Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1809-06-13
T o e S d Il 2, 5uNE IS, 1909.

I SNPiSSo "u o'tHiOH, oul ieaVe the IRE
Isident to groupe in the dark as to ou
views or get them through unofiicia
channels, lpresume the previous CUES
ton will be taken or motion made
that the resolution lie on the table
he gentleman from PENNSYLVANIA
says, shall we go back and approve oil
what he conceives To be similar con-
lduct oftke late President Of the u. ST.
relation to the embargo. hope not, sir.
! But i a majority of this house chuse
70 DO so, let them. shall say NO.
But whv rningle two subjects together,
on which there does exist, and am a.
fraid it will leak out on this very vote
OF indie finite postponemept, so very ma
terial a difference of opinion in differ
ent parts OF the house For example /:
| do not think of the offer about the
embargo as the gentlemen fro n Mas
sachusetts and Pennsylvania think !;
and l think it probable that those two
gentlemen do not think Of this procla-
imation and the construction given to
che non intercourse law as | think
And WHY should we make sort of
hotch- potoh Of the two subjects on
which we do not think alike, for the
purpose OF getting us all united against
both !-lt is an old adage and very
eomeiy one, perhaps too much so for
the delicate ears Of this assembly. that
| if YOU put one added egg into a pud-
ding you may add fresh ones ad inf
nituun, but you can never sweeten it.
And, sir, defy the gentleman from
Massachusetts with all his political
cookery, by pouring out of the Jar OF
our present situation into the old mess
TO sweeten IT. l am here prepared to
|prove AZ | conceive that gertiem en-
deny 1t, that the conduct of the two ad :.
,nisristrations has been radically, es-
sentially an vitally different, that ow-
Ing 20 this difference is the change
when we now experience in the state
of our foreign affairs; that there is no
sort OF analogy between the offer TO
suspend the embargo as it respected
Gselt Ssi ain and hes:tuation in which
We pac ourselves in relation to France
md Great Britain b9 the suspension .ot
the nou-intercourse act towards the LAT,
ter. Aad to the promptitude and
irankness with which the President
met the oVertures OF the Bric:sh min
lstry do We chiefly owe the difference
Ia the situation Of the country. Fo,
might not the President o. the United
States, instead OF proclaming that the
{orders In couacil win have been with.
drawn, have proclaim-d that when they
shall DE withdrawn, = renewal of inter
course shall take place And here too
comes the construction given 10 the
non-intereourse act. On the question
whether the renewal Of intercourse on
the 10th day ofJune applied TO vessel,
clearing out hence or 80 her arrival in
England, our government (and 1 am o.
bliged 70 them for it) decided hat il ap-
piled TO the time when the vessel should
arrive In England. Then, sir, if we
take the ii ne which viii be re quired
tor voyage hence To Europe, il is luce
clarius that the non-istercourse will
lnever have been in force at all as to
TRADE Of export. Is that nothing? And,
least the gentle man from Pennsylvania
or any other gentleman in this house
may get alarmed at my appreciation of
the administration of the government
LOT the United States, | will state to
them--1 do not wish to terrify them
out Of their opinions--I wish them to
Judge the administration upon its me-
rits, without reference to PERSONS, as l
have judged Of the proclamation with
TOUT reference to the parties concerned
IN the manufacture of it-Lest they
ishould be TOO much alarmed at that ap-
probation, i will state that my idea is
that the President of the Uni,ed States
has but done mis- duty and that the
minister Of Great Britain has no cause
TO put on sack cloth and ashes for any
concessions which he may have unwa.
lrlly made TO our government. Ifmy
strength will hold me out, sir, | will
Is:ate why.
In the year 1906 we passed that misera.
BILE old non-importation act which last ses.
sion we repesled--and really, SIR, we co
rid of it with an adroitncss which pleased
me exceedingly. Never was an obnozioui