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

dr;;,;s,n the Russians to- their frontier, ana !
= Ne their emperor from an enemy az
saaan,. a,iv. sH YOU are not satisfied WIN
s j t.rn,s which England was willing 70
s 80 no, al a moment of depression, can
s e look fol- better when she has less TO lear
from your ennaity, or to hope from yoar
friendship?
: Won find. sir, that your president was f.
,,ored bv every circumstances IN the ncSoc
t;on of the treaty which he finally 'fe1ecf-
ed. u
r. = not a little remarkable that he should
have undertaken to reject this treaty with.
ont consulting the senate, his constltat'ona.
advisers. He WAS in possession OF aacopy
of the treaty while the senate were ln:ses-'
sion-they were not allowed to see. it The
would not trust their opinions upon 1t. They
might have approved oft and his respon-
sibilitv would have been still greater to have
rejected it after they had agreed to IT. You
viii pardon me for speaking plainly-7-it is
my duty TO express my conviction, though
II may happen to be wrong. ~1r~
To me 1t has always appeared that your
president was taken by surprize when he
found a British treaty laid at his door. His
instructions to his ministers precluded the
possibility of treaty, and it never entered
his head that they had been daring enough
TO conclude treaty against his orders. But
The ministers having obtained what they
considered the. substance, disfegarded the
form, and sent;a treaty as little locked Tor
as desired. 80 80 = -
i do not,r.ean to- contend that the -presi-
dent was bound to lay this treaty before the
senate. but exercising the power-to l4Jectit
Without their advice, he took upon himself
! responsibility, anL is anssverable for all
the consequences of an act exclusively his
own. To, this act, III my opinion, may be
attributed the present ennbarrassnlents OF
our country. Had the treaty been accepted
our trade would have fourished- as hereto
fore, and with it Our agriculture, 'manu!ae-
tures. and The fisheries. sButiit pleasedour
chief magistrate to rejectit, and every day
has since added to the gloom which has
spread ever our country.
s In this condition was the state Of our al
fairs when an unexpected event occurred,
calculated to iIii<truu the hi6heee pItch
the animosity of our citizens against the
British government. al!ddato she attack
OF the Leopard upon the Chesapeake, IN
June, 1907. In relation 60 Eh;s outrage
the people Of America f.lC but one s@nti-.
meat. A more wanton, hagI0oa5, arl per-
hdious act never was perpetrated, IS an
act which America severN'ia nor clg.ft 20
forgive till it is expiated by adequate sac'5-
faction. But stiH, sir, we must RESTRAIN
our Indignation while we enquire whose act
it was, and who is ansWerable for it. Ih>
material enquiry is, YVES it or has it be-
come the act Of The British government p
The British minister, as soon as the NEWS
of the occurrence reached him, voluntarily
and unasked, declared thatit was unaurro-
rized by the governments. He disavowed
il in parliament, and the king himself con-
armed the disavowal.
II rested then as the act Of Be~teiey,-
The nation however were bound to make
satisfaction for the injury done Us by their
public servant. IF they refuse adequate
satisfaction they adopt the act. The 60
vernment were sensible of this obligation
and they took steps to comply withit. They
sent special minister for the sole purpose
Of making reparation for the injury we had
suffered. This minister we received, and
agreed to consider the outrage which had
been committed, as the act OF Berkeley
Considered as the act of the government, it
would have been an act OF open war. You
commence g negociation as to the terms Of
reparation; but here the same spirit which
rejected the treaty, battles every effort to
accommodate this new cause of offence.
When the information of the attack upon
one of our public vessels by British man
Of war under the orders Of an admiral, our