Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-02-15

=. s. became me To take higher
..,.onnd. and without confirming my
ssslf to the mode best calculated TO
,,eroycr the property, to pursne !na'
which the dignity of the American
government required.
!. A crisis in my opinion, present.
I'D itself. which was to decide whe 4
ther the French edicts were re'ract-
ed as a preliminary 10 the execution
sofour law, or whether by the non,
ocrformance OF one party. and the
nprompt performance Of the other.
The order in which these measures
ought to stand was TO be reverted.
and the American government shut.
f,ed into the lead. where national
honor and the law required it to fol
low"
II would have been BASE to have
empIoyed the presidents pro"lama-
t;on. that the Berlin and Milan de-
cree, had been revoked as the means
Of ph,!inins their revocation. but.
what. sir. is the price we have al
length paid for their reafa! Inc
presidents proclamation was nat e.
nough; the act Of Marc: added to
it was not enough we could not
procure the revocation, till zoe 7rent
TO 1car For sir. the emperor would
not issue this decree till he knee
that we were pledged and committed
TO 60 to war with Great Britain. =
Hon. he knew this. sir. it is not for
me to say. We all know. however,
t;lat he had all the acts of this go
vernment to satisfy him ofthe course
we we're pursuing; the step we were
about to take. He had the presi'
dents message, the report OF the
committee of foreign relations, the
war speeches Of the members oftiiis
house, and the laws for raising ar
mics. In the month of May. then,
when the policy of this country in
relation to Great Britain, was set
tied, he issues his decree. just in
time too, sir. that it could not reach
this country till we had plunged into
the war. And well, in such state
might he repeal his DEGREES. which
by the war itself would be super
seeded.
Thus. sir, believing the French
DEGREES to be repealed, we departed
from our neutral stand by enforcing
the non-i intercourse law against G..
Britain. We have in vain waited for
such evidence OF their repeal as
would have induced Great Britain
to rescind her orders 10 council the
great cause Of the war. Their revo-
cation depended upon the repeal of
the French DEGREES and had they
been revoked; there wouid have been
no war between the United States
and Great britain. The decree de.
claring the edicts Of France to be re-
voked, is at length, issued, when the
emperor knows it is too late to pre-
vent the war. The decree is CON-
municated to the English govern
ment; the orders in council are re-
voked on the ground Of the repeal of
the French DEGREES \ but the Unit.
ed States have declared war. How,
sir. can | make this matter p'ainer1
our whole course against 6reat Bri
tain has proceeded from the belief
Of tn: repeal ofthe Berlin and Mil m
DEGREES. bus that evidence of their
repeal, whics! would have stopped
our course, by means of which the
orders in council would hare been
revoked. aud the war would have
been avoided. is withheld till the en-
geror knows that the war is inevita-
bic. THUS. sir, have we been duped,
deceired and inreig!ed.
frepeatit. sir. had we on the 17th
June, understood our foreign rela-
tons as we now understand them,
we would not have declared war;
And would it not have been just and
magnani'nous in this government,
wien all doubt was removed on the
subject Of the French DEGREES, to
have acknowledged its error? Did
not the honor. the character. the in
dependence Of the country require of
MS togo back to cur original neutral
ground ! rose principally for the
purpose Of presenting this view of
the arts and deceit Of tie French
emperor to the committee. regret
that ! have not done it more fully
and clearly; and l hope that some
gentleman mOpa n npo..o.n~.