Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-05-15

chants still retain their property, deprecated,
it is true, in small degree: bJ the other, 1t
will be lost to themselves and their country,
and will go to augment the resources OF our
enemy For, sir, let me ASSURE the gentle
man that he makes very erroneous estimate
of our preparations, and the time at which we
will act. Our army and measures are not
merely on paper, as he states but, we're this
the eropcr time and subject, it could De shewn
that very considerable advances have been
made to put the country into the posture OF
| defence, and TO prepare our forces tor an at
| tack on our enemy. So far from being unpre-
| pared, sir, believe that in four weeks from
{, the time that declaration of war is heard on
our frontier the whole of Upper and part OF
| Lower Canada will be in our possession
| We will not, hope, wait the expiration OF
| the embargo to take our stand against Eng
land-that stand which the best interest and
honor Of this nation have so loudly demanded.
| With such prospect again ask, would It
| be humanity or cruelty to the petitioners TO
grant their prayer, and by relaxing the enoar-
| 90 in their favor, to entice them to certain
! destruction
The gentleman from Virginia stated, to In
| duce us to repeal the embargo law, and to
make it odious, l suppose, With the commu-
nity, that it operated less severely on the mer-
! chant than on the farmer and miller. He did
| not prove very distinctly how this unequal
preserve was produced. But understood
| him to say, that eastern vessels could be had
with 50 much facility to make shipments to
any Ecropean port, and that -four had risen
so much already In consequence OF the en-
barqo, that the rise in tie price nearly COM
Densated for the additional risk and price OF
exportaton. observe the gentleman shakes
bis head in Interpretation OF the statement.
| 7 suppose naistool, his statement. However,
Tcoun not mistake the conclusion which he
drew, that the merchants, by GLIDING the en-
barqo, had prevented the depreciation OF the
price of wheat and -four on hand This SIT, Is
sufficient for my purpose. lhe gentleman
from Virginia must know, that from tie cha
racter of trade, the proGt OF such trade, II 1t
really exists, cannot De confined TO the mef-
chants. 1t would soon raise the price OF bread
stuffs in the hands of the other classes OF the
community, and would prove that his state
mcnt OF the distressed condition of the mlllers
and farmers cannot be correct.
IN his zeal against the embargo, the gen.
tleman from Virginia says, it was engendered
between the committee on foreign relations
and the Executive Engendcred! The gen
tleman must be sensible of the Improperly of
such language, as applied to the Executive or
a committee Of this house. No, sir, 1t was not
ar6,utler4sd bit adopted by both the Fxncil-
tive and committee, from its manifest proprl-
ety as a prelude to war. There is no man in
his reason, and uninduenced by party feelings,
but must acknowledge that war In this coun-
try ought almost invariably to be preceded
By an embargo. The very persons most loud
AGAINST that measure, would be the most cla-
morous had it not preceded the war. There,
sir, has been much false statement IN relation
to the embargo. | remember, when it was
under discussion on former occasion, that a
gentleman then observed, he had certain lntor-
nation that the French minister had been i'm
portuning our governmental stop the exporia-
ton of bread stuffs to the Peninsula. know
not whether he intended to Insnuate tbs as
one of the causes Of the embargo be 1t as
it may, do assert, from the highest authority,
that no such application has ever been made
directly or indirectly on the part OF the French
government The assertion was OF such a
nature, as induced me to enquire into It's cor
rectness and the result is such as have stat
ed can scarcely suppose, that the gentle
man intended to convey the idea that French
influence had any thing to do with the mea-
sure. He must know that either the Execu-
| tive or majority Of this body would resist with
the greatest indignation any attempt to Intiu-
ence the measures of government; but such
has been the use made of it by certain prints,
either e'ai Det through the manner in which it was
connected in debate with the embargo, or the
| very imperfect and unfair reports of the secret
One would suppose, from the language of
! the gentleman from Virginia, that he was
| much in the secret Of government. He says