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. ' ... , i. " ." . ,'(' v.. m ,.'111 .'."i-EjjjL i 11 " r"iMI ' 1 , ' " m ,"' 1 !'r-"-'.;' " X".'""."'"'ii!-5"",":i,, f, 1 1 ,, , I. .. mi .., i, ' ,,,, FRIDAY, A?itft i, 1814. Tbl.19. No. 939.. 1 RALEIGH (ff. C.) . vpRINTED, WEEKLT, DV- ALKX." LUCAS. 7rm lf tulitcriplidn : Three dolUn pc yea One halTto be paid in advance. No paper tobccnmin-iefl foinerttian ihrpa i plonthi alter a ycar'a ubscrjplion becoroci due,'nciiivi2c3 . thereof ihaH haire btt given. '.' ' ' ' Afcerlittmtnlt, not exceeding 14 lines, are iniwed thrice fur one dollar, and for twenty-fivu cents each fibjcquenfc inter- tion j and in like proportion wlie there it a greater dumber otlmef than lout teen. . Ail Cotigress. MIL GASTON'S SPEECH, On the bill authorising a loan of, 225,009.000. ' COMTIJJUED. ' But tbis war, say its advocates, nearly due and all, was declared-to protect (far stamen a fainst impressment in fashionable phrase,' for "Sailors Rights." There is lio hubt, sir, that the isonflicljW claims of the fwo fyimjties on the subject ef feameya.na CTBww(WraTa-jin)u from Pennsylvania. 'The orders in coun forded of .returning to the happy state of peace, commerce, and successful enteiprise. How grateful must not the executive, of . country, whose policy was fundamentally pacific how grateful mnst it riot have been for this happy res cue, from the horrors of tvar! How rejoiced, that all had been effected without a struggle, which it was the object to obtain by a bloody' ai$ pre carious contest ! Exulting to show, thaj when it unsheathed the sword, pot passion, but du'y urged thereluct'ant deed, surely it hastened to return the unstained weapon to the scabbard, and extend the blessed olive branch of gera.ee. Was it so ? Sir, I ncer can think of the con duct of the executive upon thisTjecasion, with, out mingled feelings of surprise, regret, and in gei It can be accounted for but by an infatua tion the most profound an infatuation which is not yet dissipated, and which should fill eve ry. breast with apprehensions of that dreadful result, which, in tire wisdom of Proyidwjce, is preceded by the "darkened eounseis" oiiuiferj. JBut it is entirely a mistake, gays the gentlft- pil never were revoked I they, were indeed ipithdrawnibixt under a declaration, asserting the rieht to re-enact them, should, the violence . 1-1 4 1 1. or r ranee, acquiesceo m uy imcncii,ieuc u prs tnQ jhoaIl hai& manned those bulwarks pursing a more gainful occupation in Ameri ca a ssehf.' iQw; merchant ships were crowded with "BritWramen ; most of them deserters J'rota ttTblr ships of war, and all furnished with fraudulent protections to prove them American. bast pfte practice of search for British ' tea &en on hoard of American merchantmen, had CXClieu SerlOUS UlSSiliaciluii iu amciivp Jtv I hazard nothing by the assertion, that the ques tion of seamen was not a cause of thij' war. I remember full well the characteristic special pleading of the-crentleman from Tennessee.. on this subject, at the last session, " that he really eould not tell whether,, if th4 orderk in coun cil had been repealed, we should " have gftue to war about seamen or not" -hut, sir, I con sider this as little more or less than adheronce to a cautio form, as a protestdndo by way of excluding a conclusion, or in tne nature ,or me commencement of an answer io a hill in chan cery, in which the defendant takes care to save reVoked an to cease to be injurious to ourteriemy To i theV vrere not necessary--they ate the nreau nvA bid down tne wages ot native seamen whowlt was our first duty to foster and encou-raS-5 :.TJtheir own country they were necessa ry, ef0totially: necessary. They were wanted for her. defence In a moment of unprecedented pcrih ' oght we not then f.iirhije seeking to protect 'our dwu seamen fromjojei British ser vice, (a have removed frota'her teamen the temptaUou to desert their country and to gup plaoturs at home? Whv need I ask the QQf:?tun.? Your. seamen's bill, as it is called. efi&ctedjsto a law since tlje war. is an aeknow- leagram chj iwt ouiu tomv beta aone HoWeV'oreptive if g provisions ofay appijr,ji v?rj-grmGwie is io. restore, to-ijn. tain fcer teamen,, and save our owtj fr,bni her fiervifte; Uniegs you believed this principle right it was the meanest of degradations at such d time toass such a law Ajud if ilaY' niMp(sitv for them. Will the administration,, right, then yoivnad justice to render, as well as sir. brine forward this excuse? Will they to seek.. Had tou pursued this plain path of take this.ground r no, sir, mey caiwioi, iucj ngm, u.u jou auspeuueu nosuimes, you would dare not. The President has told the natiou, havje consulted; also the true policy of your that the' revocation of the orders was substan- country. An tnconditional proposition for an tially satisfactory in his peculiar phraseolo-. armistice upon. the revocation of the orders, or gy,1 " The repeal ot tne orders m council, Mas susceptible of explanations meeting the just view of this government.' How could he do otherwise, after his proclamation of the 2d No vember, 1810, declaring the Freireh edicts so an unconditional acceptance of the offer for au armistice would have passed for macnanimitv. The disgraeesiWhich have since foully detain ed our jnilitari character' were not then antici- wwawc iriiiiru neniDRi itaTery, liiacDuu ootMuteet i nave no .neauauoo. uvweyer, id civ viv "without alarm atid reientmerif the warn- ina my eeneral sentimeits. c , It is tha duty bt :, this government to protect its seamen (1 mean its native seaeaen; iron) the lorceu service i, any and every power ao, ear.th so far asih& stength of the. country can obtain for them pro tectioa; True it is, that ikmy opinion tha. n amber of impressed Americans bears no reason fa ble proportion (o the number aUejjrd. Jf yf in a state, which, tho' it earrie nxit"(m'n ti- 'f tensive foreign sommerce, aas many natrvea-? men. At the moment of the declare tidnjJIar 5 t the inquiry was made whether a .single pailvt. seaman ot l ortn varouna was men detained, pm British impressment. "I could hearf none. X know that dttfiHg our restfictive system maay". of our saUors entered voluntartl into the 3, tish service, atuTwfcea. twred of it, eoh?plain that they had been inrm&lnstaiiees have actually occurred at Plylnouth and M Londou, of men sowfertdag i'ttiproMe Aaerjeanj. whgi afterwi. hoai wlthey Tha1Tebea(e4 ffielfWtflf. ftrth4M.ttle Mh f the PresU dent -anil thfc ltil&.itimj:fi lgnsiJel )Kt now-an industriou farrfer pftticed iu'the nuink S-- 'ii . " a.: itiL -,l claimed, there eoes oiie if my protections. jOn heing asked foT an exilanatjon hereiKarfccdL' that in his wild days, when he louowcfi jpe sea it was an ordinary mode pf procuring"a llUI spending money to getii prptectiou irpm itNoi tary for a dollar, and sell it to the first foreigner whom it at all fitted fof fifteen or twepty. The protected alien-assumed, pfeoursefhe Ameri can name, and if impressed, claimed to bYli-, berated itjider it. Thexaminat!ons which have been had oefore the'eonynittee ot the Massa chusetts leeislature, aud especially that 1 tohimselfno, and at all times hereafter, all, and all mannenpf benefit of exception to the rio.ht. n nrnrlmiiation founded tolelv on the letter of the duke de Ladore, oi uie oui Augusi, rrorsthatinay be discovered in corapIainantlpromjgjn a revocation. Does the gentleman a I t 1 MS m A vara MA t ff rT Ilia r n I . 1 a alleeatiens. I am aware, too, of the very con spicuous blazon .which is given to our sailors, wrong in the president's war-message, and in the manifesto of the committee of foreign rela tions. Bui this proves "no more,than that when war was determined on, it was deemed ad viseable .to make out as strong a ease as pos sible, either to excite the sympathy of the world, or to rouse the indignation of our own citizens. The impressment of our seamen was grouped in the picture with the dearly bought Henry plot ; the, at least dubious, excitement of Indian hos tilities, and the adjusted controversy about con structive blockades. No, sir, the qhestiori of seamen waf'-not a cause of this war. More than five years' had passed over since an arrangement oh- thf u- beesT made With Great Britain j hot it pleased not the President and -was rejected. Yet du ring"the whale period that afterwards eUpied until the declaration of war, no second feffbttfTn fi,- Pmnnatie lanjruaee of the oloouent Juni j t. .i-r. e 1 r ... . -3 0 . tts uiauc iu ttujusi lii it. cause 01 uuuiruvcrot From December, 1807, with very short inter vals, we waged against Britain a comntefeial war toeoeree her into an observance of . the rights we claimed at her hands." In every step of thif system, whether embargo, non-intercourse,' or poiiimportation, we avowed the grounds of this contest, and the condition on which it should, terminate the ordeiV in coun cil, and th(sii'repeal. In April, 1 809, the fa mous arrangement with Erskine was made, hail ed by thewell-meaning as a. second treaty of amity between the two countries ; yet it contain ed nothing upon; the question of seamen. -In the President's communication to Congress, at the commencement of thewar session,Novem reeoljcct the celebrated "Bien entendu," or proviso annexed to this letter: "Provided, that inconsequence of this declaration the Bri tish government shall revoke their orders in council, and renounce their new principles of bloekade.'or'America shall cause her rights to be respected, conformably to the act which you have communicated?" Does the gentleman remember the tortuous and labored efforts of Mr. secretary Monroe to explain this proviso into a condition subsequent ? To prove that it was designed only to assert the right of France to re-enact these decreed if Britain should per sist in her orders, and we forbear from resist ing them ? Such a condition subsequent annex ed to a promised revocation of the French de crees, had no effect to impair its force but the tajae annexed in terms to the actiwi rerpcAliaa of the British orders renders it entirely null.'- Nn sir, thexeeutive cannot take this ground his discreet friends will not take it for him. us, this would indeed " resemble the termagant chastity of a prude, who prosecutes one lover for a rape, whila she solicits the lewd embra ces of another." But ean it be urged, says the gentleman, that the revocation of the orders iit-eouneil removed all our causes of complaint, and left us nothing more to demand of the enemy ? Xo, sir, this is not urged But it is contended that as the revo cation of the orders in council removed the cause of war, hostilities should instantly have been suspended and a fairlinanly effort made to settle by negriciation all unadjusted differen ces which had caused the war. A question of much importance and delicacyremamed to be settled in relation to the search for British sea- Bcrsxieuuuierating, in noiignt tone, ourmcn on board merchant vessels, and the onutreriei wnu unuun, ana recommeiiuiii i ; .. Ao:an TT. . .. - . utbaaiuiiat iiiiui cobiiil sj ua xauivi ivuuo u iiuci 'a! ' ii' . a.m preparations lor war, id wn press menoi sea-jeverv administratton of our cnuntrv this ones- secretary of; t- V j exeited creat interest and be(?nattend- men was not remembered. The j . .1. state was, earnestly engaged in a correspon dence with the British minister, Foster, at the ed with much difficulty. Of late, indeed, it had H6 2M mama 1nrPAA Tnct lio intniiAai Mtnti nnMmtltM Ka cat i gcn ..cut, umii me ueciarauon oi ,... orhe cnmnarIlt:VPir rarR nf war ; nay, until after it ha the .house the praclicc. The restrictive anti-c . of preseutalives. The object of the corres- 8ystem had expelled native and forei uucc ru,vC uX, as, xg oring our uineren- in vast numbers from our eountrvrand almost commercial gn seamen ces to an amicable close But in thio corres- patcd. The rorld would have believed, yourj William Gray, confiom the belief that the nuur enemy, would fiave heiUved, that you suspend-iber of impressed Americans ha been exaRge. cd oy & Yotif carcur of conquest becau vyd its oncin not to ambition, hut to dutv becbse yoii bought not territory, but justice oecause you preferred an honest peace to the most splendid victory. With the reputation of having commanded, oy your attitude of armour, a reneal of the offensive orders, von -would have evinced a moderation which must have se cured the most beneficial arrangements onithe question of seamen. But, sir, jthis was not done. No armistice could obtain) the approbation of the executive, unless it was preceded hy an abandonment, for mal, or tne Jintish claim to search for their sea men on boanl our merchant vessels. As an evidence of this abandonment, the exercise of the claim must, by stipulation, be suspended during the armistice, aud this buspension was to we the price of its purchase. Even without an armistice, iro arrangement" was to be of . . Ik') 1 . -''! se the war had ! rated " infinitely bevand the i ruth. But their," number lias Decn large, enougii to render in . grievance a serious one A nd be they more or less, the right to tie. protection of their coun- , try is sacred and ntust be regarded. This eo- vernment would fojffeit its claims to the respect ( and affection of itscitizens if it omitted any rn- tional means to secure the rights of American seamen from actual violation. Seek ' to obtaiu this security by practical, means. If you can, , t not by substit ute obtain au abandonment of the, , right or practice to search pur vessels, regulate it-so as to prevent, its abuse waving for the .. present not relinquishing your objections to the,5'; right. Do all that cap fairly !e asked of you,''' to supercede the necessity of the, practice- 'fJ When this is done, and Vou should nevertheless' ' fail--when war is rendered necessary to obtain. a practical and reasonahle security for Ameri can seamen agaiust the abuses of .impressment, dcjuod ubjy4r4r -wegoeiattoa wlHehj thi, sir, tht wsjiiost.lover wy removed the temptations to an exercise of what j,uuueu, iwuo .oi impressment umi no (he Britigh daimed raaritime rightFof fnX7iHJr 7""" fiv years before the war, the dispute had, in topic of disc&ssitfh. Audio the ofheial com- .ija..r. . topic Of discussion. : And in the niunicatiou froni pur government to our minis ter in Uussia7fatiM the fact of a war declared against Bltaiairtd alleging its tisUScation, with a View to be eommunicatedjo theTtussiian governmetH Mr; Monroe's lettor- td Johd'sQ. Adams, of Julyi 1813 this jiistificatioP i3 rested solely oh thVBrilish orders inrcouficil, These, lhetf,vere emphatically, and exIusively the cause pf war, AndVhad it not been for yery. .many weighty considerations to be found in the state or the wot Id, in the nlture of Ihe .war ift Europe, out of whicli proceeded this violation of neutral rights; in the conduct of He other mighty belligerent, her injuries; her inenaces iiu iiHuucs, aim iu me peculiar conuuion oi this country actually growing into unexampled themselves on pur notice, and while fesepresti ed that was postponed as a matter for tutirre ar rangement. But out of tliese new, subjects L!.L'! a 1 t . 1 1 CBiuroversy arose wnico issueu in war xi Jiaq scarcely beep declared before the matter in eobv troyersy was arraitged to our. satisfaction .py the yoinntary act of th? enemy. ' What waso'nr plain obvious course the couisc of duty ami of policy ? Sheath the sword until it is ascer tained whether the dispute which had been laid aside for future arrangement, and whieh, in consequence of the adjustment of more pressing c&uc&cus, is ihiv property jJi csc.ueu in nonce can or cannot hz amicably settled. Even tv rants pronounce war the " ultima rtiifttoegiijit" the last resort of Lprinees, "Nothing can juslify and .consldprutions like these, thatrumpet t9Tiguewarned us from lite gulph into whicl .prospeniyiiucpieFytata "r. "jV 'I V7 "."wt u.ccul CBC right irr.iiicr means ' Vou Md iiot sunoosed shf.nld not La lirf-rliriitMrl nn UKa koata" nn exclusion &pux our vessels, by our laws, of their seamen, ana an absolute prohibition of seareh to- heir officers. This, sir, was takiqg very 10117 grouua ; oui at tnat moment the Canada feveip raged highland the delirjum of foreign cpnqtiest was at its acme. In a few weeks the American flag was to wave triumphant on the ramparts 01 ueoec i he proposition foran arpiKtice-from-the governor of Canada was ut terly inadmissible, In the language of our se cretary 01 siaie, it wanted reciprocity" The " proposition fg not reciprocal,, because it res it trains the United States from acting where " their power is greatest, and leaves Great " Britain at liberty, and gives her time to aug. " ment her forces in pur neighborhood." Mr, Russell did condescend to offer an ar mistice to the enemy, upon .the condition of yielding as preliminary, even to suspension of arras, all that could be extorted by the most tri umphant war. But eveQ e- -ln is pacifiepro positiou, cdufd not refrain from exulting at the gloridus conquests that would inevitably he made, if submission was refused or, delayed.. " Your lordship is awareTof the difficulties with which a prosecution of the war, even for a short period, must necessarily embarrass all future attempts at accommodation. Passions exasperated by injuries ; allianctsi or conquest yn ivruv: witnrjoTota ineir avanaonmen will ynevi&ably . hreajtr embitter and protract a contiftt; irhichinight now be so easily and hap pily tcrnii4&? ; lv - V I cannot jforupar,; sir, from one remark at thp " awful souintiiig" 16 this letter at an alliance with 51 France, iO?ntlemea aro sensitive when fit .pjfssibiiiof such a cotuiectLan is intimat ed. -.The very suspicion oTsuch a design in the cabinet is viewed as a calumny. Hee the ac- creflitcti. agjdnt t the American eiecutiye pro claim such a connection, such. Pn alliance as iwnfa6;e--.proclaims jt in an official communi- calion to the public enemy. 1 he declaration is laid , before . Congress and the people by the President unaccompanied by any disavowal--T Tl.. k.:.:.. : : j m !L ' j. no uiiuisier is uui uensuren i' or ins very con duct iu this etnploymeht he is' raised to the highest grade of foreign Ministers 5 and in spite pf the reluctance of the Senate to confirm his nomiaauofti tion its expedicocy uone who admit that wars may ever be justly waged can feel conscientious scruples in yielding It rtppOrt This, sir, is mil ' late opinion of miner - If has Uceft long and pub- . licly avowed-wnot indeed as i jdkdgto mj epp" stituents, as my friend and collff gaeXMr Mur phey) has remarked we 'do. iipt deal iir pledV ges but because it is roy habit to be frank whea no duty commapds concealment ,Npr is " ij X trai)ge- that-X should feel attached to the rights ,,;We,weF..ahnjit 10 pluhge' threrTW h council would havejustThtuhrrresovt to war-AT all events, tney formed what might bG tcrmtnl a sufiaeient'fccMtqtr cause of Instilitics, much better than often figure, with jsonspienous ef fect, inlliemaifteiC'prnrpes', etidcr the speeio.is names ot"JiSit'-ej iudcpviidt'iuie uwiyi- olated rights. But, Tr, scarcely Jytd the fatal step hsen taken, and thcdeitinies of our nation " risqued on the fortune of the sword,w hen the obnoxious orders were revoked, the cause -f war removed, and an hciorabk appcriarutv aft your just claims on the subject of seamen onat tamable by nesjinliation, or you would. not hiive reseryen.4ietnior yearsjis a suiiject for. nego tiation .na 11. they .Da- thus auainable, 1hw will ye answer (o God pud tlie country for the blood and trea-wre uselessly rrriniirially ex-pended-li-Xhis'iuode of f hi tiki or;,' sir. seems to me very siraiarht, and quite hi accordance with thtrgood o'd notions of ir'44al moiiility Be sides it is the incumbent thifv of him who,.eeks jtiRiiec, ursi 10 renaer it. , natever oar claims on Great Britain might have beei: in relation to seamen, she was not without her claims on ns At a tims ul-ri her flor.t'iu? huhvarks ware her sressedPpn--4he--byrth President until their assent to his appointment is extorted. .X !vell ppt upon this topic, for I confess to vop the - honest fears, fvhich once eon getifruy heart are rioivTJifSijp of national freedom has burst forth' from behind tbe. iiortentofis eclipse that ' with fear of change?' had perplexell the; darkened wurld. Ps'apoleon.. no longer nvriicible, stnpt of he false, glafre tthich splendid crime threw arOUniJ his' chapter is iio longer eulogised as" so-peV-ei?rhtctlt' hist dcnonnred. by the champions of adm1iisrtion as an" usurper." No one courts tii'( friendship of a fallen tyrant I . Its is not for ine to sav in what niauher the of the Americas- aairor. JLiuiLJativepfihe sea board. . Many pf the playmates of my in fancy have'heeome the adventurous ploughtmen of the. deep.. 8ea-faring men are amoug'm strongest personal and political friends. . And for their true interests-i-their fair jrigJits, 1 claim to feel a concern aa sincere,'aiij a zeal as fervent as can be boasted by any gejirlemau from the interior, ' pr from beyond the mun tains, w ho has heard of them, but kuown Ihem not t.'-;" -; -,; i',. f ;, Has the prosecution of your scheme of ipva sti6n-aud conquest arainst the Canadas a ten dency to leeure these rights and advance these mterests r J his, sir, is a momentous question, on which it is the dutj of every man ifl authori"? . ty to reflect dispassionately, and withva fixedj. purpose to the truth. Unless this tendency be1 manifest, and morally certaiuv every motive" which can be addressed to aa honest heart and intelligent mind, fotbids its proePiition at tlie present moment; Make a fair compatison of its - certain or prpbablc ills , with its.posisiblo gains, and then pronounce the sentence whieh justice, humanity apd policy demand : and 'a SDiien.ng naura wu ieST9aruccision. i fs noi my ieignhi,p eoQSHier..vuemmeui tpenditure which .thih 'scheme has eost, and ex which a continuance of it . Vill eost Jo this coun try. ' WH worthy is this topic of considera -tion, especially at a moment when industry is without .encouragement, "and external revenue ; is utterly destroyed." But, it has been exarainr edwith great ability by gentlemen who have preceded me, especially by the gcutlemen fion Connecticut and Virginia. (Mr. Pitkin . and v Mr. "Sheffey) and" contenting myself with an earnest request, that their remarks be nutfpr gotten, and that in your zeal for epnquestyon do. not beggar your people, I hasten to present V . ' ICJSS. FOUft TH-f ABJU was well remarked by Mr. rearsonthat the constitutional rule of ascertaining thecontri burton if encfc thezpnblicTebtfuus to be collected from theny- tern of direct taxes. Supposingthe debt which tcilUiave been created by the Cannda tear by the close of the next campaign to be ninety millions, t every man may ascertain how much of his pro- perty is mortgaged far it $ payment, by advert" insr td hti vortion of the direct tax The whcU amount of this direct taJC'isthree'milliont. ; Mnlliplyin therefore each man's direct tax. by 4 y, will give the shn-e o f the whole de!k,ar , thirty, dispute about seaiiilu is to b settled. On this uhich-hc may ie eonsidere'd c? UrV.e i i
The Raleigh Minerva (Raleigh, N.C.)
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April 1, 1814, edition 1
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