Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1806-11-22
tortured and .vissed ~ the fedsraIPa 70

tortured and twisted BY the fedsrat Party .
suit their 0wa purposes.
AgaiD-when The Republicans came into
power, upon their virtue alone il depended
whether there should exist such thing a
20 check upea the exercise which they
should make Of IL Iris not IN the gcnius
Of federalism TO oppose abuse 10 govern
ment. with good will. !, is more congo.
NAL with her spirit to advocate il 10 nel
friends, and conuive at i. in her enemies.
& IT'S her VOCATION" and she can never
be bropgh. heartily to disparage it. Ac'
oordingly, VIC find thar the most desperate
resistance Of the federal leaders has uni.
formly been made 10 the mess wholesome
and popular reforms. But setting aside
the consideration that they must always
from principle lean towards malversatoa
in Office. the falsehood, scurrIli,y, aud ran
cor of their presses had justly prejudic-d
every sober-minded man against their
statements. Certainly no republican could,
or would, listen to charges against the ad.
ministration from so polluted source.
This situation of affairs has subjected the
press TO something like virtual in.b,gma.
tAr. As the federal prints could not OBJ.
tain belitf, so the republican editors would
not publish. 1t evidently rested then upon
the vigilance aud 6rmness of the republi.
cans alone. whether there should exist any
efflcieut opposition to unconstitutional or
other injurious measures, in case such
should be proposed. If they possessed
not virtue and courage enough to with.
stand such attempts, 10y whomsoever
made) il is plain that no efectual res st.
ance could be opposed to them. What
'hen! Is the present administration per-
feet? Amidst the various agents, supreme
and subordinate, in the executive depart
ment, has there been or can there be no
wrong committed? Grant them any Thing
shor' Of pspal infal!ibli'y-is became ne
csssary when they did err, in the opinion
OF those through whose active exertion
they were brought into power, and whose
Characters were implicated IN their rniscnu.
doct, thai those errors should be freely
and promptly exposed. Siiencr, 10 such
case, is equivalent 10 sanction OF the
measure in question. These are psinci-
pies equally rational. and fl tor Americans
to act upon.
Lrt MS now examine the " IMPORTANT
PARTS" stated in the Enquirer Of 24t of
Cc;. last.
1st. The explanation of Decius is nat
/" lncorrect,' in The " TWO material points"
therein mentioned, Il IS true {. ,ha, DER
ministers proposed to surrender our CLAIMS
for sPolaiions,'' in the sense intended and
expressed by Decius, Granting 50 that
ihey were instructed to make no treaty in
which those Spanish claims were not pro.
vidcd fer" yet, if their sltimase pay.
ment was to be assumed bv tbs y. States
(Which was the fac) it was fairly equiva.
lont to surrender Of them. The claim.
ants indeed would be provided for, ard
yetthe claim upon the Spanish government,
by the same act, rellnqulshed The dis.
tinct'on between abandoning that for
French sPoiations aud being silent with |
respect ia it, is one Of those nice refine.
menss about which l shall not dispute, but
viii leave the author 70 the undistutbed en-.
joyment of this g important fact."
I'd. 1t is true that, in their correspond
ence with the Spanish ministry, our minis.
ters stated, ",hat, iu ccnsenting to establish
the Colorado as the western boundary of
Louisiana, they had exceeded heir ;noruc
sions" If such were not the fact, is i. pro.
bable that those ministers would have so
stated 1t TO the government from whom they
received those Instructions or that those
would have been laid by that 60
vernment befote congress, without ratify.
ing the error?
If the complete abortion of the negocia.
tion at Madrid, did not Gas the author of
"lmborta'u Facts" would seem to couserd)
preclude the 2ropriety Of recurring TO fresh