The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-01-05


the caases or mofives of the embargo: Tor
an "empty menace" q decree r,ithouf The
med:s Of carrying az into ef+ci, could he no
cause, no motive FOR a measure, whose a =.
vogved object was ste save our vessels, our
seamen, and merchandise from great and in
creasipg dangers"
Sir, let all The documents laid on our tables
by the president be examined, and Won will
not find one in which he hazards the asscr-
ton, that the British orders Of November
11th were knownto him TT the time he recon
mended the embargo. or that an eXpectati-
on OF them ":termined his recomm cntla,ion
1t was not until the ID Of February, when
they had been officially communicated by the
British minister, that he offered them 10 coa-
gress "as a fertilizer proof Of the increasing;
dangers to our navigation and commerce,
which led to the provident me- sure OF The
act LAYING an eTabargo.' And Mr. Madison.
in his letter to Mr.. Pinkncy. OF February 10,
1908, cautiously avoids ascribing the origin
OF the einh--go tc the Britisi orders; thongh,
he says, hesproi>abiIity of such DEGREES was
among the considerations which " enforced"
the measure; the language of the British
gazettcs. witt; other Indications having (he
saidD left little doubt that such orders were
meditated." And he adds. that "the APP
pearance ofthcse DEGREES (n,eaning the Bri-
descriptions among US to the embargo"
But must notice the Change of language
in Mr.. Madton's last letter. In that of De
cember Esd to MIR. Pinkney, he says, "the
foEcg and the causes OF the embargo are ex
planned inthe presidents message put in
ms letter of February 10Th, he SAYS, Inv
last Chat of Dember 23d) inclosed copy OF
the act of embargo, and explained the policy
OF the Measure ;" leaving our causes" and
introducing the unkuoevn british orders rs
among the considerations which enforced II,
The president, too, in his answer TO the
Boston petition for suspendiHg the elnbsr-
go, says, nor that the British orders were
knopn IN eTist It the time when the ernbar-
gn was laid; fE't only that they qocre IN e.rist-
ence at the date of the law; from which the
unwary reader might suppose that they were
kHo7cn to r1'ist at that date.
From all ;hese cunsid eratlons il aDncars
to be demonstrated, that tic British orders in
council of Novernbe, 11th, 1aO7, were not
known, and that tbs newspaper rumors con-
corning them never entered into the views of
The President and congress. as II motive for
laying the embargo, And here the well
known maxim applies, de non ahtarcmti6us
ct non c,rfstenfibuS eadcm este Although
the British orders gverc in ertssence, vet ais
they were not k'!oqvn to e.ciSf, they were, as
w lUS SUOitTo, non-CnVitfcS.
The conclusions resulting from the facts
and circumstances which have collected
and compared, are serious and Alarming
They demonstrate, that the representation
in the presidents message recommending
the embargo, was delusive and calculated to
lead congress into the belief tina. the situa-
tion OF the q. States in relation to France
ana England, was extremely perilous, re-
CURING the instant adoption of the measure
recommended And as Congress did adop,
it, enactiDg the law recommended, it must
be presumed that they believed an embargo
was necessary to preserve our vessels, our
seamen and merchandise from great and
Increasing dangers, with which the message
stated that they we're threatened
1t also follows, as no subsequent disclosure
has been made of other dangers known Il,
the time the message was communicated,
thatshe real cause or motive for the emba,-
go has been, and yet is, yelled from The eye
N Congress and The nation.
M, Champagny's letter of Oct. T, Zone Of
the papers communicated with the presi
dents message) requires examination. But
should first remark, that during the years
lSO5, and 1907, in order to reduce England,
6y dc8troyihg her commerce, the French en-.
peror, in execution of, and in the spirit Of
his Berlin decree. ordered all English mer
chandize to be seized and copfscated, i'm
very place on the European continent, enemy
or neutral, occupied or which should be oc-
cuned BY the French armies. For This Dur.
pose, and as one instance among many, his
troops took possession of the city of Ham
burg & city with which American merchants
carried ON large and valuable commerce
and which as neutral was entitled to the
Same exemption from hostile violence rs the
territory of the United States) and by the
emperor's orders, Bourrienne, bis accredit-
ed minister to that free city. addressed a note
TO its senate, in which, having stated that
very person who traded on the continent in
English merchandise, seconded the views of
England, and ought to he considered as her
accomplish; and that great portion of tho
inhabitants of Hamburger were an that pret,;-
cAment, and notoricusly attached TO England ::
the emperor caused possession to he taken of
their city, and his Berlin decree To- be car
RED into rigorous execution. Accordingly.
that minister, in obedience to the emper0r's
orders, among other outrages, declared
"Ali English merchandzcs that NAV be
found in the city, in the harbour, or on the
territory OF Hamburger, no niafkcT TO goho,p
they 6ciong, shall be confiscated." This
was done so early as the oath of November.
1905, only three days after tile Berlin decree
was issued.
WIN equal atrocity, the emperor cans.
c1 to be seized and sequesteIed the vessels
9Nd cargoes Of neutrals which we're brou,yht
into, or Voluntarily resortcd 70 the ports Of
Frarce for purposes of lawful trade. And -,e