Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1808-03-11
[12 1-2 Cents Si'lSir.I


&c British government relative 10 seaiuen as.
| crting her right, and oeclari her dctcrm;=
| ZION 10 pursue CERTAIN line OF conduct on
he ocean incompatible with the hitherto nc
| nowledgvd laws of nations, Il conduct which
| AAs been The subject at dispute between that
| 'velnment and ours for several wears past, ahd
| o which she was well assured, by the repres
scntations of OUR government, we. would not
! assent, and could no; submit, without sacrifS
| ing at the foot of British power, our national
honor and Independence in addition TO these
| Was known that the British ministry had in=
'ofmed our ambassadors at London tha; they
| would adopt orders 10 countcrvail the Frenci,
| clockadmg decree, and note 20 this effect
was annexed 10 the treaty which had been u
| greed upon by the commissioners of the two
| countries, and afterwards rejected bv our go-
Vernment This n,;e appeared in tie public
prints previous to the passage &c the embargo
/ 1w, and WAS sufficient to convince every man.
nat u. Britain would aci accordirg to tits de-
| iaratioh. About the same time IL was stated
! N the govcrnm' mt prints of that country which
| mad reached uS, that orders on the part Of c.
| Britain, countcrvaiiipg me Frerch DECREE. and
declaring France and III her dependencies
! being almost the whole continent OF Turope(
IN state of seige, had been prepared, and
were about TO be published That this neas
sure therefore either was adopted by c. Bril-
,',in, or certainly would be il, short tine, was
fairly calculated upon, and generally believed.
The event has justified the expectation The
lcountervailing orders have been since issued
| by G. Bril- ain, mterdicting all commerce with
| France and her dependencies, and these have
been following by orders after orders almost
innumerablc. In what situation then were we
placed by those DEGREES and orders Prohibi-
ted from all commerce with England and her
territories by France and on the other hand
! .nterdicted from all CONNIE zee wi h France and
the rest OF the continent by the orders of G.
! Britain. Where then could our vessels go
without being exposed to capture Not to y
single port in Europe or her dep, udencies-
! IN tlIIs situation what were VIC 10 do We had
but one alternative, either to 20 to war with
all the powers Of Europe at once, or suspend
! TOR time all Intercourse with hem, and keep
| At home our merchandise, vessels and seamen
We were not prepared Tor the former, either
with men or resources--LOr could 1t possibly
be oar interest to enter into such contest II
| 1t could be AVolded--we chose to adopt the lat
| ter, 1t WAS certainly the least evil of the two.
IL VAS the only measure that left us the chance
| OF preserving peace, and at tho same time en-
abled US TO be prepared for war Th ere was
no other means by which war Guild be avoided,
Our vessels were liable to- seizure on the oce-
an, 1t bound TO any port in Europe OF her de-
tendencies
Seizures under such circumstances would
have been just cause OF war--had our ves-
have been forced into "a war from which we
could expect to derive no benefit, anti,which
1t was our interest 10 avoid, if posSible1 Pla-
ced as we appeared to be in The midst of
danger, as twcre between ScylIa and Cha
rybdiS, we endeaVOIed 10 steer a middle
course at equal distances from the VioieHce
OF the waves and the dangers OF the rocks
on either shOre-NNc have hitherto succxe-
ded IN that object we have pursued such
course as has not put it III the power o. Ell
Their OF the belligeients C. charge us wlth
paruaIty IN our Condu t--they have not at
tempted IL; this charge has been confined
to the minions Of disafiection wiihn our own
country. There il scarcely a rejecting
man who denies at ;nis day the policy aud
correctness of the law laying the embargo.
1t has hitherto saved US from the dangers
and calamities of war--amd it would seem
as II the finger of Providence had pointed
out this measure as the most fortunate that
could under existing circumstances have
been adopted. IL will no doubt press hard
on ourselves IN some respects, and It must
be expected that any measure that VIC could
have adopted which would produce any eff
feet on others, would press hard on our
selves, but it VIII bear much harder on
those powers, VINO Cccasioned it, and make
them feel the necessity of our commerce.
~ wiz DNdt w Il biN dl ut St ttudlsF nara OLE
the great belhgerent powers of Europe, En-
gland and Francc--their West India cnlu-
mics VIII suffer equally for want Of 1rovisi-
ons. France will lose more of The colonial
trade hitherto carried on by neutrais, IN
consequence Of the embargo, than G.. Brit.
ain, and indeed the loss of trade in general
by France, on this account VIII be greater
than that of Great Britain, as the former
for some time past received a great pro-
portion OF her trade by the American ship
ping-But on the other hand Great Britain
may suffer more for wan, Of the raw nate
rails furnished for her manufactures here
toiore by this country than France, bot both
will sensibly feel the loss Of our tradc--and
the measure 50 far as regards rs, il Calcu-
lated TO operate equally on both, and no
possible differences can be discovered to ex.
ist.
Under these circumstances, what pre-
tence, what foundation IS there for saying
that in adopting this measure there was
any partially manifested for France There
is none that can be perceived. There IL
another Circumstance attending the case
which at once seems 70 bafle any attempt
to shew partialty IN the operation Of the
law before the House. II is said ;his law
is TO sperate as nOn-interCOursc la~-that
you are going to cut Of AL intercourse with
the colonies OF the belligeren, pow sts O..
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