Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-02-28
1CoNTINUED.

sp,t without previous eT-e,usl reIioqu1sh
ment of the French DEGREES. "A case could
not otherwise be made to exist (as the
Duke of Galore was AWARE tor suen an
operation of the American law. 40 put
the law before the revocation OF the edie's
was impossible. With The law IN his hand
il would have been miraculous ignorance:
net 10 know tina, 1t was the exact reverse OF
this which his. paper must propose. IKE
would derive this knowledge, no' rom
that particular law only, but from the whole
tenor and spirit of American proceed'hes'
IN that naintul and anomalous dilemma, IN
which Great Britain and France, agreeing
in nothing else, had recently combined 20
place the maritime interests OF America
He would collect from those proceedings
that, while thosc conflicting powers CONT
nued T. riva! ca h othar ia their aggresslons
upon neural rights, the guve, n! OF the
United States would Oppose iiset impar'
tiaiy 10 both. The French sc<ralon,
then, had either 70 meaning at all, or II
meant to announce to G,n.,al Armstrong
a posi- We revocation ot he French etlcis.
should only fatigue your l"rdship by
pursuing farther Il PCint so plain and simple.
I will therr;o merely add to what have
alrsal, sad on this branch Of tn subject,
tina, he strorg and unqualified commun'ca-
ZION {, ON General Armstrong To me, men
toned in the cemm-nsem mt Of this letter,
and coTrohorated by subsequent communi-
cations Zone If which now lay before vou)
may perhaps, without any great etfAri OF
courtesy, BE- allowed 20 co ain that ''au
,hentic intelligence" viii, h your L1rdship
is 10 search of. He could scarcely have
been free from douht if The occasion was
calculated to suggest it, and If he had really
doubted, would hardly hsve spoken 10 me-
with the confidence O! conviction.
1t only remains % speak of the practical
effect of the French repeal. And here
your Lordship must suffer me to remind
you that the orders Of England in 1897 did
decree, nor hngertll the obscu'i'y, in viii h
the meaning OF that decree was suppos d
to be involved, should b. clear ID away by
time or explanation. They camr promptly
after tn: decree Itself, white it was no, on
ly ambiguous On, inrp rative, and raised,
upon an idle prohibition, and yet more
idle declaration, which France had not at
tempted to enforce, ADD was VIGOROUSLY in-
capable of enforcing, a vast scheme Of OPP
preston upon the seas, more destructive Of
all the acknowledged rights of peaceful
states than history can parallel. This re-
taiiation, as il Wa. called, was 80 rapid, that
it was felt before the injury which WAS said
TO have provoked it; aud yet, that injury,
such as it was, was preceded by the practi-
cal assertion, On the part Of Great, Britain,
OF new and alarming principles Of public
law, in the notifllati Of the blockade OF
May, 1906, and In the judicial decisions Of
the year before. To uphold the rtsziiasc
ry orders, every thing was presumed with
surprizins facility. Not only was an in.
point, uneac cused, and eqniyocal mruace
presumed to be an active scourge at the
commerce of neutral naeinDs, but the &C
quiesceace Of those nations was presumed,
agains, the P!ai1est evidence If facts
The alaCrlty with which all this was done
can never be remembered without regret
dtiu > out wi tCSIS t'tQ
constituent must increase, If, after four
years have BEEN given to the pernicious ia
novasion. which these presumptious were
TO introduce and support, something ike
the same aIacri;v should not Dc displayed
in seizng An honorable opportunity of dis.
csrding it forever,
1t is not unnatural to imagine that it zu;...
be discarded WIN pleasure, when it IS eou-
sidered that, having never heen effet tn a as
an instrument OF hostility, it cannot now
lay claim to those otisr recommendations
for which it may have heretofore been priz.
ed. The orders in council (of Nov have
passed through some important changes
but they have been steady a. long as it was
possible, to the purpose which FIRST impress
sed upon them a character not TO he mis-,
,ak~n.
In their original plan they eomrrehrpded
not oaly France and such allie d or dep, n
dent powers as had adopted the .edict Of
Berlin, but such her nations as had mere.
H. excluded from their ports thr CONNER