The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-01-07

>-.SoN o'iNdii WdS not. III WIS -COittllfrett III
newspapers only, which were in the ants
OF every gentleman; and their contents eve
ny gentleman ccald appreciate, as well as
tAe president. Now sir, under these cir
cumstances, was not the message of the pre-
sidcnt perfectly correetl Let me ask the
gentleman, II he can now amend ts Ii, sir,
the president in his message, had comm,ui-
Gated tins newspaper information, respecting
the unprecedented hostility Of the British 60
>-innient, what glorious theme of invec-
rive would have been afforded the gentlemen
OF iavoritism to France and hostility as- inst
Great Britain! The omission, however, to
dc this, could not screen the president from
INC same angry reproaches. Ii the gentle
ihda viii impartiaiiy review all these circum-
stances, and tEen turn his eyes towards his
own heart, he will find that the errors he has
so uncharit&oly ascribed to the President,
wii he found in his own unhappy, ungovern.
able passions. But, sir, chis is not all / will
now refer the gentleman to some evidence to
shew the iDcorrectnes of the assertion he
has made; evidence which he cannot deny,
because it comes from his own words, and
was attended with such circumstances in the
t@ce OF this senate, that he cannot be mista-
Ken In the genslcman's passionate zeal
yesterday, he told us, that no time was al
loved ia the senate for the discussion of the
original embargo law; but that it was dis
eussrd IN tile house of Representatives and
enc principal arguments urged there iii favor
OF the measure we're drawn from the hostile
acts oil Great Britain. The gentleman said.
that 1t was urged in that house that the mea-
sure would stiirve Great Britain; that it
would bring her to our feet, &c &c. Now.
str. why these argum ents in that house, If
there were not apprehended acts of hostility
from Great Britain9 They would have been
strange arguments, ifthe only hostile acts in
ducing the measure, were the hostile acts of
France MOI Of Great Britain.
MIR. Pickering rose to sxplain; he said
he mentioned these circumstances Yesterday,
t she" the effects expected from the mea-
Sure by the friends oft !; in which they had
ben mistaken. He did not speak of them,
rs inducements to the measured
readily admit, that the gentleman, at the
time Of making these observations, was en-.
-t'rcly inssnsible IF their irresistible opera
iion in establish ns fact, which he thinks
so important to / 1self to disprove and in
my judgment, s they do unquestiorably
prove that these British orders, or the APP
prchensions of them, stood III the front of the
i.ducemcnrs to the original embargo law
~, were not these arguments in the house
ot representatives immediate results from
these Inducements? And what was the ac-
tual state OF the facts! Why, sir, that al
though the orders were not received in such
ain official form as to justify their communi-
cat:e!! 81 the President the Intention te is
sue them was announced in the aews papers
with so many marks of probability, as lust
j. &c excite apprehensions in the government
Tor the safety o. our Seamen and commerce.
AID toJust!y the measure for the protection
o both. II has been proved, not only that
this information was published in news-pa-
pers before the passage or the act in the Sc
nate; but the gentleman will recolect, that
Il cid not pass the house of representatives
Tor two or three days afterit had passed the
Senate: 1t was therefore very natural that
the longer these approximations were felt,
the stronger would be the iauucements TO
the measure deduced from them and hence
tie character of the discussions in that house
described by the gentleman. But the gen.
tleman seems to think. that apprehensions
are not correct grounds for legislation. In
ordinary cases it is admitted but this was
al extraordinary case. The measure was
precautionary, and it these apprehensions
IL III not been realized, 1t would at any time
have been IN the power of the government
70 dispense with the precaution whereas.
ii Ccngress had waited for formal authen-
ticAtlon OF the orders, their intended object
would have been answered, and the precau-
tionarv edsurc rendered unnecessary. But. /
sii' tittS OF very iiltiS' Con-
sequence to the nation 1t can be of little |
consequence to ascertain whether the adop- |
ton OF the embargo was lucky hit or die |
tate IT wisdom /; and ] should not have ia ,
Ken the trouble Of this examination, if the
gentleman from Massachusetts MR. Flick
e1'ing] had not availed himself of this occa- /
sion. to assail the reputation of his late col |
league Nv Adams] a gentleman who re-
presented the st:te Of Massachusetts, with |
so much honor to himself and advantage to !,
the state and the nation; upon point too, |
III which the gentleman here present has |
Pnt himself so clearly in the wrong from his |
own showing had hoped, Mr. President, |
that the gentleman would have so far re |
strained his feelings, as to have permitted |
this fent.eTan's retirement to have shielded |
hm from these unmerited re,roaches but |
g. now Secsns that no delicacy of situation !
can procure an exemption from the invete- |
racy otie gentleman's passions. This cru
el attack has imposed upon me an indispen- |
sibIe obligation To defend his absent gentle |
man; and it has been principally this Cir
cdmstance, when has driven me again
most reluctantly into this debate Sir, can |
attest, and now do attest with great pleasure, |
the disinte,estcdness and purity of the no. |
tives Which dictated that gentleman's mfr. !
Adnns1 late political conduct. AS to its |
wisdom, THAT'S matter of ol,iniUn, and now
In course OF experiment; but as to his ex- |
cnption from all views of personal promo |