Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1811-10-25
POLITICAL.
From the Charleston Courier.
TO JAMES MADISON,
PRESIDENT OF the UNITED STATES.
NO. LII.

manner that nave chosen to use in address |
ing myself to the First Magistrate of nv
country You are at no loss to perceive that !
l am making liberal use of the privileges of
freeman, and am aware of what is meant by |
the liberty of the press | shall take it for
granted that you are in no wise offended at
my republican freedom cannot but believe
'nat You are pleased to see an American
speak, as he ought to speak, with candour,
spirit ana ooldness. 1 shall, therefore, per-
sevsre In the manner first adopted, and shall
sheiter myself under your sanction Perhaps
you Will say, that have still better sane
| tion. shall not dispute this point, but shall
DC proud, notwithstanding, of your counts-
nance.
There is plain and wholesome truth, sir,
OF much Importance to your country and to
| yourself, which either does not seem to have
presented itself to your understanding. or to
have worked upon it too feebly Has it ever
occurred to you, sir, that the stock in trade
OF your political concern was altogether made
up OF tho remnants of the thread bare system
OF your predecessor Mr. .'egarson knew
we'll that his plans would utterly fail or he
would not have left his drawing room at the
palace. He was convinced that neither A
merica, nor England, nor France, could much
longer be juggled by his dexterity at cards
or blowing of bubbles, or French capers ex-
| hlbited on the slack-rope. He affected some
thing like sympathy when he bid adieu to
public life; it was sympathy that never
| went beyond his own scarf-skin. l need not
! press this point upon YOU | presume that
| you begin to know Dir. Jefferson we'll bye
and bye, sir, you will know him thoroughly.
The embargo, as laid and executed in this
| country, was phenomenon that but few men
| could have explained and settled as whole
some for the nation. ] shall not be backward
| in saying that no other individual welding
the executive power of these states, could
| have acted the part performed by MIR yefier
| son. An express violation of the constitution
an impoverishment Of all classes of the com.
munity, sacrifice in the wages of labour by
the poor, and of common Injuries by the
middle and higher classes of society, make
an aggregate of suffering and political sin that
even Washington, irradiated by his gIories of
| Minerva and Mars, could not have sustained
with reputation Mr. Jefferson gained his
greatest name from these very circumstances.
People praised as they suffered believing
| that they suffered for their country.
| assure you, sir, that these receptions have
passed away The citizens of the u. States
have no patience left to carry them again
| through the mazes of embargoes, non-inter-
course, non-importation, and the other mis-
chievous follies, that have nearly ruined the
well disposed among the people, and that have
eifectually brought the finances of the go
vernment into state of embarrassment that
must shortly be relieved or must terminate i'm
| bankruptcy The present non importation
| law is the last of the measures; and it will
| not survive the first month of the coming ses-
sion of Congress.
| Permit me, sir, to ask, what uncommon Sc
cret knowledge lodged in your breast, what
| presidential reasons, unknown to plain and
| private citizens, could have induced you to
| Stake your good name and the prosperity of
| your country upon the efficacy OF rotten sys-
| tenn of policy, that proved to be worse
| than even its enemies had supposed possible
| We all remember famous report exhibited
| by committee of foreign relations, and CIV
| en- to Congress the first year of the embargo.
1t spoke very boldly, and seemed to emoody
all the courage and spirit of the country In
lofty tones of defiance, addressed to the uni
verse. This report declared, that the Ameri-
can people, oppressed by French DEGREES and
British orders in Council, had their election
of one of three alternatives; embargo, sub
mission, or war The committee gailantly
chose the first. 1t has happened, to the con-
fusion of this valorous and resolute body, that
the existence and operation of these DEGREES
and Orders have been co-temporaneous with
neither embargo nor war We must then
have been, at times, in a state of submission
to foreign violence. We must be SO still, ac-
cording TO the committee. Neither war nor !
embargo are scourging US with their evils, and |
yet the British orders are, confessedly, in
force and the French DEGREES have not been |
repealed agreeaby to the assertion of your |
Excellencys proclamation
1t was certainly the protested object of our
embargo. of our non-intercourse, and of our |
bel