The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-04-12
READLt.

airy dqst, uhon me pa,1eus Subjects ofhis
mojeste's sheech.
In reviewing the dreadful catalogue of evils
which surround or menace this Country, do
believe that | speak the universal sentiment
wncn say that the yrcutest additional caia-
Diity for as, and The !greGicSf advantage fo7
France that can well be imagined, would be
"a Trdr SrSfh .Tmerica. Such, indeed, is the
language os the ministers themselves: and
yet what has been their conduct. Why, at
the very time when it is most material to a.
void such a war, they, rs / am ready to
maintain absolutely alter The iqyp of'thc tand
70 rron,otc IL. Ministers state, and in that
/ agree with them, that no danger on official
t. can beial the country equal 20 tliat of ac
quiescing in the surrender of cur maritime
rights. If America put forth such Il claim,
then call upon parliament and the coun-
try to resist it would be unanimously answer
ed in the affirmative bat Fn,ef'tca has nor
asserted any such claim. 1t has indeed been
stated that she has, and we have been told by
some noble herds on the other side, that too
much concession has been already made to
that power What do noble lords mean by
this conce sSioH i? | wish when st,ch ASSERT
ons are made, those who make them would
state some particulars. II they refer to tie
tote treaty q0iM .3mericG, which the Ame-
rican government refused to ratity, | contend
that so .farjrom roo mach concession being
made in that treaty, tt absolutely 7pent TO
IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS UpoE AMERICAN
COMMERCE far greater fhUn thoSe mentions
cd IN tie declaration offhe secretary ofS state.
But vet the late ministers .jeit the force, and
were alive 10 the Importance of ali the rea-
sons which shonld urge this country to avoid
& war with America. The indemnity oflan-
euagc, the similarity of habits, the old, the
commercial, the family connections, had all
their Just weight in our consideration OF the
subject. We therefore determined to pre-
serve the old laws which regulated our in
tcrcourse and i entertain not the smallest
doubt that had the course we commenced
been consistently pursued, it would lave an
swered the end in view by preserving the a.
micable relation and just Interests Of both
countries.
The speech, l observe, st,;diousJy SEPARATES
the two questions involved in our controver-
sv with America, namely, tina. OF the Ches-
apeahc, and that relating to our orders of
council. But docs any man suppose, that
those questions sviN5e schdrate6in .4meri-
ca? No--nor can they DC Sef,drattd IN dis
cussion here. In examining the orders ofcoun-
Gil, they must be considered III three points
of view first, as they afectour coninterce
secondly, as they gfecf The constitution; ard
lastly, as they affect our negotiations zvith
.Amcrica. When all the papers relative to
this important question are laid before the
house, it will be for us particularly to enquire,
whether his maicsty's government can, con-
stitutionally, enact such prohibitions, as these
orders of council Contain; neIt, whether the
time chosen for issaing those orders, were not
peculiarly cxceptionable, as they must serve
so much to inflame the minds of the Ameri-
cans, already so strongly excited against rs;
and also, 7vhether SVe he'd any right this TO
annihitase me sohoke trade Of .dnle,ica-thus
to say - that power, as our orders distinctly
expressed, ".Nota ship Of yours shall sail,
zphich shall rot be subject 20 c01Jfseation by
as, or to conditions zrhlch shat subject it 20
con fscation by the enemy" | repeat, that
this is the language which the decree OF Mi
nisters proclaims to America, and | would
ask whether such language is recohcilable
with any law, or usage, or principle OF equi-
ty Let me then entreat vour iCrdShsps deep
w to consider this ssbject-to examine its
potcy-to interpose your authority ard in
fuence for the purpose of restoring nledcra-
ton and Justice TO your government. What
the late ministers did in consequence OF Bo-
naparte's decree Of blockading the British
Isles, is in the recollection OF the house
They retaliated not upon America, or the
neutral powers, but upon France. The Or
ders of council, however, commence with an
assertion, which / find echoed in his maes-
tvs speech. In that speech see, for the first
time. a thing unparalleled in any production
of this nature upon record-namely, an I'M
putation cast upon the conduct of his ma es-
TVS government for the last fifteen years
But when such ain imputation is cast, would
call for proofs to sustain it. When Bona
parte issued his blockading decree, we ex-
pressed hope that such decree would not
be acted upon. We might be thought too
saneunc in that hope and yet we were not
altogether disappointed, but what have the
present ministers done by their orders of
Why instead of urging Bonaparte
to revoke his decree, they have produced
the issue Of other DEGREES, to strengthen and
confirm that, which, in fact, could never
have been executed, if it were not for the
aid derived from our orders of council
What did we do! We adhered to the prin-
ciplcs of the law Of nations 1t has always
been a principle of that law, that the trade
between the enemy's ports, should be inter
dicted duringwar, and we extended that in
therdict to Holland, Spain, and the ether
nations, which we found to be subservient TO
the demands of the enemy.--We did not at
tempt to extend system Of blockade fov all
Europe, BY taking the course which all the
present ministers have done in their orders
of council, and in which ! maintain they
have actually violated an article OF magma
charta. They could not, contend, upon
the kings authority, constitptionally decree
such e,ffvaordinary prohibitions. But their