt, sunk and destroyed at sea, in violation of our neutrrl rights ; setting at defiance his own treaty with the United States as well as the law of nations. And yet this perfidi ous monster our government seems anxious to cnncliate, to gain his good will 1 to perform a com. pnet which was without a consideration, aud which if it had been founded he has violated, and conti nies most grossly to violate or) his prt 1 I am Inst in astonishment at this state of things ! Upon any fair and honorable principle, it is utterly incomprehensible. Hums, in his History of England, vol. viii. says An important project was formed, not only to make the King, (Charles II) master of the city, (London) but by that example to gain him the as bitr.ry mona'chs had ever yet been able to inflict. All the royalists, though Englishmen, and even, to a certain degree, lovers of liberty were yett in duced from timity to the opposite faction and from tine dt'sire of superiority, to concur in this violent measure. Will this fact from Hume aidis in attempting to account for the conduct or some honorable gentlemen at Washington ? . TIMOTHY PICKERING. April 15, 18 12. TOWK MEETIKG. , -Some conversation has lately taken place on the expedience of calling a meeting of the inhabitants of this town and its vicinity, to petition to Congress on the present alarnvng tate of the country, a meeting not. to. originate or Re conducted in the spirit of party, but on the broad principle of gen ' trai goou. yEveiy American of whatever political persua sion, must see, feel, and deplore lhe present dis as.ious state Of the country ; a state too,' which, under present circumstances, exhibits a mournful prospect 61 becoming worse. If this reality of pre seirt evils, many and ojipressive', and this appre hension of future ones, menacing still heavier ca lamines, De even partially true, a meeting of our citizens to consult on Ruch important concerns, is wcithy ot attention. It may lead to good ; itcan be pruauctive of no ill Speaking as a mer&partizao 1 1 a party, we ought, perhaps, to -discourftge it. i,hc majority in Congress are -so peculiar circum stanced, that they, require some application from the people to. josiify them in taking the probably 6esr,and perliapsorty steps that will extricate us from ouy present embarrassments. fJiit, refrain trom this application and they are so pledged that that rapid decline of piipolaritf, which is now tak ing place will be inevitably celebrated at the Norih- wa.d. In New'York. New Ipi-spw anr) Ppnrt vulva I uu lhe cw-LriRland states, meetincs torn posed ol ul parties have oeen called and a decree jot umon' ,a should be haiTtid as the harbinger of ,'ULU,t n-moity. ana consequent prosperity, and if-I oiievery principle of exjedience and by ,tvu sentiment ot patriotism, h is been exhibited, ;tli' ?"'llon,ul ine u States has been declared on ;tilf floor of Congress la be disposed to war --.If , tb.is seiuimeni be incorrect it behove us to unde- ceive oui government, to inform them how serious ly and earnestly a war is deprecated by. us, if. it can be avoided without disgrace, that itcan.be a. voided without disgrace to the fieoftle as we verily believe, so we confidently assert.- ff !ctzette By the subjoined extract, it will appear that Mr. Madison has pot only disavowed the late , acts of and Gem Matthews, bul has ordered such ten jtory and ports a$ have been taken from the Spaniards, to be restoied to the of fleers ot that government. This is a good sytnp. torn ; it gives countenance to the opinion, that war is iiot intuiued iibr.what folly would H be to ghe'tvas called to vet v up, acquisitions; howevef Tnade, io a Power, that woud in 'ease of I war with England, most pjoba bly become our iriemy... But "shall we'eredit ad ministration tn their declaration that the conduct of the Commodore 'and the General is not only un" authorised, but is ,a!so condemned by them Creddt 'Judkus'jifietlainbn ego ! U'hat shall we say of the letter Col. Monroe wrote to General Ma thews, an extract of which Gen. Mathers encilb sed in a letter, ail authority for procuring a re in force'rnent from the V. 6. troops stationed near Charleston, S. C. This fact is notorious in that cityV His request, it fs true,, was not compJitdT with. Orders i, on th specific Hv proper depart ment had not been JtCeived, and Geo. Mathtws't authority, with Col. Monroe's, letter to.bacli him, was vety properly deemed insufficient. "But thisT transaction proves caiiclusivtty that administration did, sub iosa, encourage the enterpriee. They hid? not spit it to do openly what insidious policy tempt ed them to effect io secret, ahd which they now pusiilanimously deny But neither Com. Camp bell nor Cen. Mathews, nor Colonel Srriythe wilt tamely submit to the ignominy which their ruler are heaping upon them : the shaft will recoil en the arm. which sped it, and cover with confusion the authors of a transaction, who now shrink from the? -responsibility of their own erooked policy.' Such, are the fruits of the tree of democracy, planted hy Jefferson, and watered and cherished to taematu.- rity of evil Iruit by Madjson.--iii. INTERESTING LETTER, Extract of a letter jrom a gemln-manat Savannah) to the Editors Of the Comrieri Savannah, 28th Apa, 1812. "'Dear & I give you the news her? of to-day, which you will find pretty correct. Got. Miteh ell arrived here this morning, end set off in a few hour afterwards for Darien, with all speed, on his way to Amelia Island, to tako the command from Mathews, and deliver up the Iskund to the Span- ish Commandant, together with d fiy other parts of rlonda which may be in the possession of the U. States, and to ussure hm of the disapprobation of our government -with the proce-idings cf Mathew and Campbell. 1 he governor's proclamation i now priming, calling upon the" American Citizena tp refrain from- father procedings aga'mst that colony, come home, under penalties, kc. So much; for that pretty business The governor lts pr dered out one thousand militia to enforce his orders in case of need, and also to ke rp the local iwpu'a lion in awe. , So far right 44 understood hn that trObVeTiioTTsM isiaiiu up iv me vipaiiisii iiiuoriue8 on or oeiore the 3oth instant agreeably tb a promise to Mr. Fo ter." " A WORTHY REPRESENTATIVE. Humanity endears the possessor of it to the hearts of all good, men; a virtuous breast feeJs sympathy for the di stress of others ; and esteem for him, who steps orth to administer the balsam of reUef. With fuch esteem our bosom was ini. pressed for that worthy representative from our state, Nathaniel JVtacon, when we read hishhmane exertions to rel ieve from famine the devoted inha bitants of Laguira, the Carracas, and Tenneriffc. It reflects honor on the House of Representative, . that they adopted without a dissentirg voice the motion of Mr. Macon as far- as repects the two first mentioned places, and while we regret that a too scrupu'bus.sentiment pausr d on the assistance that was 'intended for the unhappy survivors in Tenneriffe, it is still satisfactorjfio observe that a committee is instructed to enquire into'and report on the real state of that afflicted Island.. Congress of the United Spates . , The intolerant spirit manifested in the following debate, requires that the silence observed by tbts A'ational Intelligencer" on thiscongrtssional prov ceeding, should be corrected," and that publicity &houlU be given to opinions so alarming to the cf uzenaoi uie umteo Mates, as regards their tight 5f petitioning, and oo s.ub.versive of the privilege of fiee debate. - . The sketch which we now publish, was received in manuscript -from a friend at WashingtonT- , ., ' ' "., J' ' I'M. Mejiister, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, Jfiril SO Mr. Pead, of Mas sachusetts, presented a pelt lion signed by upwi rJ&.of 470.merclian!8 of Boa ton setting forth that tbey had an ,immene. a. mount of property in the dominions of G. Britain, the safety of which is jeopardized by the state of the relationSjbetweeh the two countries ; and pray- " ing permission to draw their said property, from G. Britain apd her dependencies, under such pro visions as shall be reasonable and just Mr. Jieod having desired the petition to be read, the clerk conrmeticed" reading it, and prr ceeded until he came tothat part ol it n. which the peti tioners suggest tacts and arguments to shew , that the Berlin arid Milan decrees ai e not' repealed, when", ; r' Mr. Wright rose,.ndsoiiihe hopf-d the further reading of the petition would not be sLflVrtd j that it was an insult to the house ani to ihe govern rnent foV'the petitioners to , insist that tbee de crees were not repealed, when the executive 6t lhis"country"had "declared tbey wee. The speaker -said that the, reading of the ptti- tion had been called for, add was ordered, as waa always done upon th(fe teqdest of any number who was-deiiiroua of heafing a ptpr read on wh"iU ht- i n - a ".i'J'T; . - Hi: 9 ... .- . ,. 1 '.,."- --. . .. ' . ' . ------r
The Raleigh Minerva (Raleigh, N.C.)
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May 22, 1812, edition 1
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