Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1850-02-02


wards, January 8, 1907 of an act further to en-
force the Embargo Laws, few of the provisions
Of which it is worth while to cite, to give to- the
| present generation some idea of the character OF
the system, now happily exploded which was,
forty years and more ago, generally designated by
| the term Restrictive
Tins, in this Supplement, added TO preceding
Supplements to the Embargo Law, passed after the
Embargo had been more than year in operation,
among volume of enactments, each more strin-
gent than the other, were the following:
"That any person shall put place. or load on board
any ship, vessel boat, water craft, into any cart
gon Sled or other carriage vehicle, any specie, goods,
warea or merchandise with intent to export transport,
convey the same without the United States, &C., he shall
be adJudged gully Of misdemeanor and fined in sum
equal to Jour times the ra Of such specie, goods wares
merchandise Collectors of all the districts Of the United
States further authorized TO seize upon specie or ann
articles of domestic gro, produce or manufacture found
on board Of any ship vessel boat other craft &c., or
when IN carts, wagons sleghs &c. OF in any manner
apparently their oay o,Oard the territories Of foreign
nation, or the vicinity thereof toyards place wherein
such articles intended to be exported and not permit
such articles to be removed until bond Nth sufficient Sc
curly, shall have been given," &c. And enforce such
stringent and oppressive prohibitions and nuncons ashese
made lawful for the President Of the United States or
such other person he should hare empowered rthat pu
pose, to employ such part Of the land and nGral forces of
the United States, Of the militia as may be Judged ne
eessary."
Well: stung to the quick by this double turn of
the screw upon them, did these Yankees betake
themselves to dssolving the Union, because things
in the General Government did not work altogether
to their liking? Did they even determine to se-
cede from the partnershp-to tear off their names
from the bond TO which they were joint signers
with Maryland Virginia, the Carolinas, and Geor-
gia? Not at all. No: they took their case
up to the Supreme Court. They firmly believed
the Embargo Laws to be unconstitutional, and they
stood suit upon their bonds given under the re-
qurements of those laws, in order 10 bring the
case before that Court. The CouRT decided the
case against them; and they paid the bonds, as
many Of them as could--the rest of them were
sold out ofhouse and home and not few Of them,
who, by lives of steady industry, had acquired
completeness when the iron grip Of the Restrictive
System overlook them, were left, at the close
Of it. dependant upon their Children or the Poor
house for their daily bread.
But, argue those who are foremost in urging the
Southern States onward to precipice from which,
once reached, there can be no retreat nor any adj
vance unless it be to topple headlong over it, g
great wrong the admission of California with her
State Government is threatened, and great wrongs
: demand Uiolent remedies. The decision of the
: great questions now presented to the country
: will influence forever her future destiny"
Such is the language held by the Richmond En-
quirer not more than week ago. Constitutional
remedies are not what these gentlemen seek. They
do not even condescend to specify or define the
!" great wrongs" which require the " violent reme-
dies they speak Of. civil, or legal, resistance
of their indefinite wrongs, is beneath their dignity.
Of the extreme medicine of the Constitution, they
would make its daily bread. They will have no
thing to do with the Supreme Court; it is nothing
to them. They will have Revolution, and nothing
else. Such is the tenor and spirit of the whole of
the deliberate and carefully wrought article in the
Richmond Enquirer, from which we quote the fol-
lowing further passage:
" In the issue between the North and South involved
the great principles Of the equality inequality, the
regny vassalage Of fifteen States Of the American Union
IF these fifteen States wish become dependencies or
appendages of combination Ono longer Union) of
States hostile these Insutoni they would escape this
DOOM to which Northern fanaticism would consgn hem
they must their energiesprepare consult COMBINE
UNITE, PROMPT DEcIsIyE ACTION"
This is the programme Of those who are ready
for Revolution rather than resort to Law, and who
are we shall show, garbling and misrepresent-
ing the opinions Of Mr.. MADISON, in order to avail
themselves OF his great name-not to sustain any
laudable purpose, but to favor purposes avoaced to
be violent and extra-constitutional. Deprive them
Of the support Of his name, and they come to the
ground: they have nothing left TO stand upon. We
evoke from the Shades the Spirit of that great man
to confront them in their wicked designs. To do
no injustice to the Enquirer, we quote at large SO
much of the article in that paper as we propose
to refute:
In this for the present and preparation for the FUTURE
it becomes VIRGINIA among the foremost. Not be-
she is the largest stakeholder among the States but be-
great constitutional questions involved in the ISSUE
Heretofore, has been her province lead and she will
not shrink from the high responsibility
"When 10 l79s, the purity Of the Constitution was vio
lated by the madness Of party and the liberty Of speech and
Of the press invaded the voice of Virginia called her
States the and the hand Of usupaon and
power stayed. She did not then stop to count The cost
did then hesitate follow the line of duty to herself
and the Constitution.
Upon that OCCASION when her immortal Resolutions in
tepreting the Constitution and defining the powers of the
Federal Government given the world her
condemned sunwauantable and dangerous Her action