Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-07-12
For the .4lerandria Gasette.
VIRGINIA, JULr, 1871.
JOUDOUN-No. VII.

c;aI intercourse between her anu thlS
country, which has so long existed to
their mutual advantage, shall ABSTAIN
from doing us ".4ll the harm she can.
IF she shall leave to US our ships and COM
mereisl riches-If she shall leave our cl-
ties standing. and aur coasts unWorsteu'
hoping one day to make us her friend-if
she shall therefore be unwilling to render
a future reconciliation impossible, by
vau;us the war on US as her eternal and
ioplacable enemy: yet our foreign COM
meree must for time be annihilated'-
Small squadrons placed at the entries oil
cur principal rivers, bays and ports. Will
certainly stop the ingress and egresS oil
our vessels. We shall neither have nm
norris. on which our revenue wholly de-
pends, nor exports, the sale OF which Is
essential to enable our citizens to pay
their debts; but the surplus of the pro-
duets of our agricultural labor, beyond
our own consumption, must perish on our
hands. And the public revenue and IN
.diyidual income will sink under the same
blow. That chain Of pecuniary engage
roents between our citizens, founded on
tbs nrior condition of things, will be brok-
O., . and neither the nation, nor indiyidu-
dc will he able to fulfil their contracts
confidence will ceasc-Industry lanSu.sil
from the want of its proper aliment, the
certainty of receiving its due reward.
Moral obligation viii lose It's influence on
the mind. And a fatal sloth and deterlo-
ration of principle will ensue-"hich In
the end may prove fatal to order and iioer-
t. itself. Such effects will be produced
bv the mere blockade of Our ports-sup-
rosin~ our enemy shall be generous e.
nourh to iniict no further mischiefs.
gnt this total humiliation of foreign
commerce, is perhaps the favolite theory
of a powerful aud respectable class of po-
liticians. 1t is believed by many that the
less foreign commerce we have, the more
we rely on the improvement Of the natu-
raj means afforded by the various climates
and productions of our extensive empire
be;ns contented with mere interchange
between ourselves, the more likely are we
10 continue free, safe and independent,
without the danger of being contaminat-
Scd byforeign vices or governed by 10
reign Influence. Perhaps if the people
could be brought to submit to this sudden
transition from all their former habits
and pursuits to- the self-denying regime
which this new system would require,
without the subversion Of their industry
and morality,:a il they would consent to
8 substitute internal taxes to raise the mo-
.-n l necessary to pay the debts and pro-.
vide for the common defesce cftheircoun-
try1instcad of the ample revenue here
fofore derived from foreign commerce.
If such "a change could be effected with
general consent, this project has some
features in it favorable to liberty, indie
pendenee and peace: As thereby Like the
Chinese we should become people sepa-
rate from The world-aad perhaps the
principles OF car government might by
time be exchanged into fixed and intermin-
able habits. But in the actual state OF
Iiewcrli--in theactual habits ofour peo-
ne, accustomed to boandiess Ioreisa
e..,r.ncrce. Wherever ;he experiment shall
be made, it IS presumed It must fail total