The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-04-29
mo. III.

upon the mind, on the perusal of Mr.. p,ri+-
cring $ letter is, that in enumeratinp all ,be
HrHcnees dor be thinks there are no caIs-
~ lor inc fmoalGo, and for War Win
Ireat-Dfltaln, be has totally omitted thu.
n ,anI Oraers OF Council of November II :
I0V|-those orders, under which y. ;l;ons az
the property of our fellow citizens arc. 49,,
detained IN British hands. or cnhscatsd -,
BRITISH captors-thcsc orders under which
lehtold as many millions of The same p7nner-
y you'd nave been at this moment il, the
same predicament, had they not been ssveJ
lrom exposure to il by the embargo-,hos,,
ouSis' winch II once submitted to and car
lleu % the extent OF their principles, would
| not have left an inch of American canvass
| upon the ocean, but under. British licereo ~
British taxation. An attentive reader of The
| letter, without other information. would not
even suspect their existence. They are in
| oeea III one or two passages, family. and
darkly alluded to under the iustifvinp DE-
scrPton OF g the orders of the British %.
lyerhment, 'efahahng the French imperial
decree: but as causes fer the Erabargo. N.
o. possible causes, or even freteacc8 Of War
with Great Britain, they are not only ,nno-
tlced, but their very existence is bv dircch
implication denied
%! II is indeed true that these orders were not
| ohcialiy communicated with the President,s
Message recommending the EMBARGO -
! hey had not been officially receiyed-bpr
they were announced in several paracray,hs
from London and Liverpool Newspa9ers IF
the 10th, 18th and 18th of November. which
% ~ ~ the National lnteligencer of the
Iotn December, the day upon which thc
Embargo Message was sent TO Gomez
ne british government had taken cave,
that they should not be authenticaIlv kpo1,n
Deiore their tlme-fcr the very Same no,es-
papers which gave this Unofficial notice oF
'nese orders, announced also the denarture
1l WI. Rose, upon special mission to the
Ohited otates. And we now know that. of
Iaese aiI-devouring instruments of rapine.
stI. nose was not even Informed. His mis-,
sion was protessedly mission Of coDcilioti.
on and repatriation for 1agrant-eno,mo,,s
I-acknowledged outrage Eut he was Is,i,
sent with these orders ofCouncii in his banLs
Ills text was the dlsavowal of Adrni,,,j
berkely's conduct-The Commenta~v wss
! to be discovered on anotherpage of the R,,;-
tish ministerial policy-On tie face of Mr.
hCses instructions, these orders ef council
were as invisible, as they are on ,bat 90
Mr. Pickering's letter.
lhey were not merely without official =,
thenuclty. Rumours had for several wecks
been IN circulation, derived from EnqIisb
prints ana from private correspondences
! enat SUCH orders were TO issue: & no ins.on.
siderable pains were taken here TO discr.dik
''ie idCl' Assurances were given that there
was reason to believe no such orders to he
contemplated Suspicion was lulled nv de-
STATIONS equivalent nearly to positive de-
mai and these opates were Continued fo.
weeks after the Embargo was laid mill NJ
Erskine received instructions I'd maxi tbc
oiiiciai communication of the orders them-
serves, In their proper shape to orr Co
vernment. "'
Yer, although thus autl enticated. and O.
ven although thus in some sort denied tho
PROBABILITY OF the circumstances under which
Diey were announced and the sweeping
ssenuehcy OF their effects, formed to my un-
uGta'.tholhg powerful motive, and together
win tAc papers sent by the Preside1,t. and
ms express recommendation, a decisive one
lor asserting to the Embargo. AS a pre-
cautiohary measure, ] believed it would
rescue an immense property from tcpreda
tion' II the orders should prove authentic
Ii the alarm was groundless, it must very
soon De dlsproved, and the Embargo might
he removed with the danger.
me omission OF all notice of these facts
III 'he pressing enquiries " why the Embar-
go was laid :" is the more surDrisinq be-
cause they are of all the facts. the yoost
ha.erial' upon fair and impartial exami~
nation OF the expectancy of that Act. when
II PaSsed-And because these orders. s,ge-
thor with the subsequent reta,iating De-.
crecs OF France and Spain" have furnished
inc only reasons upon which have acoui4
eSced III ITS continuance to this dav. If clu-
iy weighed, they will save us the ;ro,ibIe of
reSorting to jealousies of secret corr.unticn.
ana the imaginary terrors of Napoleon fdr.
the real cause of the Embargo. These are
nctlons OF foreign invention-The French
emperor had net declared that he waulI
nave no neutrals-He had not required rha~
our ports should be shut against British Con-
merce; but the orders Of Council. If snb
hltted to, would have degraded us 60 fhe
condition OF Colonies. If resisted. woo,it
nave fatened the wolves of plumber with
our spoils. The Embargo was the onlv 49,
ter from the Tempest--l'he last rcfy,ge oe
our violated Peace. 50 W
s., nave indeed been myself Of opinion. that
the Embargo must in its nature Nv, 80
PcraIy eXpcdient, and that prensrati,,,
manIfesting determination ofrcsietsncn',
SaInst these outrageous violations of onr rc,-
tral rights, ought at least to have becn r,,d,,
SUBJECT OF serious delibcration in Conoress
! nave beheved and do still believe fh9t o~.
IntGInal resources are competent to the g.
punishment and maintenance Of n,,,at
lorCe pubic and private, if not fully adj
quatc to tho protection and defence If QUO.
| commerce, at least sufficient to induce . 70
treat from these hoStiiities and 10 deter ~,
renewal OF them, by either of the ,varri,,,,
parties; and that a systirn TO that ceco,S2
might be formed rIt;p,,.oI.. e. O'iNN~