The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-10-18
DEFENCE OF THE UNITED STATES.


lit with his arms folded in apathy, to bow be-
meath the diipentations of fortune or deiign, and
to wait until the evil which affliSfs his country
ihou!d vaniih ofitfelf. a wife and independent
nation will beware how it infliGts an injury upon
others; but it will equally take care not tamely
to fubmit to it. If the fpirit of the A,neri-
can nation fhould atiait BURT through the bounds
OF reipecttul moderation, aud aflume the in
dignant language of revenge, let the Byitil ca
oinet take the blame upon the;nfelves
When the armed veGcs of the Bri,ifh GO
vernment had blocked up our hdrbours and in
tercepted ourllwful trade, we ftatedour wrongs,
and the commander was punifhed BY remo4,ixg
HIM to more digniied Ration. Our feamen
were imprelled with projections even in their
hands; we again complained, and again the Bri-
TIN cabinet was deafto our reinonfrances. Our
veiiels laden with the colonial produce of
France, and bound tc the mother country, is ar
reited ON the high iess, upon the itrenetn of an
unauthorized deciiion in the Engiiih court of
appeals without having given them the llghtelt
warning OF the danger, without enabling them
to employ the !llghtef precaution for their iafe-
eY; IN manner contrary to the acknowledged
practice of nations, and on principle exprefs-
y contrary 10 the adnifiion of Lord Hawkeib
~ himfrlt in 1901. Mr.. Monroe protects a.
galnlt the lnJultice of this fentence and the
britiih council, in the fullneis OF their mercy,
have confented to poRpone the execution of
their plans and the qualification of their detires,
until the hrit of November. The Britiih 60
vernment and our own are thus fairly brought
INTO 'iiue, and it would by no means reflect any
honour upon ourtelves were we 10 ihrnk from
the difcufon.
Had theie indignities been offered to any of
the nations OF Europe, the means of redre6ine
their wrongs, and the manner of adopting them
would have been different and far lefs eligible
than our own. Among them, injury is fucceed-
co by remembrance. and fruitiefs remonftrance
IS iucceeded by war. There is no alternative
between the refuta to make PREPARATION and the
reiolution to exact it by. a complicated appara-
tbs OF naVies and armies, and towns beGeged
and fleets defiroyed. Whether thefe pernici
Gus expedents fhall be reforted to is not the
deciiion or the people themfelves who are them
elves mott intereited in the lIue, but a caprici-
Gus, weak, and vain-glorious Executive. Even
undcr the boatted contribution of England, il is
one OF the prcrC satives of the king to declare
war; and 1t is feldom within the opportunity
OF foreign nation to augur the declaration of a
war, or the propeniity to that meailre, which its
own encroachments are calculated to produce,
10y barely coniulting the fpirit and the temper
OF the nation. A Britih lsingmay fornetines con-
iuit the wihes of his people; but foreign e.
nemy can tcarcely ever know in any given cafe,
whether this refpettful appeal will be made to
their feelings, or whether thoCc feelings will
point to war.
In this country, the cafe is eTtntially altered.
Inc fpirit of the people is a kind of barome-
ter for aic raining the courie which the govern
ment may puriue. IF this inlrument points
TO moderation and peace, the foreign nation
who dares to tramplc upon our rights, NAV
fill so on with the privileges of impunity.
The time has not yet arrived, when the nation
ihal' arite in the majeity of its power, and de-
mand OF their representatives in Congre(s to
adopt the means of retaliation and vengeance.
There are coniequently two tribunals under
our representative government for deciding in
any great emergency upon the fyltem of foreign
intercourle which we fhall probably purine; the
great tribunal of the people before whom eve
ny important aeaiure is tried, and by whom
conditional decree is pai1ed, and the organif-
ed tribunal OF Congrets, that reviies the YER
diets OF the people aud relpects, though it may
theie verdiGts. There isef courfc not ma
ton OF Europe, which will not attend to the opi-
mons OF our countrymen; that will not feel how
itrong the pulfe of national fentiment is beating
Will not trcmbe for its intereits, and modify
its encroachments, when it obferves us en-
bodied againit them and our representative:
called upon to redrefs our wrongs. If then
@. Britain has violated our rights, let us not
tile the indignation that The has planted in our
boioms. Let our prefies ahume bold and
commanding attitude. Let them excite the
ipirit of the nation, and divulge its Inspirations.
Perhaps when Great-Britain perceives that the
people themfelves are determined to 20 all
lengths in repreiling her injulice, fle may learn
| fome moderation from her fears, and render
unnecefary the interpolation of Congrefs or
F., the means of redrefs.
| In fcleeting thofe expedents, NUT we plunge
at once into all the apparatus and all the Gala
mites ola zvar ? Is there no other alternative
left to u.s. than that dreadful one which has ftrpt
every European nation of its inhabitants, and
impoied upon their innocent poterty the into
lerable burden of a public debt ? Fortunately
for us, our geographical petition and the nature
of our trade, forbid this necefty. There are
| pacific expedentS within our power, which
ihall work with magic effect upon the Cabinet
of G.. Britain. Without irnpoiing very exorbi-
tant calamities upon ourfeves, we can reftore
her to the recollection of her iniuRice. The fe-
cret of her cure ihall lie within lhort Compass
| 1t ihall become her own intereft to DE iuR
| We 0laf adopt fome energetic expedients; the
| ialvation Of our commerce and the protection
of our feamen ref upon the iGue but then
there is an energy in our cafe hyperion to the pro
ceiIiun Of armies, or the frength of artillery.
| II we look exlenlively into our relations with
| G.. Britain, we will find that our means of de.
fuce are various in their number and Divert & sd