The national intelligencer and Washington advertiser. [volume], February 03, 1809, Image 1

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WASHINGTON ADVERTISER
... IX.
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tnthe name, ratio.
CONGRESS.
tSM OF KIiPnKSIiSTAriVKS.
JANUARY 30.
Debate, on raining and au
thorising Letters of Manjue and
Refi risal — Co n tinned.
Mr, Aichoiaa moved to fill the blank
in the substitute with the first day of
June; Mr. Milnor named the fourth
day of March ; and Mr. I). R. WU-
Hams named the fifteenth day of Fe
bruary.
','ih moved to strike out
the words " the day of
for the purpose of luseriwig " forth
with." —Motion to strike out lost, by
a considerable majority.
The question recurring on filling
the blank with the first day of June,
Mr. as the gentleman,
the mover ofthe resolution (Mr. Ni
cholas) was not present when he had
given Inc. reasons why he thought, ll
the embargo was to be repealed, it
should be removed immediately, re
peated them. H<; wished our own
citizens to reap some advantage
from an early repeal. Or were we, •
he asked, by a singular fatality in all
our measures only to injure ourselves, \
and benefit our adversaries and the I
most dishonest part of our own com
sl unity ?
Mr. Dana was opposed to a conti- t
nuance of the embargo till the first of
June. Since it had been generally
understood through the country that
the embargo was to be further conii
lined, many capitalists had forestalled
the markets so as to secure to them
selves a monopoly of the foreign ar
ticles ofthe greatest necessity, there
by to command an excessive profit at.
the expence of the distressed part of
the community. As respected them j
Mr. Dana said that he had not a wish
that the duration of the embargo <
should be protracted, that, they might \
realize their gains and make poor j
men their prey ; and if there were \
any description of cur citizens whom j
oukl wish to be injured by a re
moval of the embargo, these would
duly be the persons. There was
another reason why he did not wish
the embargo to continue so long.
However important it was that the ge
neral authority of the government
should be maintained as respacted
c states, vas it not known that
the reins of government, from their
extreme tension, where failing in the
bands ot the administration ? Were
:.ot their acts placed at defiance, es
pecially sirce the passage ol the last
act for enforcing the embargo ? Look
at the whole northern frontier, said
be ; recollect the facility of transpor
oon the ice and snow. Recollect
with what facility in this season the
produce Sc lumber, &c. will pass from
Vermont, into the British provinces.
As respected she whole of that iron,
tier, Mr. Diina said, it would he in
vain to attempt to enforce the ci
laws. The mound was already
broken down which retained our pro
duce ; and it was to be feared that the
whole would soon be swept away. The
question which now offered itself
to the consideration of the House was
this, and it was requisite that it should
he decided promptly—whether, if the i
acts of government were set at defi
ance, the authority ofthe government i
ahouid be sustained or not. If the
acts ofthe govcrment were placed at
defiance, he said, Congress had but
to decide instantly to enforce them by '
arm:; ; or to ab/'Hsh them. Did they ;
mean to hesitate between advancing i
and retiring ? If you mean to retire,
(said he) doit whilst you can—whilst
it wili seem to be an attention to the
wishes and sufferings of the commu
nity, instead of giving to those who
set your laws at defiance, the sig
nal of your defeat and the evidence of
their triumph. Mr. Dana asked, if
gentlemen had estimated what would i
take place between this day and the
first day of June ? Did they conceive
the force that it would be necessary
to employ to enforce the laws ? Be
fore they decided that point it would be
well to pause. Did gentlemen recol
lect bow much dan n iced the
' of attachment to their coun
■ r foreign indulijencies (as
WASHINGTON CITY, PRINTED BY SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH, FENNSVLVANIA AVENUE.
the liberty of trading derived from the j
continuity of the British provinces) .
arc given to the citizens of any por I
tiofi of a country wliich refuses to
allow them those privileges? Need
I re en, asked Mr. D.
illustrative of my
idea ? v -Vi 1 ci» the navigation of the
Mississippi was at (he command of
the Spaniards, before the treaty of
San Lorenzo way carried into effect,
recollect the opportunity which that
state of things gave to the agent* <>f
the Spanish government, for masking
attempts to detach the west< i
from th« Union. Mow far they
? ceeded I do not undertake to say ;
but the fact is well known, that some
men of considerable distinction were
so \'w drawn aside from their attach
ment to the Union, as to give coun
tenance to the intrigue ; and the tact
having come to light, the public au
thority of one of the states, (Kentuc
ky) have undertaken the examination
and inve of the subject. I
speak of this no; ps a reproach, but as
an I Must ration ofthe temptation whi< h
is offered to any portion of the peo
i , haying an outlet through « river
te possession of a : >wer,
eh is denied them by their own
governtfCprt I will not pursue the
subject, sir; for it is unpleasant to
dwell on subjects which may even ,
tend to jeopardize the Union. But I
deem it useless to rely on the patriot
ism of the people, when the go.
ment forgets the cement of patriot
ism. \Vhat is country ? That portion
ofthe globe where we have friends,
freedom and protection. It is the re
ciprocation of good offices, which is
I the cement of private friendship. It
is the reciprocation of protection and
I support, between the government and
individual, a reciprocation of benefits,
j wliich is the cement of allegiance.—
But, sir, when the power of the go
< vernment is exerted merely to check
' the ordinary industry oftiie commu
nity, when the people feel the power
of their government In being block
aded in port by it, instead of being
protected against blockade by an en -
my, what must-be their feeling ? Pa
triotism is too precious a feeling to
make many experiments upon i..—
Really, sir, 1 should not wish to know,
in relation to many of my fellow-citi
izens, what would be the extreme
point to which their patriotism could
be Stretched There appears to be
reason to apprehend that the reins of
! government are already failing in the
I hand's of government. I should there
! fore wish my countrymen to be no
' longer exposed to being alienated
from their government, and that the
government should not be placed in a
situation to have its acts set at deli
ance.
Mr. Troup observed, that I>' could
not see the propriety or expediency
of fixing on a day beyond the adjourn
ment of the present Congress, on
wliich this change of measures shou d
take place. What would be effect of
it ? It could be considered in no other
point of view than a» a declaration of
war, to be binding on the next Con
gress. The mere declaration ecu id
not be considered as adding coercion
to our measures ; for whatever honor
foreign nations might possess (and he
believed they possessed lit tie indeed
of that) they certainly did possess cou
rage, h were not to be. frightened into
an accommodation with ua by such a
threat. Hot the measure was not ob
ligatory and binding on the next Con
gress, even admitting that it should
be composed of the identical individu
als who composed the present Con
gress. There was no authority in the
constitution by which va< could bind
• them, unless indeed this declaration
involved v matter of.contract—An 1 to
be sure, he said, it might be consi
dered ih some sort a matter of con
tract ; a political contract of a singu
lar quality—a contract between this
great government, and an unruly fac
tion in New England, whicn threaten
ed opposi ion to the laws, and was
, breaking- out into nbedion. Yes, sir,
| said Mr. Troup, you come out with a
, ; solemn measure, and tell them if they
will forbear to rebel till the first day
of June next, you will agree to issue
letters of marque. It is an invasion
even of the powers of the next Con
gress, supposing it to be composed
of th« 3 same men as constitute the pre
• sent Congress, to bind them to de
clare war, not under the circum
stances then existing, but under those
; which existed at the time you were
pleased to enter into this declaration
But not only will this measure not be
obligatory; but it is very possible that
the next Congress may be as differ
ent in its composition from the pre
sent, as the present Congress is from
the JuiH of Spain, or the British par
liament. In every point of view
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3,1809.
! therefore, Mr. Troup said, he con- t
i ceived it a futile proposition.
Mr. Milnor was opposed to post
poning t he repeal oT the embargo till
the first day of June ; ich he
assigned the same which he
before for proposing the 4lh day
of March. If it was so extremely '
oppressive as to excite discontent and
rebellion, its extremely unfavorable
effects to ourselves would be a suffici
ent reason for its repeal. Mr. M.
said, that although he would fix a day
for the repeal of the embargo, he
could not carry his cnility lotbebel
ligerenls so far as to give them notice
onwhatday we would commence war
rist them. Were we in such a
sim tion that we could instantly bid
defi nee to Great Britain ? When
war conies, said he, it will be proper
to consider whether it he politic,
proper and necessary ? If it be po
litic and the ;„aon cannot continue
out of it without a sacrifice of its ho
n»>r, then let us have it, and not take
it in this manner, declaring to the
belligerent' that jflbeydonot come
forward on a certain day we will com- ;
mence hostilities against them. The j
next Congress will be belter able to
will he proper on the j
first day of June than we can now do ;
if we ate not instantly logo to
w ir, it will be decorous, wise and I
right in us to let the question rest till i
the next Coi gtcss come here in the
end of May, and leave the responsi- '
bility with (hi j
Mr. 1). H Williams said if ever |
a man's mind was embarrassed on a j
topic on which he had to legislate, he i
confessed that his was. He saw a
measure and a system which he
thought susceptible of the clearest
demonstration to be more warlike
than war itself, a system which pre* '
ed this nation in peace and happi
ness, about to be abandoned, and for
the causes which had been assigned.
When the late intelligence had reach
ed him from the north-east, he s. id
it had borne a character most distress
ful to every man who valued the inte
grity oft he government. It appear
ed to him to be of such a character as
not to leave a (doubt as to what course
should be pursued. Thete could he
but two courses, either to extend the
strong arm of the government, or to
abandon the law. Under that im
pression (said Mr. W.) (busing not to
enforce the law with the bayonet, I
thought it proper to acknowledge to
the House that J v.as ready to aban
don the embargo. 1 did talk about
insurgency and rebellion too, sir ;
rfnd the reproof which 1 received
from tbe gentleman from Kentucky
(Mr. Rowan) was correct ; that ihe
best way o (hive people into rebellion
is to accuse them of it Perhaps,
sir, I ought to apologise to the gen
tleman from Virginia (Mr. Nicholas)
for calling up tbissubject, when the
resolution was | rpposed by him, and
he was not disposed to call it up. I
applied to him to call it-up, and un
derstood that, it woidd be disagreeable
to him on account of his indisposition.
Hut I felt myselftbliged tocallitup,
and not to permit such a preposition
to he on the table beyond the moment
when I could get to act on it. Like
entlemen from Pennsylvania and
Georgia, 1 am disposed that we should
act for ourselves and in next
Congress. To m«j sir, the embar
go always appeared a blessii
country. True, it has alwajs Ope
rated to prevent us from making
money, but that was all that was in
jurious in its operation ; and, sir, I
was so much of a fool, had so lit-le
knowledge of human nature as to be
lieve that (here was /latriut/am enough,
love of country enough, ruiDE e
nough in the nation, to induce its
freemen to be willing to abstain from
making money, for the good ofthe
nation. I have been egregiously mis
taken, sir, I thought I was l<
for freemen who valued their rights ;
that whilst they were the oniy people ;'
in the world trusted with arms to
fend thems :'ives, they Would have
scorned to take money for the prosti
tution of their countty. I did not
think there was a man in the nation
who would act the part of a pimp to
his mother. It has been so. however ;
and dreadful, cruel must be the tor
ments of those who have been acces
sory to it.
[Mr. Williams here went at consi
derable length into an examination of
the arguments of Mr. Pitkin on Sa
turday last in reply to a former speech
of Mr. W. on the subject of the em
bargo*]
We have !.ut small choice of
courses to pursue,said Mr. Williams.
One course is to admit foreign vessels
into our 9 embar
go continues. Now, though Ido be
lieve should he perfectly jut
j tillable in enforcing the embargo and
suffering foreign vessels to come and
take away our produce, as a punish
ment In a certain class of men in the
country for their treasonable conduct ;
yet, sir, legislating for a whole na
tion, not for any particular class, I
• cannot consent to that.
Another course is that recom
mended by a gentleman from New
York, (Mr. Gbrdenier) to go back and
undo all you have done. Will you
Mead back your steps and go back
with him to J y's treaty ? I have no
hesitation in saying that it we wete
even placed in the situation in which
we then were, I would not accept of
it. That treaty carried a feature in it
which ought to have damned it at the J
first view. It took propei t\ from one
portion of the community to pay for
advantages to the other. Yes, sir, it
did. You know that a solemn stipu
lation whs made in a treat} of peace.
to pay us for the property which they
had stolen from us ; and you and the
House know it was treated awaj I
secure commercial advantages ; and
I yet, thank God, the southern states
j did not rise in rebellion against it.
We must select either a continu
j ance of the embargo or war, sir. II
ever there were a numherof men in
this world who had the destinies of a
nation in their grasp, the opposition
ists to the embargo have that high
power. There cannot he a doubt, if
' excitement had not been made, or if
| after it was mad< it had been allayed
jbv those who excited it—and, sir, I
I have no wish now to excite a disa
i greeable sensation in the breast of any
man; for 1 have said enough on this
head heretofore—if they would noiu.
attempt to allay the fervor instead ot
increasing it, that it would he pat
down j and if put down, there cannot
be a doubt but we should be preserv ed
in peace, and gain stipulations of
peace honorable to our country. For
God's sake, let me conjure gentle
men not to forget that we have a
country. If they repeal the embar
go they must support war, btcause
their character—yes, sir, their cha
racter as men loving their country is
at stake. Will you drive us to a re
peal of the embargo, and make no
resistance ? Are you ready to sit
down quietly under the impositions
laid upon you? You have driven us
from the embargo. The excitements
in thecasl render it necessary that we
should enforce the embargo with the
bayonet or repeal it. I will repeal it
—and I could weep over it more than!
oter a lost child. If you do not resist,
you are no longer a nation—you dare
tot call yourself so—you are the
merest vassals conceivable. Sir, if'
gentlemen will not support us in a I
war, and I give fair notice that if we
take off the embargo I am for war—j
they must support it, or they will
sink the character of the nation. If
they will support neither war or em
bargo, if they destroy the effect of
both, 1 ask you, sir, docs not the
prostitution ol the character of the
country lie at tltii uoors? If they
mean submission, I will thank them
to say so. It some how or other hap
pens that republicans arc thought to j
be friendly to France, and federalists !
to Great Britain. I believe neither
imputation to be correct to the extent
to which it is carried. But it is a fact
that the British ear is (-pen to that
side of the question sooner than to
us. Now, sir, I appeal to the mino
rity, who hold the destinies of the
nation in their grasp, for they can en
force the embargo without the bayo
net—lbeg them, if they will not de
clare war, that they will do the best
they can for their country. If avarice
has so seized on our hearts, as to I
awry wholly the love of country, (and
assuredly it has if we submit) for
God's sake let me entreat gentlemen
to make the best term's they can for
j us—to secure the kind protection of
the Ilriiisii government for v—to
procure us the miserable boon that i
the tax on us may be collected here j
without compelling us to g*to Bri
tcin to pay it. Sir, the blood which
runs through my veins, te Is me 1
was not born to be a British subject ;
it teds mc that the opposition to us
must have ! ucked the same milk—
that weareot the same family. Then
let us with one heart and hand take j
bold of war. But- says the gentle-i
man from Connecticut, (Mr. Tall- ;
madge) what will you gain by it ? It j
is not money, sir, I want, iou lose |
money by a war; but >on gain your
rights ; you gain the chance of dying
honorably in your country's detence
instead of submitting, without reals*
tancc, and that will be a cm sol,,ti n
to thousands, if their country is to be
disgraced. Yes, sir, solemn as the
reflection is, if we. take off the emhwr
go I am for war, and \ hope the
tf AID IN ADVANCE
1 whole House will be for it. It is true
] that it brings along with it mh • ics
- without number. You will &cc
; despair, and all the family <
; ses, driving ruthlessly over the coun
- try. But it will he infinitely i
[ suffering to die in defence of the coun
try than to live in bondage. I will not
submit. I will plunge into the euW,
and I hope every man will follow me,
when we have lost our mantle of
peace, the embargo.
Mr. Dana thought it proper, if
gentlemen talked of dying for their
country, that they shouldme useful*
ly ; for really the mere dying could
be of no Service whatever to tl c otm
try. He said, he was not disposed at
, this time to go into a discussion ol the
embargo subject gene] I he
would slate o, c general position, viz.
that the existing policy is .■ nov< Uy in
the history of hum w society. From
the earliest period of .i
said, there were no proofs tin, the
system ever did or ever could pro
duce the events whk h gen»h
prophesied. When tlven this wai
utter novelty on c rth, when gentle
men proposed a course never h
to savage or civilized die, w-etliey
not bound specifically to stati '~< is in
contestable in support of i ? And
what, (said Mi.Dai a,) have they done?
Avowed a general broad political
faith and wholesale predictions, that
it will produce an effect, in defiance'
of all experience. And am 1- bound
to say, when gentlemen come for
ward thus, that ihe plan wili suc
ceed? The thing is against you, sir.
No ardor of patriotism, intrepid:
courage, or excess; of devotion could
make It effectual. He said, that the
contest was so Unequal in the nature
of things, that the U. S. could not
succeed in it. Nothing but sup< r-hu
man bid could make it succeed.—
When gentlemen came to examine
into facts, it would be found that they
omitted to exarn'me the hearing
thing in general or in detail. Wl i n
had any officer ofthe govenmn ,
any member oi either house of Con
gress, undertaken to give a view i
ie la live <■
ofthe world upon each otbel. As far
as comirfcrce is essential to the ex
istence of G. Britain, (said Mr. D.)
evtfn now she has the whole World
before her As far as com men
essential to our existence, tl
world is shut to us, by the i
Even say that Britain loses one -fourth
ol her revenue, we lose ti.e whole of
ours. They,h..se a part, but a mode
rale part indeed ol' their commerce,
i whilst we lose the whole. The
bargo cannot succeed in the nature of
I things, and I am not astonished that
j you do not find it on any of the diplo
matic correspondence, stated as a
j measure of coercion, because it would
be no easy matter to prove it to be so.
What are you to operate on fori
governments by this measure ? Fa
mine and insurrection are to be your
chosen troops, your auxiliaries to o
verturn their systems. You assail
them by famine, which is to all up
insurrection. This is, I think, the
language of the advocates of the cm
; bargo. And can I wonder that it IS
never spoken of in our official diplo
matic correspondence, as a men
of hostility ? Mr. Dana said, ii
unfortunate that the embargo
been laid, and peculiar? unfortut
that it had been continued. Did
gentlemen already say, that i
a miserable faction, put the
mem at defiance? Were there:
government held by such i.
hands? If rebellion exisU,, said
do you hesitate a moment to
deis to your battalions to m
put it down ? If you will not do
at i nC< repeal the statu;
offence. [Mr. Passet asked to l
they gave offence;'] lam
ofthe obnoxious statues which a.
at defiance, said Mr. Dana—for
possible use can they be lor
tii ued ?
Mr. D. said, he had thou
the days of ancient chivalry had
scarcely returned yet. Time bad I
when the champions of old
accustomed to have fetes and lomna
ments, and fix days of battle for each
other, sometimes an h tul ed on each
side. This was a species of private
I war, a splendid display of personal
! courage. But to talk of one nation:
; giving a day to another to meet it in
battle was a thing which, he said, he
had not expected to see in these days.
Did gentlemen expect after G. Bri
tain and Prance had been wading
through blood for years past, that they
Would be awed into a compliance with
i our wishes? With whomsoever wo
fought, Mr. Dana said, M
. o contemptible foe. 1
est of our troops might saj,
II they had been victorious, "
NO. 1298.