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..fc- ) i S fee, vrnc PUBllSHED (wEikiT) BY WltilARr bOylAN- " - . . r . .. -V . ' ' ' - . ' ., -V - " .& ...... C.twS :-i 0 bOllS, K tfio yhl t id Vhaj Vol' 1;. t RALEIGH, (n. c :) THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1 809. No. .67?.:,. '7--- i I -' , i hi iftv : was htht lartini es, annoi d- sin 'lym Equiti John . V nfint e, Ed other fend 2aroi V.C re on by at.nl , in ;h in the thci the wer her m E.J 1 OB ty; S .at ndH two bddd wi! 3WH m. st: 1 ui r ;cn: 5W. 3 Congress : ;.. ;: Frwat' February 3," . 'C' 1 1 rout Me mbttrgo end authorising lttter Of Marque utiu t ic f - ijj you then submit f";Say.gcntiemen I L rrrtirAeA a vote that Vou will 5 you v w r . , . iniit V Unquestionably I mve, and 1 cnnmilf " v rtsistanqe ? By submission I understand i formal renunciation gi.inc vmus , ..:'rta arnuieKrcnce in the claims C. or a t'1,' v i ; r sdversary w nen you say mat juu i n,knf An vmi KiAan ? That vnil ke the best resistance that you cam- when we have iriadMh'ts determination, me to the great question of expediency, what is that best resistance ? Now, if you it rile njtitii,v,ti,vv' 01 vv I btt'tanier, and nottll the British minis- Ut v.iii mean 10 arm uexi yew. hu k y fight the English and r'reiKh, until j? Wlijr,ir, )'QUnot only make resfst- but you do it m thf most honorable, and effectual wav, and therefore in the Itading most tlireclly to a restoration of not to a good understandingi for that te shall never have, but 10 your system, baiTnSan, f Ao"nf Cap Urcat- i undertake for a moment to consider, s war ui)on her, which she requires ot dofhTjbrdtr to maintain our fait rieutral- m; to resist the decrees of Berlin, Mi- ayonne, or any where else ; r.on-resist- ... . .1 . r 1- 1 tovliicn, is J lie pica ior a ex orucrs i il ? What offence ca it be to her ? .sir; and yet to i)ll the piratical, Une tfiects of war, such a vstem would be icient as any you can devise as war it- Can r'tance 1 although itldeed there be t of sjbttxn within a system there,' which not veiT veil understand can . France tfiatyb tif fesi stance to w harshe- calls- th e wy of. the seas, justifies her in taking any lile steps, against you, supposing it to be in poVerl-- Unquestioqably not. prance i the power to issue certain decrees on (ground of" England's having .usurped the" re of the ocean. You resist that usurpa- These decrees then, are not, in any re-' t, applicable to, you for I understand non-resistance to be thr sole alleged cause (is? tiecrees. England retaliates tne sys- ; Why Because (as she says) you do mlit.' 'France decrees be e you do not resist (as she alleges! the sh orders t England issurs her orders be e you do not resist the French decrees 1 1 would resist both ; and if either con that resistance (which they have both i upon you to make) into war,' and do, ithstandjnjj, capture your armed ship?, then, sir, you have nothing left but to y thtm by every means jnryour power, ill be they who make thewar and not, pelf; and that circumstance will unite ev heartand1iand; throughout the country, our cause. But, sir, I believe -(although e not so much confidence as some, gen fnhave in the, wisdom of these nations) they have rather toamuch good sense to act ihus to drive -you into, the arms le otntr party. lt vour merchants then, arm in defence of their lawful trade 'nst French decrees, British orders in coun- aniLany thintr else 6T5 sfmilar stamn, and the nation Which Jy forceshall attempt tcr !f-ute them, know that it is war. Your re- nce, according to their own shewiner is ul ; they-4iave Called ifor it thje withhold '1 has been the pretext for their aggressi- -and the first gun fired on youwhen so 5Un& is actual, flagrant, maritime war- men throw the onut on thein. . You shew ptople that it. was not within the power of a,t Wisdom to have-oevibtd a mode of Pm?ei!t of war with thein-liatthe vctv " liich they required of our fair neutral Resistance to each btheR's monstrous r.re- -luiisj have provoked their hostility : that ft as no alternative but war or embanro 'la who knows, sir. but therembarVo niav Tty btconie so popular admeasure, lhat put it on never to be pulledoff again ; tl'te our winding sheet we shall be bui ied othe course which I Dronose. one of the : jttuona nas neen taaen, innt nn gcniiity could have Revised;, that it nthorize the merchant vessels to arm ant! "stance, they will not arm (whiH. 'j1snatTntre is no occasion foi arming of f0?"""" or' 'tney v 1,1 arm.ani1 yet H "igland and tke licensts nav trilMite." ittasonof this kind is to govern us," as we 6 luted out the'navy, thet)est-use that I J 'Or It Will ho tr. rk U Ur,. r. w iii; iii 111c i i pnen aiifi r.niiisn. with cotton ; and pay' tribute. You must then invent some mode of making them fight. &ir, there is no mode of making men fight against their will ; there. has been none yet everde "vised, Vtior" ever will be. Po gentlemen know so little of mankind Are they so ignorant of the character and composition of 'that( mixe4 assemblage, a nation so littleTread in tlc his tory of our revblution, as not to kboH' that wheh the crisis- (Sir, thisifs4 poor worn out word, I hope to be pardoned focusing it it shall be the last time) was over, the American .patriots began to trade with thip British at N. Yprki . and elsewhere ' It is an established fact, , that ' flvey engaged; in what was well known as the London trade men too, who fought and bled, and gained renown in the battles of their countiy. 'r No sooner was all prospect ofy.subjugation over they did hot wait for preliru'mary articles of peace thaii they traded with the English arid - they -will do it now, , even if you go to war, except it be a part of the system that they shall not- trade at all, hot even among tmselvesCjAhother stranjje obicctioiV is made to Uiis system. It is said that "Amejican'vessels will go to St revoke their orders and decre s what t Bartholomew's or iGottenburgli, jo matter wnere, so nil mey wani is an emrejai, no-.may ter who th,e buyers or sellers that at this place of deposit your produce will be lodged that'lhe English will buy it that France having no navy, will 'come in for no part of tho-'trAdeand'Uiat therefore it will operate partially, against her, We have carried our ideas of inipartiality o "'strange length, sir. We must fiht impartially, and trade ditto. But the,.. substance of t he objection is this that beausq on' of yoiir enemies, -against whom yon are making resistance, (stjch as it is) has not a powerful navy to take her share of your trade from neutral pons, you ought not to trade at all. IT France were our friend, ally,-benefactor, ' gentlemen could state this, and it might have some weight But to offer Traasrreasijfi for bstaitviiig" from all trade that a pQwer assumed to be your enemy, .nd against whom you profess to make such resistance ,-4ameptingUhaUtis4nwyourpuwer, to do so little'4 wish -very much, sir, that Florida belonged to her, pc that she had some province on our frontier very sorry -indeed, that she presents no vulnerable point to us but. that's not our fault" that we should ab stain from all trade, because this power can not reap an advantageTfrom it is a novel ar gument. indeed. $0 be ' it; It then seems, sir, that by a strapse derangement of intellect, by some strange sort of logic, which I do not understand, and hop? I never shall when you are reduced tp such a situation, in which you; cannot injure a powerlul foe, you are bound to repder her all the benefit you can ; and her npt, receiving her full and impartial share of all the benefits whidunay ipcidenttJly accrue from any of your measures taken purely with a view to your own advantage, is to be a good and valid reason why you should forego those measures I That you must continue to suffer, hecause, if you get relief, one of your greatest toes will derive no benefit from it ! This can not be too much insisted on j it should, if pos sible, be driven into th skull of every head in the country. j But this plan, it seems, .does not suit the i" d?as of some gentlemen', who think very high--ly of the point of honor, who think that we rnust fig hr; that werrnust draw a Jittle blood from the sword arm to gratify t jus punctilious itching ; .that one of twcouj-sS hiukt be ta ken ; either that' we must set too to drawing it from our own citizeos, m march forthwith IgTCanada. This, sir, was the only part, as 1 could apprehend it, of;my worthy-colleague's argument, the other day, that did-not precise ly s'uit my conception of the truelnterests of the country (and if he would" permit me, I would obserre, that supposing his atement to be true, hedi4, most imqueswonably de monstrate that the embargo would have been a wW, an efficient and salutaiy measure by way of rider to the reduction of Canada ; that if We had firsfof 10 nyerrun Canada, stormed Qiiebeck, reduced the provinces of Nova-Scotia and Brunswick, and then laid an erniargo, it would have had a very salutary operation. Having, howeverr thus unluckily put. the cart 1 before the horaeHhe e,pbargo betore tne con quest of Canada, before we go to mending the broken gear, andmaking preparation for . a new set out, a little rest and some considera tion' would not be amiss I ara willing to take up some of the ideas, I could almost say alii which fellTrom the gentleman from Massa chusetts, and my colleague. Mr. Burwcll said that Mr. R. had misun derstood his argument he presumed.' I en deavored (said Mr. B.) to give my opinion that it would not be proper, to go to war to take possession of Canada ; but if we. were forced to go to war, there are other considera tions, connected with the means of coercing the enemyto do us justice which would make it expedient tq take-the British provinces 1 uud niy argument in relation ta, Canada was in reply to at) observation - of a gentleman from Connecticut,TthatXlanada had obviated naucii of the effect of our embargo j if so, it PJJe you issue letters of mai-que ' .r declare war and commissio '"e same thing may be said, that they that they will go to London and re- ssion pnva- would be importanV were we to go to war, tlrat;we should take possession of it, though 1 do not precisely admit his position. My colleague (said Mr. Randolph) is mistaken I think I, have.' not "misunderstood him, even' though his" argument was addressed to the gentleman from Cbnnecticiut, by way of reply. The embargo has not been, operativei through) t he i n t erven tlon of CanadaT' VVKet her by, fu r-v. nishing supplies of her; own production or as the instrument of .drawing them from us, is, immaterialr--Cahada is the cause. V The em bargo would have operated, it is" said, but for the British having possession of Canada-. Thcrcfere, sir,' the taking of Canada ought (by . the statement) to have preceded the embargo," as I trust in God it will precede thq;, next that" Is laid. . 1 ' '." '-',"' S. ; V '"' -But, sir, why take Canada now, wherf my colleague tells you and When qtlr gentlerpen tells you that there isa-prospectof readjust-" meht ; atid when, at least, it is demonstrable j that thelsort- of resistance which I propose, viz. the arm,ing of our merchantmen in their own defence, is'the kind of resistance not on ly best calculaVvd to meet the' evil against which we would guard, but presents the best possible chance of a re-adjustment of our dif ferehces ? For if we say. that, at any future day, in case the belligerents do not come to our terms, we wilt let fall on their heads let ters of marque and reprisal, as .yoq said by your suspension of the non importation act and offer to suspend the embargo, you may oe sure that such a plan will not procure ac commodation, if that be y our object. If you injure a man and he. exercises his lights as a. ipan and defends himself without overstepping the bounds of defence so as to make him the A "asjgressing pai ty it i nuich njiore easy for you to come .to an accommodation thaivn he-were to say to you 1 will on such a day do so and so if you do not retnict." He. puts it out of your power to make him an ijolugy when he says that he will fight ybu pnjMicfra dayr u you do not render him juHce. j; That ts not the way that tends to an honorable ad justment -of the-disputer-or aiv honrabltrmination tin- the field of battle. , In fad it has too much the air of a bravado ; and as we have been sus pected, 1 hope unjustly, of going into this sort of thng on former occasions ; of going at least as far in wQrds as in acte, it will be best to con tent ourselves with the' txercse of our rights on the ocean. Their onler,s and decrees con flict with those rights. We will resist thm, not going beyond our rights as acknowledged by the laws of nations and even by thepnsejve's. If they use force aguinst us in the exercise of those rights, we are. at war to all intents and purposes, and they put us: .at war. This course would be better calculated io produce the result which I have no doubt my colleague has as much at heart as myself. And it is not strange that adherence of opinion shotold exist in the unsettled state 'of mind in wh;ch we have been for some time past for if such has notbcfp our sjiiluthm, how comes it that we have done nothing ? Or, if we have, that we have but rescinded to-day wliat we did yesterday, and to-morrow will ptihaps undo what we are doipg to day ? I need not speak of the navy bill, sir; ' thfchistovy of that trans action is impressed, much more strongly on you ij- memory than it is on mine. 1 might mention another bill. . I think it was between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday r.nd Sun day the 17ihor ) 8thof December-th;t, on the plea that we were sleeping on our posts, on the plea of urgency, th House was forced in to a vote on a report or a memol-abie and hon orable committee, (of foreign relations) hich subject m the shape pt a bill .has dosed very qiietly on y.aur table from that day to this I speak of the non-intercourse It. was an ex pression used by gentlemen that we had been sleeping on put; posts- and therefore it was necessary that we should sit up one night for the. public good. There are constitutions in this House which have not yet recovered from the shock ;of that night's session. The non intercourse,' the navy bill, the supplementary embargo bill and bow the latter passed is re- allyTa curiosity, a novelty in legislaiion The bill came trom. tne Senate it came nom, quarter, sir, from whence, God be praised, we have had al our strong doses, under all administrations- the alien and sedition laws, the suspension of the-'iiabeaji corpus, the new treason bill, the ( last supplementary embargo. bill, aye, sir, and the lust embargo bill too ; they all came from the same mint and I liked none of them and in my capacity as a free man) and a legislator,, representing free and enlightened people I sluuTuer and elsewhere, withourany sort'of reserve, speak of them as I think they merit ; extenuating lKitbing and setting down nought in malice. The bill came to us then from the Se.nate on Thursday the 22nd of December, and was proposed "to be made the orderof the day forthe next day, Friday and for Saturday both days were na med.' Some gentlemen craved only till Mon day to consider the numerous and important provisions of such a biil,$od nearly the whole day was consumed indebate whether the bill should be the order of the day fur Monday or Saturday Saturday was tarred the delay ;v. till Monday being somewhat sternly refused ; (even the postponeratnt to Saturday was wUH difikulty obtained. Qn Friclay this Housq haying consumed the whole of the Receding ,". din debating that important point, adjourn jed over to Monday,; that very. day. to which, they had refused" to postpone the bill, it being Iikft,the repo.it':of the; committee tq .which have just alluded, a matter of such urgency that it could not be delayed. Monday came and !a motion, wasmade by one of the friends of the bi 1 to discharge tnercommitte9 of Ithe Whole House from its farth,er consideraiion." It was rejected, and the House went into com mit'.ee bn it,! Next day a similar, motion was' . made and carried, (.and the biU was feferredl to a'select comniltfce, who reported on the following morning (Wednesday.) The bill, with their amendments, was again referred tcj a committee of the whole, House and mads t he orde r of the d ay for Friday ; and the weekj passed off withont any further mention of this, lirgent bustnessrOi the year, the House adjourned over to meet on Tuesday the 3d of January. Tuesday came and the consideration of the bill was at length resumed ; but, there not being a quor rum, the House adjourned by a vote of tQ tq 10. The next day the unfinished business, as it is called, was asked for j but by jl strange sorc'of decis on which I do not pretend to unt derstand, iL waa determined, by a formal ypto too, that there was a pice distinction some rwhere, between business unfinished and unfin-. isnsa. ousiness anq o 1. What does the House, but take up the proposition of a gen tlerftui) from Vermont to repeal the embargo AUhoiighthey had been bolstering up the'em bargo beibre InHtressing it, as many intellU gent and honest men believe, at the expencc? of the best principles of the constitution, they now took up the resolution for repealing the embargo. What happened that night God knov15but the net day the bill Was resum ed, urgency again decreed aod U was driven. Jehu like, through the House, through all it stages from a xommittecjo' its third reading and filial passage. I, who have scarcely beenj able to hold up my head since the night when that report was so vehemently passed, whicjj. has sjwpt, sq soundly ever since, came to the House at 9 or lb o'clock with the hope if not of speaking, at'teast of exercising n)y right of suffrage but somewhere between four and five o'clock in the morning I was con pelled to leave it: and at breakfast, about tVq in the afternoon on that day, I heard tbat,tljj bill was passed- you know Acn, sir. Mr Randolph said, he mentioned this thing not with the slightest vew of creating unpleasanf sensations in tne bosom ot any human being nothing was lurther from his mind but to prevent, if possible, the recurrence of a simi lar ch-cumstance ; and to dp more to shew, that after all their yjbratipns, and, legislative contentions, they had come back tq the pro posal laid on thy table almost the first dayof the session to repeal the embargo ; and he did most cordially congrat jlate every man in the House upon this event, except those gen tlemen who considered the embargo a politi cal panacea, which no circumstances, -whatsof ever be the consequence, should ever induce us to give up. Hetrusied that they wvrs few", and though he had such confidence it some of them that he believed nothing would change their opinion, he -hoped that tins fey wcie daily and hourly diminishing. To get back in; his rambling way to this de? cisivc stroke, not now, butsome time or othec of goihr to war, of taking Canada It would be a'bbrt of deed of trust from the body poli tic an instrument, with which I am sorry tq say that we gentlemen of the South are but too well acquainted $ deceitful present relief at-the expence of a certain but remote eyjl we may invert the telescope from i;s true pq. sition and the evil lessens to our view but the day must come when that pledge must be redeemed ; and indeed whatsoever c&iisebe might have as an individual, he should ' no like to give bond and. security to fight next year; he might in the mean time undergo a great revolution of opinion ; he might change his religion ; perhaps turrjaaker ;.and real-, ly if he were to change at fall, he' believed he cPuld not do better ; for theirs was a system of order iudustry, charity, tfndpeace of comfort, and aflluence too, very good things ill their way. ' ' - lie was, against plugging in this "dashing way into war because there was a possibility, to say no more of it, atid his colleague (Mr. Burwell) seemed to thinkr a prettygood hppe, that we inight get out of thelscrapelwithout a war, - provided, we would " take his prescription.- He felt the. more and more indisposed to war, and should ivery day while he lived. vhen he looked at certain consequences and reflected on certain ccctrines which liad grown too familiar, in his apprehension, to the minds of that house. VYe too bad a. nayy. ' If had cost us near twenty-three millions of doHars,r aboutten millions ot, which bad been spent by the former administration. It h?d cost us $ ' great cleBI more tljaji Louisiana ; and he yea? ft 1 .
The Raleigh Minerva (Raleigh, N.C.)
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March 23, 1809, edition 1
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