Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-07-17
From the Federal Republican.
"A r MN IBsS,
No.. XXI.

misreprr sentat}Ons, which have been drawn
from the National 1ntelligencer by the let.
Ter. OF the marquis of Wellesley and of the
due de Galore, have been the subject Of the
preceding numbers.
Towha, motives are these misrepresenta-
&ions 20 be ascribed?
No question can be propounded to the
American people. In which they ought to
take deeper interest.
Men much less skilled in the science Of
human nature than those who hold the ma
gic wand by which our passions are, at will,
inflarnsd into war or hushed into peace,
know well, that il is impossible to feel equal
hostility against two nations, who are The
deadly foes of each other. i AS the ruling.
passion is said TO swallow up all the rest, so
Increased hate against one of the beiliger7
ents, inclines as to excuse and forget the
injuries oil, the other.
Apprized of this principlesia our nature,
the TOOL. OF France have necessarily employ-
sei every arti6ce to inHane our resentments
against England TO such a degree of fury, as
20 create an almost total insensihiIity TO the
open aggressions of that erspot, who shakes
over cur heads the chains he is about to i'm.
pose. From the foundation of our govern
-5nens, this has been the unceasing effort OF
chose who possess all power, and their pre-
sent cenduct gives the melancholy assurance
that no state of things can reform rhesn.
When Bonaparte himself tore off that
veil, which Mr.. Jefferson had disgracefulIy
: thrown over the Berlin decree, to conceal it
! from the people, what course did this party
s alops!
Did they proclaim to their fellow citizens
a determination To resist this und;seuised
invasion BIT theta independence Did they
In the manly tone of freemrn declare. that
submission 20 this lnprovoked and unquali-
fed aggression amounted to surrender of
the rights of self government?
No. AlthoughTthe orders of council
were unknown, they then, as.now, labored
ITO throw on Britain the odiumsct this exc
@crabie system. Instead of plain and no
sness declaration pointing directly TO the au-
ssehor of our wrongs, the machiavels ofathe
s~day, sscribed thvm to foreign nations gene
.ss1ally, and hated England was loaded with
s1he sins OF beloved France.
This is not she,most hunliliatine reflection
esuepested blythe recollet.ion of those de-
grading transactions.
a fact, which was then understood by
every man OF observation. is now of uni
yersal notoriety. The proofs of it are so
1nultiplied and are SO entirely on level
with every capacity, thar it is as we'll estab-
lished as any of the obvious truths of ma :
ture. It. is, that the war now wagsd by
Bonaparte against England is TO be carried
onty wasing war on commerce. TO com.
mercs he ascribes the immense navy of G..
britain, andsthe destruction of that navy is
sought by the destruction of commerce
They are identified with each other; and
fhas league TO which he commands AS 60 ac-
cede,is a league against commerce.
This truth has been so often proclaimed
by himsrlf, that III now as we'll understood
nv all. as it wasa the time by those rulers
who adopted our anti-commercial system.
Our property was sequestered wherever
fond. The hope of restoration and the
fear of loss were in full operation--tor
what! AS inducements to enter into the
league against commerce the instrument
by which Britain was toebe over,hrown.
What can more humble an American than
the recollection, that with full knowledge
of this fact, with the rod suspended over
us, with the threat sounding in our ears,
thar the punishRrnt already inflicted was
poor sample of that which was reserved
for our further disobrditnce, we did enter
into this LEAGUE against commerce. We did
attempt 10 propitiate the SIT IN tyrant. whose
iron-hearted drspoiism wrings from his
slaves the choices, canafotis of social life,
We took from labor i,s re ward We Loo K.
ed up our ports, We passed an unlimited