The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-08-15

D. q
that France would not permit Spsf, to a!;hf
her differences with US: that FRANCE wanted
m0aey, and that we NUT give il to her or have
a Spaniih and French war. II was when he re-
lated this circumfance TO the houfe that Mr..
Randolph faia, &c his confidence in the fecreta-
ny of tate bad never been very high, but that
nosv, it was gone .forep-r." AID on the fame
occafion MIR. Nicho!fon (who had voted for the
appropriation exclaimed, that he tuAed in God
the negotiation would fail. Several other re-
publican members feemed fl,ockcd at this diT
cloturc, and expreiied regret al the vote which
they had given. On the morning of Saturday
the .itt of December, the chairman of the fe-
lect committee returned from Baltimore. The
committee were Immediately convened. A..
they were about to aiIembe, the chairman was
called Aide by the fecretary Of the treaft,ry,
with whom he retired, and who put into his
hands paper headed Provifion for the pur
chafe of Florida" As foon as he had cafs his
eyes on the title, the chairman declared that he
wond not vote ihlpg. The fecre,ary inter-
rupted him, by oblerving, with his charatferiE.
tic caution, that he did not mean to be under
food as recommending the meafiIre, but if the
committee Mould deem it advifable, he had de.
yifed plan for rafting the neceGary fupplies, as
ne had been requefed, (or directed,l in that cafe
TO do. The chairman expreifed ainfclf dfguft-
cd with the whole of this procedure, which he
could not but conlider as highly ditineenuous.
He laid "that he was as fenlible OF the import.
ance of Florida to the u. S. and as willing 10
acquire it honorably as any man, but he would
never content to proceed in this way {: that the
mott tcrupulous care had been taken to cover
the reputation Of the naturalization, whit CON
grefs were expected to act as if thew had no
character to lofe that whf the official Ian
guage of the executive was confident and dig.
ni6ed, whit the PRECEDENT warned u: of the
determination of Spain to advance upon our
poiietlions until ihe ihould be regretted by an
oppohng force, and pronounced "that the
protection OF our citizens, as well as the fpjrit
and honor OF our country rendered the interpo-
lition of that force neceiary," declaring at the
fame time "his determination to puriue the
courfe which the wifdom of congrcis flioud
pretcrihe - congreis was priviiy required to
take upon itfelf all the odium of drinking from
the national honor and national defence, ard
Iofdeliyering the public purie to the hrit cut
throat that demanded it. From the official
Communications from. the face Of the record
| it would appear that the Executive had die.
charged his duty in recommending manly and
vigorous meaiurcs, which he had been obliged
to abandon, and compelled by congrefs to pur-
| tue an-oppoiite courie, when in fact congrefs
itfeIf had been acting all the while at Executive
mitigation" The chairman further obferved
90 that he did not underitsnd this double fet of
opinions and principles the one oitenfibe, to
| go upon the journals and before the public,
the other Efficient, and the real motives to &C.
ton that ne hsld true wifdom and cunning
to be utterly Incompatible in the conduit oil
great affairs; that he had flropg objections tc
the meafure in itfef, but, in the ihape in which
it was preiented, his rePugnance TO it was iniu-
perabie." And in A fubiequent conversation
with the PRECEDENT himfeif, in which thoic OBJ.
ljedions were recapitulated, he declared " that
he too had character to fupport, and princi.
pies TO maintain, and ayowed his determined
oppofition TO the whole icherne."
! The committee now attended, and inftrucf.
ed their chairman to write 70 the Secretary O,
War for his opinion as to the force which il
would be requlte to raiic for the defence OF
the fouthern frontier, and requeiting, at the
| fame time, TO he informed what number OF
troops were already Ratiaaed in that quarter
In mis- anfwer, the miniaer ftated the force which
the U. S. had on the Miliilippi and its branch
! es, ready to defend the river at a ihort notice
| to be fomewhat leis than thoufand men that
| he had intelligence that Spain was collecting an
army on the frontiers of New Mexico, & tranf
porting troops from the HAVANA to PcnfacoIs
and that the force requilite on our part, would
depend upon that which would be oppofed ia
us, which he efimated (vaguely) to be hyperion
| 20 our own.
| About this period the news of the fea-fght
OF Trafalgar reached America, the event of
which alarming the Spanifh miniRry for the
iafety of their w. India colonies, forbade the
weakening of the important pof of the Havan.
! nah, and fufpeuded the bottle movements on
the part of Spain againt the u. S. And to
| this circumfance we have been probablyindebt
cd for the undiiturbed pofeifion of N. Orleans
| and its dependencies.
When the Secretary af Wars letter was laid
before the committee, Mr.. BidwelI moved the
fame proportion which the Secretary of the
! Treaiurv had fome days before put into the
| hands of the chairman, and which he (Mr. B.
afterwards introduced into the houfe viz. a
vote Of two millions and continuance of the
! duties, the proceeds of which conftituted the
| Mediterranean fund. II was rejected, and the
chairman directed to draft the report which has
been printed with the fecret journal, and pub.
! lined in all the newspapers. The committee
| faw, IN the multiplied aggreffions of Spain am
| pie cauie of war, on the part of government
with which the welfare Of its citizens was not
! paramount 10 every other confederation. But
conceivIng that the true interefts of the Ameri-
can people (Which alone It hehoved them Ia
coniuIt) required peace, they forebore to re.
commend offeD6ve meafures. They believed il
| to be our policy TO reap the neutral harveft
asd feize the favourable location of extipguilb.
| ing the public debt---at once the price of OH,
liberties, aad the badge of our ancient fervitude
So long as this debt remains unpaid, we can