Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-04-13

enjoyment of rational liberty; and that SUCH
acts can only be regarded as the precursors
Of an awful revolution, destined to e2sil-
o,,ish our union, our happiness, and our
freedom forever.
A depression insthe price of our produce
from 90 to 80 per cent. can neyeroe re-
qarded as sufficient ground tor the late IN
Vasion of the rights OF property by inc ie-
o;slatnre. There are other minor, consl-
dderations which ought also to have weigh
ed with them against the measure. In
country like ours, where new habltatlons
can be SO easily acquired, and the neces'
saries and comforts Of life SO easily OBTAIN
| ed in our great western world, the chang
+ ing of property from hand to hand, by tie
| strict enforcement of contracts, cannot pro
( duce the same inconvenient consequences
|. to individuals, as in other countries, anq
ought to have. been strong additional mo,
tive with the legislature TO have avoiaeq
the unjust demorallzing measure g wmcf
they resorted. The state~of Virginia also
has ALWAYS presented itself the foremost
champion OF the republican system, ano
should therefore have been the last to 90 an
act sapping the very foundations on which
alone that system can stand. She had tco
acquired decisive influence in the dlFec-
ton of the national concerns, and should
therefore not have been the trst to nave
WINGED under the pressure Of her cwp poll
cy but displayed an unconquerabe torutlde
,mller nriyatiors of her own seeking. She
should have shewn herself worthy OF the
pre-cminence she holds among her sister
states.
How different has been the. conduct OF
the most commercial states upon which the
embargo acted with the greatest severity
they have not resorted to such an exPedlent
to lessen the weight which was imposed On
them. They have not snterteIed with the
contracts of individuals or ti,e rights OF
property. They have borne their burthen,
if not with patience yet without doing any
act unworthy Of freemen. They have pc
titioned and demonstrated, and partly sue
ceeded in obtaining mitigation OF the evils
of their situation.
The effects of the embargo then on the
prices 81 our produce were not alone suttl-
cient to outweigh all the considerations be-
fore mentioned, and to Justify the conduct
of the legislature. we must seek.in some
other hypothesis for solution of,thc eaus-
es which led to this extraordinary measure.
Ii must have been the child Of pary--thc
idol of the reigning party, the then Presi
dent OF the United States, had, in his fond
imagination, as he thought, discovered the
certain mean and found the glorious oppor-
tunity of hunbling and bringingto our feet
the two great powers OF Europe with whom
we had collisions. This all>powerful mean
was the embargo, 5air IN aspect, bit partiaI
ia effect, operating with any material effect
on only one Of those powers: His poliu-
cal partizans were apprehensive that the
public might not see SO clearly the necessity
ofthe measure, or the efficacy Of its effects
that suddenly feeling unexpected priva
tons & disturbed in tEeir accustomed pur-
suits, the people might hesitate, doubt and
finally withdraw their confidence from the
man, whom they had been taught to regard
as infallible that the frequent sacrifices Of
property under executions, though those
sacrifices might not be greater. than in ordi-
nary times, would be imputed as a crime,
to the embargo and the administration
thai, in consequence, the administration
might be deprived of its popularity, and
with its popularity of its power. II avoid
the most remote chance of such change in
the powerful state of Virginia, who in her
policy right Or sof0n:g, expects to be initial
ed by the other states, the Legislature did
not hesitate to sacrifice the dearest prinoi
ciples Of our constitutions the only re-
naming bulwark of our liberty and happi-
ness, at the shrine of presidential influence,
that they might aid with all their power the
most extravaganza experiment ever attempt
Ell IN INV ere or n atior, tbe Ie1iterinus re.