The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-06-17

professions and designs. No; No. John
hull has cunning enough, aitho' he IS como
times most woefully deficient in wisdom. II
might nave bccn fatal TO mis- purpose. 20 have
alarmed the sensibility and honor Of this coun-
try by an explicit declaration of war against
our conmercc. his was the policy OF the
crafty and aspiring usurper, wlro is obliged
to proceed step By step from one encroach-
ment to another. Grear-Britain no doubt
conceived it prudent TO feel the pulse of this
nation, before she ventured to place the
whole Of eur commerce under the ban of her
empire.
She would first interdict our direct trade
with the continent Of Europe. If we sub
mitted to this infamous and nagrant attack
upon our INDEPENDENCE, it would be an encou-
fragment for her to proceed one step fur
ther. She would then interdict our trade to
the w. Indies. If our patience still kept
pace with her encroachmcnt, if our citizens
were still Permitted by cur government to
gather up the crumbs Of colonial commerce !;
then, we should surely have been rotten c.
nough TO have been ripe for ali her purposes.
Then, probably her proclamation would have
issued with all the becoming solemnity of
her maritime supremacy, asserting her right
to the dominion OF the seas, denouncing e.
very vessel as 2 pirate that refused to rem
der her the homage of feudai service, and
con6scating every ceck-boat and cookie
shell that presumed to navigate the ocean,
without purchasing her passports and pay
| ing her tribute.
| These new usurpations upon our rights,
| these new shac kles and impositions upon cur
commerce.. these alarming deductions from
our mercantile frcjst, must be taken into
calculation by every man, who pretends to
estimate all the consequences of the orders
| In Council. France would not aspire to these
| usurpatous, because she could not succeed
1t is G.. Britain, with her 5000 ships Of war
| and the proud burthen of whose favorite air
is &c Britansa, rnie the scaveS ;" that would
not fail to borrow an unbounded ambition
| from her matchless power.-To calculate
then truly the pecuniary losses, which would
| be inflicted by our submission to her orders in
council, we should be able to estimate the
additional restrictions, which would be sane
titled and invited by this mercenary submits
sion. However great would have been the
| injuries which these orders would have inn
posed upon us, the new aggressions which
they would certainly have encouraged, would
not a little have contributed to swell their a.
mount and magnify their enormit''.
! This amount is likewise to be extended by
a new calculation. 1t is the duty OF poll
ticiaHs to look forward to the ultimate con-
sequences of great measures. In the Is or
| &c years TO come, how often might not this
very policy OF Great Britain have been re-
peated; how often might she not have at
tcmptedto forbid our trade 20 Europe, and
turn it into her own channeis-had we rogc
/ tamely submitted to the insolent restriction;
which she has imposed upon our commerce
On the slightest suggestion of her interest
| at the least freak of her caprice she might
| have re-enacted those celebrated orders
captured millions of orr property, deranged
| the whole order CT our VOYAGES, and reduced
| the price of our produce and the profits of
our capital-What is true of t;ie municipal
| regulations OF one country, is perhaps more
strictly applicable 70 tho avs OF nations
| that what is "practice to-day, becomes pre-
; cedent Tomorrow Hence it is that obsto
flrincif.ts, is the great basis of the law of re-
sistance.
| Burthere is one important principle, which
| should never be overlooked by those who are
forming comharoliUe estimate of the hecu
mary benefits or the em6argo and submissi-
on. This hrzncifle stone as snLjfcient 10 siuc
hroud G'flre-em'ineat adZ'anfage 10 the en-
6arSo We must not only calculate the pc
| cuniary profits and losses of those systems
| Tor any SiUen time but wc should asp calcu-
| late them for the respective fleri0aS, during
which these systems may be expected 81
| subSlst. Ii tor instance, we even suppose
that submission to the orders in council had
produced only 2~5ds of the losses which the
| embargo has done; but that the orders IN
council had subsisted tv: e as long under
the encouragement of our submission as under
resistance of the embargo; it is not marhe
matically certain that submission would have
Ibeen productive of I'D more injury than
the embargo has inflicted
No impartial politician will however dis
Pute this position.
! .JttfEoae, we had submitted to the Bril-
| tiSh orders, would it not have been the very
Thing, which Great Britain would most have
desired? According to the. taiSeideas she en-
tertains of her own interest, nothing could
have been more favorable to her trade or
her maritime pretensions. BY this conduct
we shoui1 have tacitly admitted her right TO
prescribe ia7yS to our commerce OH the high
seas, while Almost the whole of that com
merce would have been thrown into herpes
session What then would have been better
calculated to encourage her in her perseve-
rance of this systems Prompted by the in
human satisfaction Of seeing the commerce
Ola reputed and powerful rival ianguishing
and expiring beneath the influence of her
: power; x animated tooby the prospect Of her
own aggrandSemen; what circumstance
was likely to set limits 10 the duration OF
! thee orders
Eot one. These Orders in council would
: have prDbaIjy SubyiSted for tNgo o,s thre 9