The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-03-31
(CoNTINUED,)


barge ON all ships and vessels in the ports and
harbors of the United States, be repealed on the
18th OF March next, except as To Great Britain and
France, and their dependencies, and that provisi-
on be made by law for prohibiting all commerce.
al intercourse with these nations and their de
to the Uaited States, the growth, produce or ma
ndtacture of either of the said nations, of the
dominions of either of them.
The acts Of France complained Of are admit
ted by Mr.. Canning now to be merely nominal in
relation to Great. Britain, that they are utterly
harmless and contemplate, that they have eeas-
ed to be mlschievOusly operative, &c. &c. Yet
he tells you that he will not revoke the orders in
council, for fear his motives in doing so may be
mistaken; not that It'll not in itself just and pro-
per to revoke them according to the principle of
retaliation upon which they were originally A.
dopted ). but merely for fear his motive i'm doing
an act OF justice and propriety, may he mistaken
or mlsconceived by others. But, sir, let us hear
him in his own words ~
's The struggle has been viewed by other pow.
ers, not without an apprehension that it might
Ient has not disguised from itself, that the trial
OF such an experiment might be arduous and
long, though il has never doubted of the final is.
sue But if that isshe, such the British gov
eminent confidently anticipated, has providenti-
ally arrived much sooner than could even hsve
as 1t has been triumphantly styled b. the enemy,
is raised even before it had been well establish
ed, and fthat system, Of winch extent and cont.
nuity were the vital principles, is broken up in
TO fragments, utterly harmless and eontemptble,
1T is nevertheless important in the highest degree
to the, reputation of this country, Ga reputation
which constitutes great part of her power) that
this disappointment of the hopes Of her enemies
should not have been purchased by any concess
ion that not doubt should remain to distant
times OF her determination and of her ability to
have continued her resistance, and that no step
which could even mistakenly be construed into
concession, should be taken on her part, while
the smallest link of the confederacy remains un
dissolved; while it can be aquestion whether
the plan devised for her destruction has, or has
not, either completely failed, or been uneqlivo-
1901
:" The purpose of this letter is not to renew
the discussion upon the subject of your propo
sal, but merely to clear up any misunderstanding
which had existed between us in the coarse of
that discussion. Icannot conclude it, however,
without adyerting very shortly to that part of
your letter, i'll which you argue that the failure of
France IN the attempt to realize her gigantic pro
1sst of the annihilatinn of the commerce of this
country, removes all Eretext for the continuance
OF the retaliatory system of Great Britain. This
.impotcncy of the enemy to carry his projects of
violence ndinjustice into execution might with
tive Tor withdrawing DEGREES at once so indefensi-
BILE, and so little efficacious for their purpose,
than represented as creating obligation upon
Great-Britain to desst from those measures of
defensive retaliation, which those DEGREES have
necessarily occasoned Ifthe foundation of the
retaiatlng system of Great Britain was Gas we
contend 1T to have been) originally just, that sys
TEN will be Justihably continued in force, not so
long only as the DEGREES which produced it are
mischievousiy operative but until they are UNI
equvocally abandoned; and, if it be thus consis-
tent with justice persevere in that system il is
surely no mean motive of policy for such perse-
yerance, that premature departure from it,
while the enemy's original provocation remains
dhrepealcd, might lead to false conclusions, as to
Che efficacy of the DEGREES of France, and might
hold out dangerous temptation to that power to
resort to the same system on any future occasi-
on. Canningto Pinkney, Novenl6ey 90 1903
What, sir, does Mr.. Canning here tell us
Why, Sir, on the 2Sd of September last, that the
french blockadng DEGREES were then broken Nd
into fragments utterly harmless and contemplate.
and ON the 22d Of November following, that thew
i'ao ceased to be mischievously operative, &c
&c Retsliation may be defined, an injury return
ca for sorong received Well, sir, fine United
States bad done no other wrong to Great Britain
out neglectng to repel the wrong of France, &
the wrong of France ceased to produce any
injurious conseq s>nces, why not revoke the or.
ders inhlctng the most destructive injuries up
substance tells us, not that it would be wrong 10
do so. but he is afraid that the world would mis-
take his motive for doing right And, sir, is the
commerce of the United States to be destroved-
the people to be coloized and taxed and the ma.
ton to be insuted and degraded. merely because
Mr.. Canning Fears, if he should cease to inAict
these wrongs, his motive for ceasine to- do so NAV
be mlsconceIved or mistaken !!!-And are the
people of the United States to be told that all
these injuries and insults are to be continued
merely to exPiate Mr.. Canning's idle and preten
ded fears that his motive for his conduct NAV he
mistaken What, sir, can be more deropatorv
10 the character What more injurious to the
interests What more insulting to the I'm.
UNDERSTANDING OF the American people Yet
SIR, we are told there are no causes of wsr!l We
must wait for more degradation Sir. Mr.. Can
mng tells us he thinks this is no mean motive of
pohcy Tor continuing these orders after the orip;-
nal causes ceased. Sir, will not pretend 10 think
against Mr.. Canning upon this subject; but, sir.
l think, and know that it will be a mean. an in.
hnltely mean motive Of policy on our part to sub
mt to- ms injuries, his insults and his de pradat
ons, rs wei as his absurd and sophisticated expo
sltion OF his motives for them But. sir. hermit
me again TO ask if the United Sta es bad not a
right to judge Of the extent and mode of res;st'
ing the French DEGREES They certainly had z.
did so; and after having made their decision in
those respects, contrary hostile decision bv
Great Britain, act of war against tl,o 4 |
nited States, and according to her Our, ,,r;r;i