The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-02-27

4
| tsie British administration SHOULD have de-
;iared. that it rs an indispensable condition
! ot TIER performing towards America al
| net of justice, that America should obtain
an impossible grant in favor OF ourselves"
BRITAIN will cease to do evil to America, when
ADerica can compel Bonaparte not to pur-
sue ,lle principal measure BY which he can
continue to make us sensible that we are not
| It peace with him: and because America
dues not arm herself for the declared pur-
pose OF carrying this object of our ministers
INTO effect, but puts her coasts in as dcfen-
s:Ve a condition as she is able our able 20
lliticians talk of her self protection as of a
| nenace OF war. It can be for no other rea-
| son than that they wish us TO be actually at
i,war with the United States, that they use
such language.
! =" Let any man divest himself of prejudice
let them consider the United States as an
independent and sovereign power, removed
lOoth BY geographical situation and political
views, from the belligerents of Europe, and
making all that use of her position, to i'm
prove her commerce and to remain at peace
with the universe, which naturally she
ought TODD: then let him consider that the
British government has declared it to be
an indispensable condition of the repeal of
the British Orders" Orders that are decid-
ediy hostile in their character and that not
| q "a,
4 since they compel her shipping to submit to
conditions which would hardly be exacted
from the vessels of a dependent colony, but
almost annihilate her foreign trade, y" that
| commerce should be restored to a footing.
that would admit pr 'dnCtions and manufac-
lures OF Great Britain, when owned b.
neutrals, into markets shut against them
| by the enemy" then, let sdch a person
freely declare what denomination he woul,
4 n 70 III, Il
Oh from America to the government of this
country? Fully persuaded are we that thu,
| very prints which now term hel defensive
position An aspect of hostility, would, in tn
| disappointment of their sanguinarv views,
| oesto~ all the opprobrious epithets of COW
artiice, m canness and serviity, that Ian
guage would afford them, upon the conces
lions OF the railing pc yers of America. The
PRESIDENT is obnoxious, because he wouiu
rather withdraw the u. Stares from all ex-
terior intercourse & teach them to be strong,
ADD wealthy within themselves, than to per-
| NIT them to mingle in the devastation & ho-
rors that have 81 long psrvaded this quarter
u the globe. But will such an unprecedented
1erson as we have described, Conclude with
| me Editor OF the Liverpool Courier. that
the Message of the President sis 10 be consi
dered as accommodating, and even hos
| tlie, although it should be true that, iii
the eye of the President" should have
been upon the threa. of Great Britain t.
rctaliate upon the Non In. rtation Act, &,
ms pen employed to solicit Congress to reta-
hate upon that retaliation Unsubmissive.
| at most, can any portion of the Message b
| allowed to be, and upon what ground, are
we TO expect or to exact sub omission from
America Our Orders in Council have in
Iiured her commerce, and she she,ys hf =
o. 0ff hot .t,,,, I'D 1.
Act =" you will not LEI us be Carriers e.
ven OF our own goods" say the Americans
:. then, how can you expect that we will be
the receivers Of yours?' Are we to inflict a
new injury instead of attending to this sim
pie question; and are we to infiict this new
INJURY without expecting any retaliation on
the part OF America? Again. how is this
unaccommodating and hostile purport of the
Message to he demonstrated without the
prior admission OF injury done and intended
on the part of the British minister ?-Fbe
whole OF the inimcal tone in the Message
II 1T threatens at all, threatens no more than
justice the .ogical Editor admits the injury
and yet revolts at its necessary conse-
luence. But whether these reasoners are
or are not aware Of the fallacy of such de-
auctions, we find that the point to viii CHI
they most firmly adhere, is the non-repeal
OF the French DEGREES, thereby most moral
~ proving our injustice correct conSe-
sequence OF the injustice of our enemy. The
President was not required either By equity
or the law OF nations, to prove the repeal Of
the Berlin and Milan DEGREES and to anv
other government than ours under the pre-
sent administration, it would have been an
insult to have said cease to do us an evil.
merely because another has ceased to do us
an evil" But the Conscences of our minis
ters tell them they deserve such a reproach,
and they therefore demand it as sine qua
non OF their conserving to return to recti-
tude. When, therefore, Mr.. Madison sent
fresh evidence of the repeal of the French
DEGREES, he proved himself more accommo-
dating tiian our ministers had a right to e2t-
pect, and much more so than appears to
have been agreeable te them. 1T left their
! injustice even without the excuse of exam
| pie, and they returned it to America, con
tenting themselves with the aniablc conso-
lation OF doing wrong without competitor.
| Whether the repeal of the French DEGREES
| is, as the Liverpool Courier concludes most
lunlogiCally, merely nominal or not, whether
France has ceased from her aggressions to-
wards America or not--whether the Gallo
potcntate repeats bis spoliation of American
property, & the captivity of American citi
zcns, or ceases from his injustice, what has
this TO do with the measures Of Grea, Bri-
tainH But how is this Continued Injustice OF
! France proyed9 Upon what is founded this
excellent warranty for the injustice Of this