Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1808-01-05

III
who now SAID it was dictated BY .hahoifon
the greGt-that il wougd ruin Us; tbat il
would strike vitality At Great britain thar
1t was a war measure that il WAS indeed
an engine OF destruction 10 ourselves and
marvellous to relate. that il was caicul;,.
ted to- throw the nation INTO the seal. oF
France, IN opposition to power whose
navy alone prevented our being swallowed
| up! "A navy which stood as The ONLY bar-
rier between us and universal dominion.
aimed at US by the emperor of France!
These arguments were fehutted. and
their fallacy exposed by many members.
The contradictory conduct of the minfr;-
~, too, was considered as must ex,rao,di-
nary, IL was observed, thai gentlemen a;bo
\ were warm infavor of the measure ON Fri.
Iday, became on Saturday, as arttDt a.
gainst 1t. IL was proved tbat Il WAS n
| measure of defence, and OF the Srst INV. ~
nature, that of self preservation th.t Il
was not dictated by France !; that ,houyh
Injurious to us in a commercial view. IL,
| wouldAbe more injurious not to accouplish
1t; that II was worse to al the bc,liperene
nations; that 1T must be considered as a
precautionary. step to save. our seamen,
ships and property from the frauds Of ia,
reign cruisers 1t will be UNNECESSARY =,
SO into further particulars, as it is cxnec-
| ted the subject, in some form N. other will
be noticed in the house, when the mem,
bers viii explain the ground of their Votes
| publicly. MR.. Biackiedge, irnm \, G.. .tf.
| cred an amendment on Saturday, winch. IL
il had been agreed to, would have given onr
whole trade to the British shipping, a mea.
sure more grating 70 our feelings, or more
| ruinous to cur legitimate trade, could ne.
yer be proposed. We adjourned at lite.
hour that evening, without coming to aihnai
decision on the question:.
On Monday the opposition went ever
The same field of argument tho fceer,1
members were vociferous, called for more
| papers and accused the majority of bend
| ing the proud neck of the nation, 20 the
| imnerious mandates of Bonaparte.
| Mr.. Blackledge's motion, varied in
form, but not in substance, W s disagreed
to by large vote. The floor was eccuni-
led nearly 10 hours; for il was deemed to
DE of great consequence TO take the cues
Iton on thatevening; as it was understood
i'm Congress that the British minister had
said, that he kne5u IRE 7pere discus8insr
lthe erhe6trncy AZ an embargo, tina, he had
known 1t SeUtr0i dOyS, and had sent afr
ms DISPATCHES giving notice of it Ono doubt
Ito the, British consuis in the seaports.
i "The question was taken on the bill az
1 to'cIpck at night, and carried, SO To A.,
and adjourned Immediately, after most
ifatigulpg sitting of IL hours. The maiori-
rItyiost votes ofgentlemen favorable Ia the
measures by fatigue and sickness, AMONG
them was Mr.. Macon the former SPEAKER,
who was decidedly in faYor of the embar-
: lso, and supported Thy an able speech he
WAS too much indisposed TO stay out at so
, Hate an hour.
"The bill, as amended, went to the Sc,
: nate on Tuesday morning, ana was retur-
trRI m al ptt . h. l..
greed to ell the amendments OF the ether
house, and il received the signature of the
president about noon. and the house imme-
tdisteiy after took off the in unctiGn ct se-s
: crecy on ell the proceedings reiating to ia.
Il "1his embargo is Il non.erE crldho7l
Tar We say We haze been i'll treated ty
t neighbcr, we will not go t. his house !;
he has had the fun of our sii p but Set no
value upon II and we-sny we viii not sell
, our produce TO foreign nations, We VIII not
/; Iquarrel with ;lieT, II they chuse. we mere
liy keep our o~n.---Ihese nations may still
send Us goods except these touched blythe
: noB-inpo Observation-Disclosures TO D event
their ships or cur own from dischargjng
their cargoes in the United States. AS to
: tforGgn vessels hpresfter, tnev may go a.
way with their original cargoes, or may
+. discharge them and go away in i,ailust.
! FCongresS did not wish ~ give any pre-
text however Slight, 20 any nation IN Eu-
RIPE 70 step our shipping in their ports
} II we,had detained their ve ssels it is pros
bable they would have stopped ours. We
have not, probably, twenty British sTi -
in our ports at This time, When from. the
best Information we can get at, it is sup
lposed that our Ships are numerGus in e.
\ gland, and her colcnies-TWe bave'few o.
Their foreign shlps'in che ports ofthe Uni-
ted States<-theTe are no private FrenGh
ships--there NAV be sdG!e vessels belong
ing to Denmark, Sweden and Hambprgts
at present Auerica enjoys the whole or
greater part Of ber own commerce IN her
own bottoms Had the propositicp OF Mr.
Rackledge, succeeded. England could have
been supplied with pitch, tai, aid indeed
with all naval and military s-steres.fdf hir
fleets, and supplies for her West lnlia
islands in her own bottoms, winnie oursmust
have rotted stthe wharfs. If we had ~ g
/ greed TO such a measure, England woph =
wish'us to continue. the embargo fcrsyeT--@ -
1 It'would have been jhst sue h an intefInction
to our commerCea;s she would prefer.r -
4 "Since the embargo act has passed, Mr..
I;Tski1e, whether playing OF diplomatic
tricks or not time will shew, says there
Twin be no 5gar, det4oee,i rte tsgS naIoHs,
A The British acet have departed from cur
II waters within these few days; they were u