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RANDOLPH, REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE STATE OF VIEGINU, IN THE GENERAL CONGRESS OF AMERICA; ON A MOTION FOR THE NON-IMPORTATION OF BRITISH MERCHANDIZE, PENDING THE PRESENT DISPUTES BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA ■.V--i. y/^A'r \ '' ?-■■' r'- '■■' WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR OF " WAR IN DISGUISE/ (NEW YORK: PRINTED.) LONDON^: RE.PRTNTED FOR J. BUTTERWORTH, FLEET-STREET J AND J. HATCHARD, PICCADILLY. W i\ t A. ADVERTISEMENT. 1 HE Autljor of the Introduction offers as an apology for defects in its style and its inadequacy to its veiy important subject, the extreme haste in MJiicii it has been composed, through an appre- hension that the great question discussed in it, is on the point of decision by Ids majesty's ministers, 'ilie speech of Mr, Randolph arrived from America on the .30th of hist monlh, and this morning, the l.'isl page of the Introduction lias gone to press, Mdi/':, i8of». , '• y a o. * ■Hi. a •1 i! {uo:^^> - •ff ......;i.,.- ; . ■ r, ' / ■ .::o ' ) •■ '■^'"■' ■ M. :.>.:]■- mmm yi INTRODUCTION. ' w ; 1 ( I i.' ./• »^IX months had elapsed since the pamphlet called " War in Disguise" was first given to the public, without any opponent having entered the lists, to dispute before British judges, either the Justice, or the policy, of its views. . . The Editor of the Parisian Argus indeed, who degrades the English language by prostituting it to the service of a tyrant, had favoured that work with an early and honorable censure ; but at home, it had been noticed with uniform assent to the truth and importance of those practical conclusions to which the Author had reasoned ; and in neutral countries it had been encountered only by such vague clamours, as scarcely admitted of, much less deserved, a reply. ^ I therefore had no inducement to invoke again the attention of the public on the great subject of our maritime rights. Much, very much, of new argument was offered to me by tlie awful changes in the state of the war, which the treaty pf Presburg liad occasioned 5 mmifm ^ PPPPPVIP ii but I had reason to believe that enough had been said to satisfy Englishmen at least j and I hoped that if other nations had objections to offer, they would riot be admitted by our government so precipitately, as to preclude a volunteer in the cause of his country from sustaining against them the arguments he had advanced. On a sudden, some of these circumstances are unexpectedly reversed. Within a few days, a pamphlet has been put into my hands, which under a more comprehensive title, discusses the subject of our present dispute with America ; and which without professing to be an answer to the work called " War in Disguise," controverts its most important conclusions. Before I had found time to give this antagonist deliberate attention, another has taken up the gaunt* let under the formidable armour of a reviewer ; and at the same moment, a third, who has not yet issued firom the press, menaces me with declared hostility in the form of legitimate war*. But alas at this moment a rumour has reached my ears, far more alarming than the united attacks of the ablest controversial opponents. It is said that his Majesty's ministers are on the point of giving way to the injurious claims i ^ . * The second antagonist alluded to Is a writer in the juit pub> lished Edinburgh Review. The third is an American, whose work is announc(.>d for republication in this country. mm 4 ^ und menaces of America, and renouncing for ever the maritime rights in dispute. I May the report prove to be erroneous. It is due to the high characters which compose the present cabinet, to believe that it will be found so^ and in that case I will joyfully apologise to thena for having one moment listened to the tale. But if there be indeed a yet unexecuted pur- pose of this nature in the mind of any British minister—if all the recent triumphs of our flag, and the majestic ascendency of our navy, have not precluded the thought of thus truckling to the invaders of our maritime rights, then indeed it is high time for every Englishman who fore- sees the consequences, to lift up a warning voice, while there is yet a chance of being heard, and of averting the impending mischief. Impressed with this anxious reflection, I feel that to arrest decision, is now the first and most urgent object, in this great national cause. To reply to those opponents whose arguments I have seen, would be no difficult task ; but before I return their broadsides, I must run hastily upon deck, and beseech the commanding officers not yet to strike the colours. A few hours only have elapsed since I took up the pen for this purpose, but with great difficulty how to reconcile the magnitude of the consider- ations which pressed upon me, with the urgent call for dispatch, when the arrival of a mail from America, quite accidentally, but most seasonably. ■4 ! IV placed in my 'possession the following important speech*. I perceived in it at once a most desirable sub- stitute for those arguments which I was on the point of composing.— My object was not to fortify former positions of right, much less to enter at large into the new relations of the American controversy; but only to deprecate premature determination, and obtain time for further discussion.— What then could be more abundantly sufticient for my pur- pose than this speech of Mr. Randolph ? It cannul be supposed that his Majesty's minis- ter can wish precipitately to relinquish our belli- gerent rights or pretensions at this most delicate crisis, unless from thr fear that an immediate rup- ture with America must be the consequence of further delay ; but surely no reflecting mind after attend'ng to this speech, p\''*liLslied, as well as spoken by an American political leader of the first eminence, can retain that idle apprehension. The occasi'tn of Mr. Randolph's argument, was a motion made by the most zealous of the French party, for a general non-importation bill ; i.e. for the prohibition of importing any British manufactures, while the disputes between the two countries are unsettled : and the event of this motion was a de- cision in the nea:ative, by a majority of 70 to 47-^ It appears tiiejefore th.it Mr. Randolph's very pow- erful and tloqiient argument s, were assented to by a large majority. * I write on th^' ist o*" May, and hqir, before I sleep, to send this hasty compoiuion lo prtss. I { Afterwards, on the 17th of March, a hmlted non-importation resolution was brought in by the same party, and carried on a division of 87 to 35, in the House of Representatives; but from the latest accounts there is reason to believe that it was rejected by the Upper House or Senate. The opposition, headed by Mr. Randolph, had defeated, in former instances the violent pro- posals of the government party, or rather of the French faction, by which the government party Itself was pushed on to violent measures. Yet the government, and even the French faction, did not venture to propose immediate war.— When therefore we are instructed by this able and inter- esting speech, in the principles and views of the American opposition; and perceive that a war with this country would be most powerfully op- posed, even in a case of strong and acknowledged provocation, it seems absolutely impossible to apprehend that the Congress would resort to that extremity, or to snch oHensive measures as must inevitably lead to war, rather than admit of a deli* berate, or even ;i tedious discussion. I wish the paiience of the neutralizing agents in this country, u h , luicler the specious name of Bri- tish American mercliants, may be secretly impor- tuning governmeut for a decision favourable to their private views, could be as surely relied upon. It is not only in Auienca, I fear, that " the spirit of avaricious trafiic," to use the Avords of Mr. Ran- doipij, is opposed to the national welfare. IT yi • If the people of the United States could in any case be brought to submit to tlie burthens of a maritime war, for tiie sake of what this gentleman justly represents as an ephemeral and precarious commerce, it must be at least on an ultimate refusal of redress for wrongs, which had been mast fully investigated, and ineontestably esta- blished. The authority of Mr. Randolph is the more satisfactory on this point, because he does not directly dispute the justice of those complaints which the ci.imours of the neutralizers had for the moment made popular in America. — It is indeed easy to perceive, that this candid and enlightened patriot, saw the injustice of the quarrei, in which self-interested men endeavoured to involve his country. — But he was too wise, needlessly to oppose timscif to those prejudices, the f^rce of which it was better to elude. — He avoids therefore tiie question of right, and admitting for the sake of argument at least, that the pretended injuries are yeal, asserts in terms of the most absolute assur- ance, that the people of America will not consent to avenge them by war. *' I will agree, says he, to pass for an idiot, if this is not the public sentiment, and you will find it to your cost, begin the war \\ljen you will." (See p. V2.) It is not however solely, or chiefly in regard to the question I have now in view, or the safety of furtlier discussion, that thi speech of Mr. Randolph is important. « f< « ■i i m A< ■fe I m . I invoke the declaration^ of this American l^^der) made in the hearing of Congress, to attest, that the strictures on the colonial traders of that country contained in my foiiner publication, were in no degree unfounded. — I appeal to his sentimients oh the true interests of his fellow-citizens at large^ that they are on the same side of this controversy with ourown. — I rely on his opinion, and still more on his irrefragable arguments, in proof that a wdr betweeil that country and this, would be but in a slight degree noxious to the commerce of Great Britain; while its consequences would be ruinous to America, and such as her citizens would not even for u bridf period, be brought patiently to endure. In a >^ord, I quote this respectable authority^ not only as a caution against precipitated determi- nation, but to shew that timid and ruinous con* cession, may be safely and finally avoided. But what makes this very intelligent speech more encouraging to the friends of peace and justice, as well as highly deserving profound atten« tion in both countries, is the correctness of its views as to the power and policy of France. I rejoice for the sake of America and of Europe, that there are statesmen in the new world, capable of so clearly discerning, and so eloquently exposing, its dangers from French ambition, and its interest in the navy of England. And here let it be observ-> 1, thot when Mr. Ran- dolph addressed sucLconsidci; ilor.s to the Ameri* f ■f*' via can Congress, the humiliation and ruin of Austria, mnd the otuer recent disasters of Europe, were but imperfectly known beyond the Atlantic. The peace of Presburg, and the consequent mutila- tions of the Germanic empire, seem not to have reached the ears of this antigallican patriot; much less could he know or foresee the perfidious con- duct of Prussia, the enrollment of that power, hitherto neutral, under the banners of French am- bition, and the exclusion of British merchandize from every country, hostile or neutral, in which the behests of Bonaparte can by violence or terror be enforced, j-ir . ^ . ; •' - • . If these new circumstances of the war had been known to Mr. Randolph, how much would his just apprehensions, from the preponderance of French power, have been aggravated ; how much grosser would the impolicy of contributing to the ruin of England have appeared to him ; how greatly would that sense of the justice of our cause which may be inferred from his language, have been fortified. And here let me notice, with such brief genera- lity as the urgent necessity of dispatch, under the sense of which I now write, prescribes to me, a new foundation of right which arises from the recent conduct of the enemy. Let it be supposed that all the arguments which have been hitherto offered by my own, and far abler pons, in defence of the rule of the war 1756 arc utterly inconclusive j and that though unan- I' IX i-v: swered (except by the grossest misrepresentations of notorious facts) they are capable of being clearly refuted; still we have a new case, on which it seems impossible that two different opinions should be held. AVhat ! is Bonaparte to exclude British sugar and coifee, from the continent, and Is America to enable him to do so, by supplying it with French and Spanisli sugar and coifee, in their stead ? Are neutral markets even, to be shut by violence against our planters, that our enemies may esta- blish there a monopoly against them ? Are the merchants of neutral states, to be laid under an interdict as to the carriage of British manuf;.ctures or merchandize to friendly ports; and while sub- mitting as they do to that interdict, can they assert nevertheless against us, a right to carry the manu- factures of our enemies, to the colonies of France and Spain? Are neutrals, in a word, to give effect to a system avowedly adopted for the de- struction of English commerce, yet found on their amity with England, a right to prevent or frustrate a retaliation on our part against the commerce of ©ur enemies ? Yet this is, in truth, but u part of the enormous case. By what means, has France acquirea the power of enforcing her prohibitions? By the same foul means which have enabled her to overthrow Aus- tria, to break up the foundation of the Germanic empire, and add all Italy to her 'isurpations ; by the most audacious violations of neutral rights, that ever disgraced the i)age of history, ur sub-, verted the security of nations. b Here, we have no controverted principles to as- sume, in maintaining the opprobrious charge. It is not, that on the ocean, and in the interruj)tion of a commercial intercourse with a belligerent, neu- tral pretensions are opposed; but, it is that into the heart of peaceful cities, and among the villages of a harmless peasantrj^, armies are sent to levy contributions, or pursue their desolating march, by u power which does not allege against the hapless sufferers either the rights of war, or the provocation of a wrong. Anspach, Hunover, Swit- zerland, Hamburgh, Frankfort, even Rome itself, where a reconciled apostate might have been re- strained by decent res])ect to the superstition he has professed to resume, these, and many other places, need but be named, to call up abhorrence of the usurper's maxims, and to show his utter con- tempt for the m-)st acknowledged and sacred of neutral rights, whenever he has power to invade them. Even bed-chambers are not safe for princes, in the bosom of a neutral court. " Bat are other nations responsible for these " outrages?" not directly so, I admit. Whether it be not a duty of neutral powers to unite in con- troling them, and proteclnig those sacred princi- ples by which the community of nations is bound together, from fuilher violation, is a question not hard to decide. Rut all I contend for here, is the very moderate position, tiiat neutral nations ought not actively to assist in giving cKcvi to n system, which i*- planted sustained and expanded by the.se invasions of neutral rights. If they will tamely permit Bonaparte to exclude .ships when laden with our merchandize from Ham- ■f i 'tv XI ■ti burgh, and such otlier maritime places, yet permit- ted to be called neutral, as the terror of his arms lias already shut against us; and to extend, as lie now threatens, the same system to Portugal and Denmark ; it is not neutral, it is not equal, to deny a like latitude to us; and they would have do right to complain, if we should apply the same mterdic- tion as generally, to the merchandize of our enemies, wherever our power extends; that is, to every maritime part of the globe. Colonial produce and supplies alone, are the sub- ject now in dispute with America; but here is a principle, on which we might fairly interdict the carriage of French, Spanish, and Dutch goods in general, whether colonial or European ; and not in particular voyages alone, but in any part of the ocean. If not, then the rights and duties of neu- trality are all on one side, and Bonaparte has al- ready obtained some of the legal effects of that so- vereignty, to which he now openly aspires over the kings and kingdoms of the earth. He has imperial prerogatives in the courts of nations, in which a British monarch has no right to participate*. Hitherto, it is a principle of natural reason, to which no writer on the law of nations has objected, and v, hich most of ih-jm have express- * lliis seems to be acknowledgi\l by some of those v/rlters who have kintlly at-tempted of late to liatten the spirits of the public, and prepare us for submission to France. They ;!re prudently spar- ing, in general, of their peace prospects ; but one of them fairly lets out, that one necessary mean of coUi;iliating Bonaparte is, the restraining the liberty of our press j and adds, *' i/ xic de- aire to remain at peace icifk Bonnjiar.'i.', let us btwart /loiv we len- turc to treat htin vUli th iams fret.il^,m an Gtiorge th Third. Hfi wm^mmammam an ly affirmed, that impartiality is one of the du- ties of neutral states ; and a branch of this duty is, tliat what they permit to one belligerent, they must be ready to permit to the other. Even the king of Prussia, acknowledged this obligation, when he gave passage to the Russian army, on hearing of the violation of Anspach; nor has the French despot himself, had the assurance openly to find fault with the act. " But America, it may be said perhaps, has " not yet been prevented by France, from carrying " any goods whatever to the ports of this country, " or our colonies." France, I admit, has not extended her commer- cial interdict, where she had not power to extend it.— Slie has no naval arms, and therefore can bolt the door against rommorce on the inside only, not lock it from without : nor can she prevent im- portation into countries, into which her battalions cannot advance. But if she has not prevented importation by neutral vessels, into England she has done more, much more for tjir [)ur|)ose of my argument, by excluding them from neutral ports. America is prevented from importing British goods into 1 lamburgli for instance, not because it is thu will of the senate of Hamburgh, but because it IS the niandatf of IVance; and America will sub- mit to tills prohibition, as she has done to other injurif s of the same spt cies,liom the same unprin- I 4 J- 4 " will avenge with the suorii, the insults offered bjr the pen." v^Thoviglus on the relative State of Great Britain and France, p. 6'l.) Happily we are not yet at peace with Bonaparte^ and oa ilicse terms i trust we never shall. xlii cipled power. — On what consistent pretence then could she complain, if we should forbid her carry- ing French goods, whether colonial or European, to Copenhagen or Lisbon? How otherwise are we to obtain equality, in respect of neutral commerce? We may blockade, it is true, the ports from which our goods are excluded; but this is often an ineffectual resort, as well as always an expensive one, and a diversion of our naval force from more active service. Neither can it be expected, that we can spread our blockades o\ er every har- bour or accessible coast, to which Bonaparte can extend his exclusive S3^stem by land. Besides it would l)e absurd to maintain, that, we may lawfully blockade neutral ports as a rightful defence against this unprecedented system of war; and vet have no rii^ht to retaliate on the trade of the enemy's j)orts, lest neutral interests should suffer. Tiie blockades too, however completely enforced, would be obviously ineffectual, to prevent the me- ditated injury' to our colonies and our commerce. Our sugars are shut out from Hamburgh, and we exclude French and Spanish sugars in return by our blockade. Wliat then?' If we allow the latter to be carried to Enibden, to Antwerp, or any other unblockaded port, the same continental markets are effectually supplied , by means of interior navigation, with the French or Spanish article, which, Ham- burgh before supplied with, the British. li, by a just and necessary retaliation, we should pre\ent the supjily generally in neutral bot- toms, the growing dearth of the article, would soon frustrate the hostile prohibition, or oblige the enemy to recall it: but while French and Spanish xh I ' i \' II' I t t produce, can be plentifully obtained from neigh- bouring ports, this natural remedy cannot operate; and our blockade rather tends in a commercial view to increase, than diminish the evil. This partiality therefore in the acquiescence and the resistance of neutral states, amounts not merely to passive injustice, but to an active and pernicious co-operation with the enemy in his ef- forts to destroy our commerce; yet though he tramples for that end on the most indisputable rights of neutrals, their extreme, abstract, and most doubtful rights, are strangely set up against us, to effectuate his injurious purpose. The main though preposterous defence of the frustation of our hostilities against the enemy's colonial trade, is his right to open his own ports j but has lie a right to shut up aeutral ports, as well as to open his own ? Here at least the land right, will not bear out the sea wrong. Besides, Ame- rica has now shrunk from this favourite principle of hers, when she had to deal with a power that would not be bullied— She has not only suffered France to take her ships when trading to St. Do- mingo, but at the imperious mandate of that pov/er has passed a law to forbid the trade to her subjects. Is it because Dessalines has not as good a title to Hayti, as Bonaparte to Naples.^ I should deny the proposition — even as l;o Paris : but at least Dossa- lines ha.s a» good a right to make laws in Hayti, as Bonapart/' at IlaJiiburgh. If the nation whicli is called on to submit to such injurious inequality of treatment, were feeble or in- ferior at sea, the too common disposition in the strong to oppress the weak, might account for the ■I 1 XV unjust demand. But what in the present case may well excite astonishment, as well as indignation, is, that this injustice is offered to a nation, whose power to resist if, is as indisputable, as her right to do so — whose invincible and magnificent navy rides triumphant on every sca^ who, to use the words of Mr. Randolph, '•' has annihilated the marine of her " enemies," and might boldly defy the combined hostility ci' all the maritime nations on the globe, to snatch the trident from her hand. That France, an exile from the ocean, should under such circumstances, have the assurance to wage with us a war of commercial exclusions, is singular enough. But if neutrals will persevere in thi ir present conduct, and if England timidly sub- mit lo it, the plan is perfectly rational, and cannot fail of tnial success. Behold then a new prodigy of this extraordinary age— The utmost maritime strength is impotent to protect commercial navigation; and a power that is driven from the ocean can destroy the trade of his enemy! But the paradox is of easy solution. — The plain key to it, is, the new and compendious principle that the rights of neutral'Ui/, an^ nothing on shore, but Cray thing at .sea. If this doctrine is to prevail, let us beseech th<» people of tiie United States, to relieve us from the burden of those eight hundred men-of-war, which Ivlr. Kandolph, with but a small exaggeration, sup- poses us at present to po.ssess — to take also off our hands, this island, which we cannot long hope to defend, and give us a district beyond the Blue Mountains, in exchange. XVI ; ':"! i n At present we liave no such distant retreat, as Mr. R. speaks of, fiom the arms of an invader; no alternative to that naval war, which he wisely de- clines. Surely such new and forcible considerations as the present conjuncture aflbrds, cannot fail to have an influence on the minds of the American people. It is true, they might have been suggested in some degree, by the conduct of France, at an earlier pe- riod of the war; but the exclusion of our commerce from the continent, though partially and faintly at- tempted before, is now for the fiist time distinctly avowed by Bonaparte, as the granlayed by the cabinet of England. We fight, we pay, we negociate, but excc]Jt in a formal manifesto, we do not rmso7i^ to the Euro- pean or American public. Wc abandon to our enemies, the influence of every foreign press, even where the fear of French arms does not preclude a competition. It is perhaps a natural, though accidental conse- quence, of our peculiar form of govermnent- — ^The rights and tlie interests of the nation, the grounds of its wars, and its treaties, are co])iously discussed in parliament ;, and we Ibrget that foreign politi- cians do not always read our debate*;. The grand subject of onr maritime rights, at least, has esery wiiere, out of England, been' left to private and sell-interested pens- and these have almost universally been in the service of the neutrahzing traders. Our enemie;* tlierefgre have c XVUl it I V( I 'i-l ^ ' -;i't walked over the course in America, as well as in other neutral countries ^ and the people hearing of notiiing but British violence and injustice, have condemned us without a (rial. I am led to tliesc remarks by a passage in Mr. Randolph's speech, in which he adopts an opinion currently received in Amcric that " AVar in Dis- guise," was written under the eye of Mr. Pitt. Tiie same has also been affirmed confidently in all the newspapers of that country as a known fact, and has been hitherto uncontradicted. Let the author there- fore do justice to the freedom and independence of his pen, at the expence of the credit which it might derive from the choice of our late celebrated mi- nister, *' War in Disguise," ums not written under the eye, nor at the instigation of Mr. Pitt, or any other member of administration ; nor was it ho- noured by his perusal till after it was giv-en to the public. Wiiatever be the weakness, or the strength, of tiie arguments it contains, they were spontaneous and sincere, the result of uninfluenced, and, as their author believes, of im])artial opinion. But to return from this digression— If new con- .sideration^s of justice, now arise to satisfy the people of the United States, that their demands are groundless in point of right; new and more pow- erful motives of policy, have also been furnished by ihs late changes in Europe, to reinforce the arguments of Mr. Kandolpii. Wi:at hopes, let me ask, cantheynowrctain,of the moderation of Trance, and how truly alaniiing to *■ F '4' I 1 --UJ XIX iSj them ought to be the prospect of a maritime peace in Europe. Wliile a hope remained of a continental balance of power in the old world being restored, it was natural for tiie people of the United States to sup- pose themselves neutral in [)oint of interest, in the event of the war, as well as in their actual relations. But which of their politicians v^ill now be hardy enough to dispute the opinion of Mr. Randolph, that the navy of England is the sole bulwark of American commerce, and that our ruin would insure their own. This enliglitened patriot (for though as an Ame- rican, addressing a republican audience, he says some ..lings which an Englishman cannot approve, he fairly deserves that name) w ill I doubt not now further extend his \iews, and discover more clearly the Trans-Atlantic projects of French ambition which the war alone suspends. Colonies are one of the favourite and avowed objects of Napoleon's vows, and where are rich colonies to be ol)tained, so easily and so speedily, as in Spanish America? What! will the con- .science of Bonaparte shrink liom the guilt of de- spoiling another branch of his nmrdered master's family? or is it tlie patient eliaiacter of his policy to wait for the slow restitution of agriculture in St. Domingo, w lien fmfdly regained by exterminatory "war, rather than possess himself at once of all the ex- isting wealth and all the commerce of Cuba? His measures during the last peace furnish no argument to the contrary. Tliey were suggested by I , I ' If I 1 ■if i I! pi :5 14 XX gross ignorawro of tlmtruo statpof St. Domingo, anrl lie tliert'foro began where lie would otherwise have ended. Resides, he was tiien i<(^pt a little in eheck by t\\v. yet unbroken ])ower of his late enemies, and by the difiienities ofhis domestie situation ; but th^ next opportunity of sending armies without ob- stnietion to the new world, will be better imi>roved. Hayti may serve for a feint, or even perhaps for a genuine, though seeondary object; but Cuba will be occupied and ceded, and some of the feeble conti- nental colonies of Spain will be next reduced. Louisiana will be resumed, and the southern states of the American union, will soon experience the effects of their interior system, when opposed to the hostility of an insidious and unprincipled neighbour. But in these prospects, new perhaps to English eyes, and yet demonstrably of real probability, I am losing sight of my intended limits, and forget- ting that I nuist not delay to give Mr. Randolph's important speech to the public at this very critical Juncture. Witiioiit ther^'fore extending further these views of colonial nsurpalion, I would ask the citizens of America seriously to rrfjeet, that the maritime power of England could alone a\ert from them diiieh evils, if France w er<^ disposed to reali.se them. Would armies be sacrificed in the work? — What (lien! — Did the wuste of human life bf\get remorse at St. Domingo.^ I'he tvrant has besides a horrible interest, in t)ie deathi'ul character ofhis Trans-At- kuiti^ enterprises. 1 f I ilUi XXI Be it renKMnbercd that in the Europoaii coun- tries v\hicii he has subiuguteil, and in those wliieh iie still means to subdue, theie arc myriads of ar- dent spirits v\hom their cojujiieror would be happy to dispose of m distlcs now acted upon in our prize courts, " our planters, and AVcst Indin-merchants Avill " soon again be driven by an o{)pressive com- " petition, from all the foreign markets of Europe. " The ruin of our East-India company too, will *^ be advanced with an accelerated progress. *' After all, to what vvouM I persuade you? to " quarrel with America? By no means. But to " treat with her more deliberately ; to treat with her " on her own soil, at the seat of her government, " and in the bosom of her citizens j to treat with "^ iier, after the jiopular effervescence excited by " self-interested men has had time to subside, and " the voice of reason and justice has been delibe- " rately heard ; to treat with her, after she has " been iully instructed in the recent measures of " Prussia and Fi'ancc, and in the svstcm now con- '' certed for our ruin. " The contrary course of a precipitate submls- " siou '.o the demands of Mr. Jefferson and his " minister, ^v(^uld no doubt be more palatable to *' them, and to the party to which they belong. " Bui though I fel high personal consideration '^' and i'f>.jjeet for those gentlemen, they are not " })recisely the [)ersons with whom a British minis- " tor would wish lo avernment, treat with Dxcited by ibside, and ?cn delibe- n* she has leasures of I now con- te submis- )n and his alatable to cv l)elon;]^. iisidcration ;y arc not itish ininis- urtant con- I f i» XXIX *' troversy. I may be mistaken in their public '• views, for I profess no great acquaintance with the « interior politics of America i but it is certain that ** they are regarded in that country, as partial to the " cause of France, and consequently not partial to " England. " The Congress of the United States, alone can " declare war, or alter the pacific relations of that " country. There can consequently be no danger of « being involved uia war by delay, before a British " minister can be sent across the Atlantic, The " American embassador can have no manifesto in -' his pocket. The advantage therefore of treating " under the eye and ear of a Congress, and of '' a people, among ^^ bom a very considerable mi- '- nority, at least, arc disposed to moderation and " peace, is undeniably great. *' The onlv o]>jeetion I can imagine possibly to *' arise against this expedient, is, from the passing '-' of the limited non-importation bill, the fate of " wliieh is }xt unknown, and which is represented '* as coTitaining a clause making its operation de- " pend t itiicr on the fiai ol" the executive govern- *' ment, or on that of its minister in this country; •' or as other accouins intimate, on the bare event of *'' our refusing immediate compliance with the de- '• mauds of t!i(^ American govcrmnent. *' Now such a bill cither lias, or has not, been '' passed by the Congress. *' In the Iatt{;r case, the ditrieull) will not arise, but m the ionncr, I hesitate' not to say, that it I' XXX ■ m ' iii' i;i^^ |'>R 'UH :1;M!I ijiw ■II ! I*; ■; W y it n n ;i H ^ i>> S^ Mil " makes your compliance, consistently with any '* regard to tlic dignity and honour of this great " nation, absohitely impossible. " What ! is a rod to be put into the hands of a " foreign minister, to whip us into submission j " and arc we broadly and coarsely to sell our ma- " ritime rights, for the sake of passing off a little " haberdashery along with them ! ! ! " Are wo to make a lumping pennyworth to the " buyers of our leather wares, our felt and tin " wares, and the other commodities enumerated in " this insolent bill, by tossing our honour, our "justice, and our courage also, into the parcel ! ! ! I " would not consent to disparage even the quality " of our manufactures, much less of our public *' morals, by so shameful a bargain, " No sir! if Mr. Munro is indeed instructed " and empowered to treat with us in this humiliat- *' ing style of huckstering diplomacy, a new reason " arises for delay, and for treating beyond the At- " lantic. " Let the threatened prohibition take place. Our " hats our shoes and our tcaktttles mustfnid some *' other market for a f( w months; unless the Ame- *' rican merchants should be impatient enough, to " import tlicm by smuggling into that country in " the mean time; which I doubt not tiiey will, in a *' more than usual al)uiidanc(?. Perhaps when our " minister arrives, the advanced price of English " goods, and the lo'is of the duties upon them, may *' form an argument of some weight in our favour. 1 XXXI But I must have clone; lest by reasoning too anxiously, I should reason too late. — " Pause then, *' sir"(stiliio address an imagined, andj hope, non- existent character), " pause I conjure you, on this " avvlui occasion. Contend at ieasl a little longer, *' ibr our colonies, for our navy, for our belligerent *' power, for our consisitency, for our dignity and *' oiu* honour." POSTSCRIPT. ':.'il l'' 1^ ■^% 3d, 1806. THE newspapers of this morning and those of yesterday, wliich I had not time to read till the above Introduction went to press, suggest a new reason for our not precipitately abandoning the important piinciple of the rule of the war, 1 756, which as the delay of the press has aflbrded time for it, I will take the opportunity of adding. Ihiit grand sacrifice, if we are really boldenouo-h to hazard the consequences of making it on any terms, should at least be the subject of treaty and re- ciprocal compact, both with America and Denmark : --and one concession which both those powers would most willingly make, is the allowing us to intercept and condemn vessels under their colours, employed ■"^iT XXX 11 'II-. l! ' Ti m vji in supp'yiiic; tlic Frnirli and Sjinnish colonics witli slaves J a trado whicli tlity liavo proliiluted by their own nnniitipal laws, but which without our aid, they cannot cfroctually prevent tlio contral)and prosecution of, even by their own subjects ; much less by foreigiv^rs who assume their tlags for the purpose. The ruinous ellects v[ this eunmierce to our colonies, not only through tin rapid extension of agriculture which it promotes in the i>lan(I.s of their powerful rivals, but in the consequent ad- vance of the price of slaves, both in Africa and the "West Indies, have at ieni^th been distiuLiuished through those dark elouils of error and prejudice, with which the storm of slave-trade controversy has long covered our West-India interests. The last administration put a stoj) to tlu^ iatal competition in the conquered colonies; and the present eal)i- net having adoptetl the same salutary pririeiple, a Bill I hud has vestcrdav passed the Mo us(; of Commons, ibr ])rohibiling the foreign slave-trade [^nerally to his Majesty's subjects— The Bill has also, as an oi>\ious ,mt\ necessiuy ap[>lication of tlie same priuf ipje, precluded tlu^ fitting out of fo- reign slave >\i\\)s li(»iii our })orls; ^\hith to Itc sure, another priiu iple, long since uuivcrsally adiuittcMl, ihat of t lie .Live eanving acts, ought iu nioru con- sistoncy, to have led us to prohibit long ii^o. vd': % XXXUl This wise and necessary measure, officially intro- duced by his Majesty's Attorney General, will no doubt .speedily pass into a law, for it cannot be doubted that the present able and powerful ad- ministration have influence enough in Parliament to give effect to a measure of national policy which they have adopted ; or that a Bill recommended by such weighty and obvious considerations of national interest will receive from the wisdom of the Lords, the same general approbation that it met with from the Commons. In the Lower House, its advocates were, not Mr. AVilberforce, or Mr. Henry Thornton, though they no doubt silently approved ; but Sir William Young, and every other West India gentleman who delivered his sentiments, with the single exception, I think, of Mr. Rose. Assuming then, that this Bill will soon become an Act of Parliament, it now becomes consistent and decorous in us, as well as prudent and neces- sary, to treat with the neutral powers, for obtaining at least the allowance of so much of our maritime rights as may give effect to their own prohibitory laws in regard to this traffic ; and thus effectually to prevent the supply of the hostile colonies with slaves during the war. If our untortunate planters must encounter a ruinous competition in the foreign markets of Eu- rope through an unbounded indulgence to neutrals, at least let us obtain in their favour, what neutral states are willing to relinquish, and relieve tlicin '^f XXXIV 'lt(|l|;; M ' m' i.ii'" I' I 'I .i 'i I 'i from a competition in the slave markets of Africii and the West Indies, by which the price of ne- groes is enormously advanced, and the supply of foreign sugar rapidly encreased. I am aware that Mr. Rose's opposition to the Bill now depending may seem a dissent from these views ; but that gentleman made a generous sa- crifice of his own self-interested feelings as a Britisli planter for the sake of a large national in- terest, which he very erroneously supposed to de- pend on the slave trade to the colonies of Spain ; as may be seen in an account of his speech on Thursday last, and of a conversation which took place last niglit between him, Mr. Francis, and Mr. Wilberforce, respecting a slave-trade alleged by Mr. Rose to be now carried on through our free ports in the West Indiei>, to those colonies. Sir William Young shewed by authentic docu- ments, that if any such trade exists it must be of a narrow extent j but the truth is, that it cannot Itgallij exist, at all, either by the law of Spain, or by the law of war, as obligatory on all his Alajcsty's subjects. Mr. Rose overlooking this fact, suppc^rd, in re- ply to Sir William Young, that though tfie export of slaves from our free ports to Spanish colonics might be very small, yet it was a necessary cover to obtain admission for the ships employed in the free- port trade by the laws of those colonies into the Spanish ports; and that under pretence of bringin;^ a few slaves they smuggle in our manufactures to I i I i XXXV 1 m a large amount j he feared therefore a great shock to our existing commerce by a suppression of the foreign slave-trade; but if this gentleman's lan- guage is accurately reported, he proceeded on no- tions of the free-port trade which arc radically erro- neous both in point of fact and of law. It is true, that during the last war, for a period of about four months, and in consequence of an oversight in drawing up a royal instruction, slaves were enumerated among the articles which *'.«. instruction authorized his Majesty's subjects, or Spaniards, to export by special licence from our free ports, notwithstanding the existing hostilities. But the moment this error was noticed, Mr. Pitt explained it in the Mouse of Commons, to have proceeded from inadvertency alone, occasioned by the copying the catalogue of exportable articles from the free port acts, as in force during peace :, and he indignantly disclaimed the idea of its having been intended to relax the law of war for the purpose of extending the slave trade. The in- struction, which bore date November 27, 1797, was instantly revoked, and a new one^ dated March 28, 1798, issued, which omitted slaves in its enumeration. From that time to the present, the exportation of slaves during war, from our free ports to the colonies of our enemies, has been wholly illegal ; and would have subjected the ship and cargo engaged in it to confiscation in the prize court. Prior to the present hostilities with Spain, a pro- XXXVI , iV III I' ' !! ..iiil m m ;p5'i spective instruction was issued, empowering the governors of the free ports, in the ev«nt of a war with that power, to grant licences in the same form as in ihe former war. But surely no man will construe this as referring to a rule that existed by mistake for four months, instead of that corrected rule, which was in force during all the rest of the period referred to. Had any such stran?e construction been put upon it in the V/est Indies, and that fact had come to the official knowledge of the Right Honourable Gentleman, who is now, very erroneously perhaps, sta<-ed to have affirmed in J'arliament the existence of a iVQe port slave trade with our eneaiies, he would no doubt immediately, as a point of private as well as public duty, have reported it to the late minister ; for Mr. Rose was vice-president of the committee of the Privy Council, usually called the Board of Trade, from the beginning, J think, of the present war with Spain, to the end of Mr. Pitt's administration. He would therefore unques- tionably, by some means, have guarded his illus- trious friend's feelings, and his rej)utation, from the possible charge of '"aving connived at a trade in the present war, which he had so publicly repu- diated during the last. It is no disparagement to Mr. Pitt's memory, to suppose that he knew as little of the trade of Nevr Providence, as of that of Tombuctoo. He natu- rally relied on his right honourable friends at the Board of Trade and Plantations, for watching over ■I m XXXVll those remote commercial interests ; and therefore had Mr. Rose known of any such trade as that in question, it would have been his immediate duty to report it to the minister, or rather officially to propose what I apprehend it was in his own immediate department to originate, a new royal instruction for its suppression. I verily believe, however, that no such trade has existed j and therefore Mr. Rose's language in last night's debate is probably misreported. The unavoidable inaccuracy in hasty news- paper reports of parliamertary speeches, must have led to other mistakes, as to the assertions of the same respectable gentleman ; for Mr. Rose is re- ported to have represented the ave.ige value of a cargo of British manufactures sent in these frej; port slave ships, as being about jCdOfiCK) sterling, whereas, by the slave-carrying acts, sloops, schoo- ners, and other small vessels, not having more than one deck, can alone be employed in the foreign trade of the free ports. (See the consolidating free port act of 45 Geo. III. cap. 57, brought in, I believe, under Mr. Rose's own auspices.) But lest unin- formed readers should suppose that such vessels really carry cargoes in general of ^50,000 value, J take on me to assert, and might appeal to all the noble and right honourable persons who have presided in prize r^iuses at the Cockpit, within eight or ten years past, to support the assertion, that a tenth part of the above sum would be an excessive estimate, supposing that an average of I u%'^, ■ : «l h XXXVll! the whole may be fairly taken from the many vessels and cargoes of this description that have been the subjects of appeal. But the most important error ascribed by the newspapers to this very intelligent gentleman, is the notion that our manufactures cannot lawfully be introduced from these ports into the Spanish colonies, zvitkout being accompanied by slaves, and that under the cover of carrying slaves they may be, and are, imported there. Here let me quote part of this probably erroneous report, as given in the Morning Chronicle, lest a well-informed reader should suppose the strange inaccuracy my own. '* Mr. Francis then said, " that we had this fact, that a cargo of the value " of jf 50,000, might be sold in these colonies, " under the cover of seven slaves y and that it could " jiot be sold, ivithout this cover. — Mr. Rose, / do " assert that fact.* Now in opposition to this supposed asser- tion, i will undertake to prove, that the inter- course between our free ports and the Spanish co- ionies is wholly prohibited by the laws of those colonies ; and that neither seven, nor seven hun- dred slaves, would exempt any vessel engaged in it from seizure and confiscation, if detected in a Spanish port, or by a Spani-.h Guarda Costa j in short, that the whole exisfing commerce befweeti our free ports and the Spanish West Indies ^ is contraband by the Spanish laiv. Here again 1 can confidently refer to the Lords ^1^ '-^^W ^ XXXIX Commissioners of Prize Appeals. The fact has re- peatedly appeared before tliem 5 and I turn only to one of many cases that might be cited, for the following extract in proof of it. Case of the Nostra Seignora del Rosario, J. P. Sanchez, Master, heard at the Cockpit, in 1802. This was a licensed Spanish vessel, which had carried goods from New Providence to the Ila- vannah, and on her return was seized, because the term f licence had expired, and prosecuted in the vice Admiralty Court of the Bahamas. The excuse set up was that of a long detention on the coast of the Spanish colony, in consequence of the illicit nature of the ti'ade, and the necessity of concealmetit i and the following passage is extracted from the affidavit of the claimant, a merchant of New Providence : " That the said Brigantine was detained some time in the port of Havannah by an embargo, and bjj other unavoidable causes, in a voyage, :vh -h renuij^es to be concealed from the Spanish govi ^:h-'-ii was prevented from com- pleting the said ( yaje in sixty days." Is it supposed that a British merchant would untruly represent on his oath a public fact, the truth or falsehood of which must be notorious on the spot ? — At least, the Judge of tne Vice Ad- miralty of New Providence, could not be deceived by such peijur/ ; and yet on this evidence he ac- ijuitted the ve^isel and cargo, and the Lords Com- missioners affirmed his sentence. (C cc « (( !( >■■■■ it, ■ iii.Ci h, it SI xl In other licenced cases, the subjects of appeaF, Spanish vessels have been rescued by our cruisers out of the possession of their own Guarda Costas which had seized them : and so notorious is the il- legality of the trade by the Spanish law, that false papers and destruction of papers, have been con- nived at, in our prize courts, in such cases ; on ac- count of the known necessity of concealment and "jTiisrepresentation in the '^'-.anish ports. But in no one of these cases has the mc question been found on board ; they have carried uritish manufactures, but not a single slave. ** Are slaves then in no instance a key to the " ports of the Spanish colonies r" There was such a case ; but it is so far from supporting the arguments imputed to Mr. Rose, that if the case still exists, it furnishes new ground for the measure I here recommend. The laws of the Spanish colonies have been greatly relaxed in all respects, in consequence of the war, but only in favour of neutral vessels ; and even these, during part at least of the late war, were obliged to bring slaves, in order to entitle them to export the produce of the colony, which they were allowed to do, to the amount of the pro- ceeds of the slaves. It became therefore a prac- tice in neutral, not British or Spanish vessels, to im- port a few slaves ; and by enormously aggravating the proceeds, in fictitious accounts of sales, to ex- port colonial produce to a far greater value, while under cover of this favoured trade, other merchan- ''*? HU xli F appeal, cruisers a Costas is the il- hat false ;en con- i ; on ac- lent and 3ut in no ^en found factures, y to the ere was rting the the case measure re been lence of ?Is; and te war, ) entitle , which the pro- a prac- s, to im- ravating !, to ex- ?, while lerchan- dize was copiously introduced. The necessity, I believe, of such pretexts has ceased. But do the neutral slave traders, or even the agents of British slave traders sailing under fo- rei^Tn colours, assist the importation of British mer- chandize or manufactures into these colonies ? — On the contrary, as far as their slave trade in- creases their general dealings with those colonies, it tavours the introduction only oi foreign European manufactures. The truth is, that slave ships from Africa, bring no manufactures of any kind, but the vessels that carry slaves to the Havannah,and other Spanish ports, when they clear out from the neutral islands, often carry foreign manufactures from thence ; and merchants stationed there as general agents for the Spanish slave merchants, or for our own, also supply the Spanish colonies copiously with the manufactures, not of this country, but of France^ Germany^ and Holland^. The true state of the case therefore, is not onlv dllTerent from, but diametrically opposite to, the representation of it ascribed to Mr. Rose. The slave trade to the Spanish colonics, as far as it is the source or vehicle of other commerce, rivals and supplants, instead of protecting and extend- ing, the trade in British manufactures ; and whe- ther we supply those colonies through our free ports with British goods to the amount of three mil- lions annually, as this gentleman is stated to have * See uote M, in the Appendix to War in Disguise. It "W !H*"T? xlii asserted, or as I rather believe, not with one fourth part of that amount, the trade, such as it is, will be augmented, not diminished, by the cessation of the foreign slave trade. It seems impossible however that Mr. Rose's speech can be rightly reported ; because if slaves were a necessary cover for free port trade, then the free port instructions and licences, became a mere mockery, when slaves were struck out of the enu- meration ; and consequently, Mr. Pitt's explana- tion, and the revocatory instruction itself, would have been an imposition upon Parliament, and the public, of which neither the friends, nor the ene- mies of that great and dignified character, will be- lieve him to have been capable. On the whole therefore there must be more than ordinary inaccuracy and blunder, in the report which has called forth these remarks. The reader perhaps may think that these com- mentaries on the parliamentary discussion have no necessary connection with my main subject ; but the contrary is the case; for if a gentleman, late so high la ct'ice, and the peculiar organ of the Government in matters of colonial com- merce, had really stated such facts, and supported such politico-commercial views in Parliament, at the present critical conjuncture, and if his views should be adopted in the House of Peers, they would raise a difficulty, which in sustaining the bellige- rent rights of ray country, I should find it hard to surmount. r le fourth is, will sation of . Rose's if slaves then the a mere he enu- ^xplana- , would and the :he ene- will be- >re than t which ;e com* lave no ubject i tleman, organ 1 com- )ported t, at the should would Dellige- bard to xliii It was frankly acknowledged in my late pam- phlet, and I again distinctly admit, that Great Bri- tain has no right to prevent neutrals from carrying on any trade with the colonies of her enemies, that she is not willing to forego herself. — If therefore we were actually at this moment supplying the Spanish colonies with slaves through our free ports, and deriving through that supply a commerce worth three millions sterling a year j and if a bill should be rejected on the ground, that this trade is essen- tial to our national welfare, then it is impossible to maintain that neutral nations ought to be re- strained from supplying the colonies of our ene- mies with the same article at least ; and since a large part of the produce of Cuba, has of late years been paid in return for slaves imported, it would be equally impossible to maintain, that such returns may not be brought away and carried to the best markets, in neutral vessels. — In short, if it were a part of our own fixed system, that the hos- tile colonies shall be supplied with slaves by British subjects during the war, I can neither on the ground of regard to our own unfortunate planters, nor of justice to the neutral powers, find any consistent principle on which any part of the rule of the war 1756 worth preserving, ought now to be enforced. Quite irreconcileable with the views ascribed to Mr. Rose, was the reply which I meant to ofl^er to the most specious argument of the American Government, if decision should not preclude the utility of any reply— I cannot regard those feeble ■•^r ■# .:;ir xliv palliatives to which we have been driven by the in- vasion of our maritime rights to have recourse, the relaxations of our own commercial system, as any better defence to the neutrals by whose conduct they were occasioned, than the calling in a surgeon to heal a wound, would be to the wrong doer who inflicted it. But I never for a moment supposed that the licensed trade of our free ports, or any other relaxationof the law ofwar, ought to survive the resumption of our belligerent rights: and I re- garded these innovations on our good old maxims of war, as miserable temporising expedients, which might be brushed away with far more advantage than loss. The views, estimates, and statements now publicly imputed to a late vice-president of our board of trade, would, if real, and if adopted in Parliament, present a very different case; and a construction also imputed to him of a late Act of Parliament, would, if I rightly apprehend that part of the report, be a source of further embarrassment. The American author of the " Examination of the British Doctrine," appeared to me to have made a very unfair use of that Act, (45 Geo. III. cap. 57, sec. 5,) which I regarded, not as meant for operation during hostilities, any further than as his Majesti/s relaxations of the law ofwar might give it special and temporary efficacy ; but if it really has the effect of legalizing an intercourse with the enemy, and con- trolling the general law of war, xvithoiit a special li- cence (which must be the case, if this Act sanctions xlv by the in- ourse, the :m, as any i conduct a surgeon 3oer who supposed s, or any :o survive and I re- i maxims its, which id vantage nts now It of our lopted in 50; and a e Act of that part rassment. nation of ave made cap. 57, Dperation Majesfi/s ecial and effect of and con- jpecial li- anctions a trade, not sanctioned by the free port instructions then the strictures of this writer are fair enough — I must in that case admit it to have been a grand and radical innovation, on our own belligereni: system*. I have felt it necessary therefore in every view to profit by the unforeseen delay of this publication, till Monday next, and to enlarge its bulk, for the sake of entering this protest against the parliamen- tary reports in our newspapers; and cf adding, that if they could be supposed in this instance to be accurate, I should as widely and as firmly pro- test, against the very respectable authority even of Mr. Rose himself * I cannot help thinking this Act very carelessly drawn, as well as badly expounded ; for sec. 9. opens the door to a fraud that may be very injurious to our planters, by the circuitous introduction of French and Spanish sugar and coffee from the free ports into this country through our own sugar colonies, with- out payment of foreign duties. I i"(tCf .1* ,f>h SPEECH OF THE HON. J. RANDOLPH, OA' TJiE i\OX.IMl'OllTATION liEi^OLVTlON OF MR. GREGG. * 1 AM extremely afraid, sir, that so far as it may depend on my acquaintance with details connected with the suhject, I have very little right to address you: for, in truth, I have not yet seen the documents from the Treasury, which were called for some time ago, to direct the judgment of this house in the decision of the question now before you; and indeed, after what 1 have this dav heard, I no lon-rer re- quire that document, or any other document ; indeed, I do not know that I ever should have required it, to vote on the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania. If I had entertained any doubts, they would have been removed by the style in which the friends of the resolution have this morning discussed it. I am perfectly aware, that upon en- tering on this subject, we go into it manacled, liand-cufTed, and tongue-tied. Gentlemen know that our lips are sealed on subjects of momentous foreign rt-lations, which are iii- dissolubly linked with the present (juestion, and wliichwoukl serve to throw a great light on it in every respect relevant to it. I will, however, endeavour to hobble over the subject, as well as my fettered limbs and palsied ton^j-ue will enable me to do it. I am not surprised to hear this resolution discussed by its friends as a war measure. They say, it is true, that it is not a war measure ; but they defend it on principles whicli A If^^p 1 '>'■ ) ,1" .jillfj M\ i ( •;? ) would jutitil'v nniv hut w ar in< asnrcs, and socTn plcusod vitli tlui icloa that it may prove tlic loreniniiLT of war. If ^\ar is necessary; if \vc have rcaclied this point, let us liavc var. But while 1 h^n-e lifr, I will ncvi-r consent to these incipient var measures, which in their conmiencfuicnt brrathe nothinp; but prace, tlioujj,h they plunj^e us at last into war. Tt has been well observed by the irentUunan from Pennsylvania, behind me (Mr. J. Clay), that the situation of this nation in 179:3, was in every respect dilVer..nt from that in which it finds itself in 1806. Ket nie ask, too, if the situation of England is not since materially chani^ed ? Gen- tlemen, who, it would appear from their language, have not got beyond the horn-book of politics, talk of our ability to cope with the British navy, and tell us of the war of our re- volution. What was the situation of Great Britain then? She was then contending for the empire of the British chan- nel, barely able to maintain a doubtful equalit}' with her ene- mies, over whom she never gained thesuperiority until Rod- ney's victory of the 1 2th of April. What is her present si- tuation? Tiie combined fleets of France, Spain, and Hol- land, ave dissipated ; they no longer exist. I am not sur- prised to hear men advocate these wild opinions, to see them goaded on by a spirit of mercantile avarice, straining their feeble sti'cngth to excite tlK-- nation to war, when they have reached this stage of infatuation, that we are an over-match for Great Britain on the ocean. It is mere wahte of time to reason with such persons. "^Ihey do not deserve any thing- like serious refutation. The proper argiuuents for such statesmen are a strait waistcoat, a dark room, water-gruel^ and depiction. It has always appeared to nie that there are three points to be considered, and maturely considered, bel'ore we can be prepared to vote for the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, First. Our ability to contend with Great \'ut:i\n tor ?.!m^ (question in dispute; Sccoyidlij. Tiie policy of :'f 'I tiiJ -gruel » lints to can bu n from Great licv 0$ I I '9 ( 3 ) j\if h a f.nntpst : aiul Thii'dly. In case both these t.]iall he .-*?illpfl affirmatively, tl)e manner in which wu can, with the greatest efTect, rc-act upon and annoy our adversary. Now the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Crownin- shield), has settled at a singh; sweep, to use one of his favo- rite expression?, not only that wc are capable of contending n ith Great Britain on the ocean, but that we are actually her superior. "\\ hence does the gentleman deduce this infer- ence? Because, truly,at that time, when Great Britain wasnot mi.it res of the ocean, when a North was her prime minister, and a Sandwich the first lord of her admiralty; when she was governed bv a couiitiiig-hou^e administration, priva- teers of L!;is countrv trenassed on her commerce. So too did the cv.iscrs of Dunkirk. At. tliat dav Suffrein held the mastery ol tlie Indian seas. But what is the case now ? Do oentlcnuMi remember the capture of Cornwal- lis or d, because De Grasse maintained the dominion of tl: . AW ? To my mind no position is more clear, than that if we ^o to v.ar with Great Britain, Charleston and Bo.iton, the Chesapeake and the Hudson, will be invested by British squadrons. V/ill you call on the count de Grasse to relieve them, or shall W' applv to admiral Gravina, or admiral Villeneuve, tu rai 'Jthebioclcadc? Butyou have not only a prospect of gather' r.g glory, and, what seems to the •gentleman from Massachusetts much dearer, to profit by privateering, but you will be able to make a conquest of Ca- nada and Nova Scotia. Indeed? Then, sir, we shall catch a tartar. I confess, however, I have no desire to see tjje senators and the representatives of the Canadian French, or of the tories and refugees of Nova Scotia, sitting on this floor, or that of the other house — to see them becoming members of the union, and participating equally in our po- litical rights. And on what other principle woulil the gen- tleman from Massachusetts be for incorporating tliose pro- vinces with Ui>? Or Oft "wlut other principle could it be done ( 4 ) ?!»'!*(• ■ ( ■!! ■•ir ■H*' : under the constitution? If the gentleman has no other bounty to offer us for going to war, than the incorporation of Canada and Nova Scotia with the United States, I am for remaining at peace. t^'hai is the question in dispute? The carnjing-trade. What part of it ? The fair, the honest, and the useful trade that is engaged in carrying our oxen productions to foreign markets, and bringf'y^ back their productions in exchange 9 JVo, sir; it is that carrying trade xhich coiers encmy^s pro- perty, and carries the coffee, the sugar, and other West- India products, to the mother country. No, sir ; if this great agricultural nation is to be gnverned by Salem and EostoiJ, New-York and Philadelphia, and Baltimore and Norfolk and Charleston, lot gentlemen come out and say ?o ; and let a con'mittee of public safety be appointed from those towns to carry on the government. I, for one, will ")t mortgage my jjroperty and my liberty to carry on ihii trade. The nation said so seven years ago ; I said so then, and I say so now. Jt is not for the honest carrying'trade of America, but for this mushroom, this fungus of war, for a trade which, as soon as the nations of Europe are at peace, will no longer exist -, it is for tliis that the spirit of ava^ ricious traffic would plunge us into war. I am forcibly struck on this occasion by the recollection of a remark made by one of the ablest, if not honestest, ministers that England ever produced. I mean Sir Robert Walpole, who said that thecountry gentlemen, poor meek soub! came up every year to be sheared; that they laid mute and patient whilst their fleeces were taking off; but that if he touched a single bristle of the commercial interest, the whole stye was in an uproar. It was indeed shearing the hog — *' great cry, and little wool." But we are asked, are we willing to bend the neck to England; to submit to her outrages? No, sir; I answer, that it will be time cnougli for us to tell gentlemen what w«' I ( 5 ) no other rporatiou tcs, I am 'ng-trade. cful trade toj'oreign xcliangc ? niyspro- 'ler IVcst- |- ; if this ulem and iioie and : and say ited from one, -will rv on ihi) 1 so then, hig'trade > of xi'aVy pe are at ^'itof ava-' "ollection lonestest, ir Robert oor meek they laid ; off; but i interest, shearing neck to [ answer, what w. 'Will do to vindicate the violation of our flag on the ocean, when they shall have told us what they have done, in re- sentment of the violation of the actual territory of fb-- Uni- ted States by Spain, the true territory of the United Stat«s, not your new-fangled country over the Mississippi, but the good old United States—part of Georgia, of the old thirteen states, where citizens have been taken, not from our ships, but from our actual territory. When gentlemen liave taken the padlock from our mouths, I shall be ready to tell them what I will do relative to our dispute with Bri- tain, on the law of nations, on contrabandj and such stutll I have another objection to this course of proceedino-.— Great-Britain, when she sees it, will say the Americat^ people have great cause of dissatisfaction with Spain. She ^vil'i see by the documents furnished by the President, that Spain has outraged our territory, pira(td upon our commerce, and imprisoned our citizens j and she will enquire wliat we have done ? It is true, she will receive no answer; but she must know what we have not done. She will see that we have not rejwi'lled tiiese outrages, nor made any addition to our army and navy, nor even classed the militia. No, sir- not one of our militia generals in politics has marshalled a single brigade. Although I have said it would be time enough to answer the question, which gentlemen have put to me, when they shall iiave answered mine; yet, as I do not like teng proro- gations, 1 will give them an answer now. I will never con- sent to go to war for that which I cannot protect, I deem it no sacrihce of dignity to say to the Leviathan of the deep, we are unable to contend with you in your own element but if you come within our actual limits, we will shed our last drop of blood in their defence. In such an event I would feel, not reason ; and obey an impulse Avhich never iuus — which never can deceive me. iraiite is at war witli England: suppose her power oa M: f 6 ) $' '■ ,.: .;::'!«itl ,1,1 .| ttie coiitinrnt of Europe no grparer than it is on thf» ocean How would she make her enemy feel it ? There would be x perfect non-conductor between them. So with the United States and Kngland ; she scarcely presents to tis a vuhier(u bit "point. Her commerce is carried on, for the most part, in Jieets ; •where in single ships, they are stout avd well armed; very dilTerent from the state of her trade during the Ameri-. can war, when her merchantmen became the prej- of paltry privateers. Great-Britain has been too long at war with the three most powerful niiuitime nations of Europe, not to have learnt how to protect her trade. She can afford convoy to it all; she has eight hundred ships in commission: iW navies of iier enemies are annihilated. Thus, this war has pi'esented the new and curious ])oliiical spectacle of a regu- lar annual increase (and to an immense amount) of her im- ports and exports, and tonnage and revenue, and all the insignia of accmnulating wealth, whilst in every former war, without exception, these have suiVered a greater or less diminution. And wherefore' Because she has driven France, Spain and Holland, from the ocean. Their marine is no mor?. I verily i>i.'licve that ton English ships of the line wovdd not decline a meeting with the combined fleets of those nations. 7 fhre~j'ain the gentlnnnn from Massachu- setts, and his consfifueii/s of Snfcv), that all their golden hopes arc vain. J fviCuiWU them of the erposure of their trade beyond the Cape of Good-Hope (or noxii douhling it) to capture and ccvjiscation; of their unprotected sea-port towns, exposed to contrihuti'm or hovthardmcnf. Are we to be legishited into a war by a set of men, who in six weeks after its commencement may be compelled to take refuge vith us in the comitr r And for what '^ a nirr'^ fiinQ,u?- — a mr.sln'oom prodtic- tion of war in Fmopi-, which will di^-ippear with the first return of peace — an unfair truce. For 7\- there a man yo credulous us to belicct thai vc possess a capital. 7icf ov.hj ■w-.^ ill ( T ) >rod". te- lle fiv.^t yuan sn 'Of OVj!l equal to what nnii/ be called our oxvn proper trade, hut large enotigh also to transmit to the respective parent .states, the vast and wealthy products of the French, Span- ish, and Dutch commies? ^Tis bej/ond the belief of amj ra- tional being. Kul tliis is not my only objection to entering upon this naval warfare. I am averse to a naval war n-ith ;iny nation whatever. I Avas opposed to the naval war of the last afiniinistration, and 1 am as ready to oppose a na- val war ot" tlie pre^^LMit administration, should they meditate '.uicli a measure. \V'hat! shall this oreat manmioth of the American forest leave l»is nativo element, and plunge into tlie water in a mad contest with the shark ? Let him be- ware that his proboscis is not bitten oti' in the engagement. Let him stay on shore, and not be excited by the muscles and perriwinkles on the stnmd, or political bears, in a boat to venture on the perils of the deep. Gentlemen say, will you not protect your violated rights ? and I say, why take to water, where you can neither fight nor swim' Look at I- ranee ; see Uer vessels stealing from port to port, on her own coast ; and remember that she is the first military power of the earth, and as a nav;il people, second only to England. Take uxcay the Briiis/i na\tj, and France to- morrow is the tyrant ot' the ocean. This brings me to the second point. Ilotc far is it poli^ tic in the Cnittd States to thro:v tlwir -u-eig!it into the -cale of France at this moment ^■— from ichatevcr motive to aid the i-ieus of her giga)itic ambition — to make her mistress of the sea and land — to jeopardise the liberties t^t mankind. Sir, you may help to crush Great- Britain— you may assist in breaking do-in her naval dominion, but you cannot succeed to it. 7 he iro7i sceptre of the ocean :.'i!l pass into his hands "uho "wears the iron eroxrn of the. land. I'ou may then expect a new code of marifime lay.-. Where ZiU'll you look for redress? I can tell tlie gentle- man from Mu'^-jachu-^etti:. that there is notljinu in hh Kule r ■ I ■ ( 8 ) ef Three that will save us, even although he should out-da himself, and exceed the financial ingenuity which he so me- morably displayed on a recent occasion. No, sir ; let tlie battle of Actium be once fought, and the whole line of sea-coast will be at the mercy of the conqueror. The At- lantic, deep and wide as it is, will prove just as good a bar- rier against his ambition, if directed against you, as the Mediterranean to the power of the Cajsars. Do I mean, when J say so, to crouch to the invader r No, I will meet him at the water's edge, and light every inch of ground from thence to the mountuins, from tho mountains to the Mississippi, But after tamely submitting to an outrage on your domicile, will you bully and look big at an insult on your flag three thousand miles off? But, sir, I have yet a more cogent reason against going to war for the honour of the flag in the narrow SL-as, or any other maruime punctilio. It springs from my attachment to the principles of the govenmient under which I live. I declare, in the face of day, that this government was not instituted for the purposes of oft'ensive war. No; it was framed, to use its own language, /<»• the common defence and the general welfare, which are inconsistent with oflfen- give war. I call that offensive war, which goes out of our jurisdiction and limits, for the attaiiunent or protoction of objects, not within those limits, and that iurisdn tion. As, in 1798, 1 wa,s op|)o>ed to this species of warfare, because I believed it would ra2e the eonstitiition to the very foun- dation ; so, in 1806, am I opposed to it, and on the same grounds. No sooner do yuu put the constitution to this use — to a test which it is by no means calculated to endure, ♦han its incompetency to such purposes becomes manifest and apparent to all. I fear, if you go into a foreign war for a circuitous unfair carrying-trade, you will come out with- out your constitution. Have you not contractors enough in this house ? Or do you want to be overrun and devour^ ( 9 ) aid out-do I he so me- ), sir ; let ole line of The At- rood a bar- ou, as the I mean, will meet of frround iias to the outrage on n insult on linst going seas, or any attachment hich I live, cnt Avas not No; it was )io}i. defence with offen- s out of our •otection of ction. As, jre, because ! very foun- :)n the same tion to this 1 to endure, les manifest eis:n war for ne out with- :ors enough and devour>- ed by commissaries, and all the vermin of contract ? I fear, sir, that what are called the energy-men will rise up again— men who will burn the parchment. We shall be told that our government is too free ; or, as they would say, weak and inefficient. Much virtue, sir, in terms. That we must give the President power to call forth the resources of the nation ; that is, to filch the last shilling from our pockets — to drain the last drop of blood from our veins. I am against giving this power to any man, be he who he may. The American people must either with- hold this power, or resign their liberties. There is no other alternative. Nothing but the most imperious necessity will justify sucli a grant. And is there a powerful enemy at our doors ? You may begin with a first constil ; from that chrysalis state he soon becomes an emperor. You have your choice. It depends upon your election, whether you will be a free, happy, and united people at home, or the light of your executive majesty shall beam across the Atlantic, in one general blaze of the public liberty. For my part, I never will go to war but in self-defence. I have no desire for conquests — no ambition to possess No- va Scotia — I hold the liberties of this people at a higher rate. Much more am I indisposed to war, when among the first means for carrying it on, I see gentlemen propose the con- fiscation of debts due by government to individuals. Does a bond fide creditor know who holds his paper ? Dare any honest man ask himself the question ? 'Tis hard to say whc« ther such principles are more detestably dishonest, than they are weak and foolish. What, sir, will you go about with proposals tV)r opening a loan in one hand, and a sponge for the national d^bt in the other ? If, on a late occasion, you could not borrow at a less rate of interest than eight per cent, when the government avowed that they would pay to the last shilling of the public ability, at what prioe do you expect to raise money with an avowal of these ntfanous opinions?— B :\ i: : I ''i%\ .■i ■■] ( 10 ) God help you ! if these aro your ways and means for carrv- in«T on war — if vour finances are in the Iiantls of such a cliaiv cellor of the exchequer. Because a man can take an obser- vation, and keep a !o(T-hook and a reckoning; can navigate a cock-boat to the West Indies, or the East; shall he aspire to navigate the great vessel of statc-^to stand at the helm of public councils? Nestttor ultra irepidam. Whatareyou go- ing to war for ? For the carrying trade. Already you pos- sess seven-eighths of it. What is the object in dispute r Th« fair, honest tradej that exchanges the produce of our soil for foreign articles for home consumption ? Not at all. Vmi arc called upon to sacrifice this necessary branch of your navigatiouy and the great agricultural interest^ whose handmaid it is, to jeopardize i/our best interests, for a cir" cuitous commerce, for the fraudulent protection of belligerent proper f J/ under your neutral flag. Jl' ill you be goaded by the dreaming calculations of insatiate avarice, to stake your all for the protection of this trade ? I do not speak of the proba - ble effects of war on the price of our produce ; severely as we inust feel, we may scuffle through it. 1 speak of its reaction on the constitution. You may go to war for this excrescence of the carrying-trade — and make pence at the expense of the con*;titution. Ycur executive will lord it over yon, and you must make the best terms with the conqueror that you can. But the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gregg) tellsyou, that he is for acting in this, as in all things, uninfluenced by the opinion of any foreign minister whatever— foreign, or, I presume, domestic. On this head I am willing to meet the gentleman, am luiwilling to be dictated to by any minister at home or abv, ad. Is he willing to act on the same indepen- dent footing ? I have before protested, and I again protest, against secret, irresponsible, overruling inlhience. The first question I asked when I saw the gentleman's resolution v.as, " Is this a measure of the cabiiu'tr" Not an open de- clared cabiuetj but an invisible, inscrutable, unconstitutional ±1 Hi. • carry- a c}iaiv 1 obser- avigate ?. aspire helm of you go- ou pos- iit Tii*i our soil ;all. 'anch of ', Ti'hose or a c/r- Uisercnt )adcd by ike your e proba - ^lyaswc •cactioii •cscence seof tiu'. and you ou can. ellsyou, need by rn, 01", I lect the iiiinister jdepcti- rotest, The olutioii pen de- utional ( H ) cabinet — without responsibility, unknown to the constitu- tion. I spejik of back-stairs influence, of men who bring messages to this house, which, although they do not appear on the journals, govern its decisions. Sir, the first question that I asked on the sui))ect of British relations was, what was the opinion of the cabinet? What measiues will they recom- mend to Congress? (well knowing that whatever measures we miglit take, they must execute them, and therefore that we should have their opinion on the subject. )- — My answer was (and from a cabinet minister too), " There is no longet any cabinet^ Subsequent circumstances, sir, have given me a personal knowledge of the fact. It needs no commen- tary. But the gentleman has told you that we ought to go to •war, if for nothing else, for the fur trade. Now, sir, the people on whose support he seems to calculate follow, let me tell him, a better business; and let me add, that whilst men are happy at home reaping their own fields, the fruits of their labor and industry, there is little danger of their be» tng induced to go sixteen or seventeen hundred miles in pur- suit of beavers, racoons or opossums — much less of go- iiiL^towar forthe privilege. They are better employed where they are. This trade, sir, may be important to Britain, to nations who have exhausted every resoiu'ce of industry at home — bowed down by taxation and wretchedness. Let tiicm, in God's name, if they please, follow the fur trade. Tiiey may, for me, catcli every beaver in Nurth America. Yes, sir, our people have a better occupation — a'-afe, pro- litable, honorable employment. Whilst they should be en- gaged in distant regions in hunting the beaver, they dread, lest those whose natural prey they are, should begin to hunt them — should pillage their property, and assassinate their ioustitutiou. Instead of these wild schemes, pay olV your public debt, instead of prating about its conliscatinn. Do iipt, I boset'chyou, expose at once your knavt;iy and your 91 o\ver, to vhom, at this mnnicnt, you are crouching. Are your ditTerences indeed with .Spain? And whore are you going to send your political panacea (resolutions and handbills excepted), your sole arcanum of government — your king- cure-all r — To Madrid ? No — you are not such quacks as jn)t to know where the shoe pinches — to Pai'is. — You kuov/ at least where the disease lies, and there apply your remedy. \\'hen the uution anxiously demands the result : i ( 15 ) of voiir delibcr; rations, you hang your heads, and Musli to tell, y on arc (If raid to IvlL Your mouth is hermetically sealed. Your iionour has received a wound which must not take air. Gentlemen dare not come forward and avow their work, much less defend it ii the pu-sence of the na- tion. Give them all they ask, that Spain exists, and what then? AJter shrinking from the Spanish Juckall, do you presume to bully the British lion ? But here it comes out. Britain is your rival in trade, and governed, as you are, by counting-house politicians: you would sacrifice the paramount interests of your country, to wound that rival. For ^pain and France you are carriers— and from cus- tomers every indignity is to be endured. And what is the nature of this trade ? Is it that carrj/ing-tradc which sends abroad the fiour, tobacco, cotton, beef, pork, fish, and lum^ ber of this country, and brings back in return foreign arti- lies mressari/for our existence or comfort ? No, sir, 'tis a trade carried 07i, the Lord knows where or by whom :~^ now doubling Cape Horn, now the Cape of Good Hope I do not say that the^-e is no profit in it~for it would not then be pursued-but 'tis a trade that tends to assimilate our manners and government to those of the most cor- rupt countries of Europe. Yes, sir; and when a qucstioj ot great national magnitude presents itself to you, causes those who now prate about national honour and spirit to pocket any insult~to consider it as a mere matter of debt and credit, a business of profit and loss-and notluncr else. ^ 'I-he first thing that struck my mind when this resolu- tion was laid on the table was, vndc derivatur? a ques- tion always put to us at school— whence comes it? fs tins only the putative father of the bantling he is ta.sed to maintain, or indeed the actual parent, the real proce nitor of the child ? or is it the production of the cabi, ri«t ' But 1 knew you had no cabinet j no system. I had ' fill I I •) Mi ( t ';:„_, < w i€=^ h .. '■■■# ■I . ^li • ■'I., f ■I i' ( lo ) seen disp.itchcs, relating to vital measures, laid befofe you> the day after yuur final decision on those measures^ four weeks after they were received ; not only tlieir con- tents, but tlieir very existence, all that time, unsuspected and unknown to men, whom the people fondly believe, assist, with their wisdom and experience, at every impor- tant deliberation. Do you believe that this system, or ra- ther, this 7:0 si/stetHj will do? I am free to answer it will not. It cannot last. I am not so afraid of the fair, open, con- stitutional, responsible influence of government ; but I shrink intuitively from this left-handed, invisible, irre- sponsible inlluence, which defies the touch, but pervades and decides every thing. Let the executive come for- ward 10 die K'gislature ; let us see whilst we feel it. If wc oannot rely on its wisdom, is it any disparagement to the gentleman from Pennsylvania to say that I cannot rely upon him r Xu, sir, he has mistaken his talent. He is not the Palinurus on whose skill the nation, at this trying mo- ment, can repose their confidence. I will have nothing to do with his paper ; much less will I indorse It, and mak» myself responsible for its goodness. I will not put my name to it. I assert, that there is no cabinet, no system, no plan. That which I believe in one place, I shall never hesitate to say in another. This is no time, no place for mincing our steps. The people have a right to know ; they shall know the state of their affairs — at least, as far as I am at liberty to communicate them. I speak from personal knowledge. Ten days ago, there had been no consultation ; there existed no opinion in your executive department ; at least, none that was avowed. On the contrary, there was an express disavowal of any opinion whatsoever, on the great subject before you : and I have good reason for saying, that none has been formed since. Some time ago a book was laid on our tables, which, like some other bantlings, did not bear the uuine of its father. ^ id befofe measures, tlieir con- )suspccted y believe, ry impor- eni, or ra- wer it will open,con- nt; but I sible, irre- it pervades come for- 1 it. If wc lent to the annot rely He is not trying mo- : nothing to ;, and make lot put my no system, shall never 10 place for It to know ; least, as far speak from lad been no ir executive J. On the my opinion and I have rmed since, which, like >f its father. ( 1' ) Here I wss taught to expect a solution of all doubts; an end to all our difficulties. If, sir, I were the foe, as I trust I am the friend, to this nation, I would exclaim, " Oh! •' that mine enemy would write a book." At the very outset, in the very first page, I believe, there is a complete abandonment of the principle in dispute. Has any gentle- luau got the work? fit uvrj- handed by one of the lueinbtrs.) 'Ihe tii-st position taken, is the broad principle of the un- limited freedom of trade, between nations at peace, which the writer ende-ivours to extend to the trade between a neutral and :i belligerent power; accompanied, however by this acknowledgment: " But, inasmuch as the trade of a neutral with a belligerent nation might, in certain spe- cial cases, cfft'ct the icifdy of its aniagcfiisty usage^ founded on the principle of necessity, has admitted a few excep- tions to the general rule." "Whence comes the doctrine of contraband, blockade, and enemy's property? Now, ?ir, fur what does tl'.at celebrated pamphlet, " War in Dis- guise," which is said to have been written under the eye of the British prime minister, contend, but this " prin- ciple of necessity." And this is abandoned by this pamphleteer, at the very threshold of the discussion. But as if this were not enough, he goes on to assign as a rea- son for not referring to the authority of the ancients, that " the great change which has taken place In the state of manners, In the maxims of war, and in the course of com- tnercey make It pretty certain" — (what degree of certainty is this?) " that either nothing will be found relating to the question, or nothing sufficiently opllicable to deserve attin' tion in deciding it." Here, sir, is an apology of the writer for not disclosing the whole extent of his learning (which might have overwhelmed the reader^, in the admission, that a change of circumstances (" In the course of commerce") has made, and, therefore, will now justify, a total change of the law of nations. What more could the most invett- c m % ( 1.^ ) rate advocate of Englls1\ usurpation demand? What els* can tliey require to establish all, and even more than they contend for ? Sir, there is a class of men (we know them very well), who, if you only permit them to lay the founda- tion, \YJll build you up, step by step, and brick by brick, very nertt and shewy, if not tenable arguments. To detect them, 'tis only necessary to vatth their premises, where you will often find the point at issue totally surrendered, a<: in thii case it is. Again : is the mare liberum any where asserted in this book — {\ri\. free ships make frie goods? — No, sirj the right of search is acknowledged; that ene- my's property is lawful prize, is sealed, and delivered. And after abandoning these principles, what becomes of the doctrine, that a mere shifting of the goods from one «.hip to aiiotlier, the tniuhing at another port, changes the property ? Sir, give up this principle, and there is an end to the question. You He at the mercy of the conscience cf a court of admiralty. Is Spanish svgar^ or French coffee^ made American pnperty by the mere change of the cargOf or even by the landing and payment of the du- ties P Does this cpcraticn tffcct a change of property T And when these duties are drawn back, and the sugars and c'ffce re-e.\portedy are they not, as enemfs property, liable to seizure, upon the principles of the " examination of the British doctrine," &c. And is there net the he^i reason to believe, that this operation is performed in many, if not in most^ cases, to give a neutral aspect and colour to the mn'chandize ? I am prepared, sir, to be represented as willing to sur- render importar: rights of this nation to a foreign go- \eriunent. I hive been told that this sentiment is alreadr whispeveJ in tlie dark, by time-servers and sycophant? ; but if yoiw 'Jork dared to print them, I would appeal ti your journals!— I would call for the readliig of them; I'Ut that I l;nou- they arc not for profane eye> to look upcii. T t ■ ■■■v, What els« than they now them lie founda- by brick, To detect scs, where rrendcred, any where ? goods? — that ene- delivered, ecomes of from one lianges the is an end conscience or French change of of the du- property r* the sugars { property, lamination net the he^i I in tnariy, 'dour to the ng to sur- oreign go- t is already ycophanr? ; , appeal t-i of them ; look upciu f . ( 19 ) I confess that I am more ready to surrender to a naval power a square league of ocean, than to a territorial one a square inch of land, within our limits; and I am ready to meet the friends of the resolution, on this ground, at any time. Let them take off the injunction of secresy.-— They dare not. — They are ashamed and afraid to do it* They may give winks and nods, and pretend to be wise, but they dare not come out, and tell the nation what tliey have done. Gentlemen may take notes, if they please j but I will never, from any motives short of ielf-defence, enter upon war. I will never be instrumental to the arable tious schemes of Bonaparte; nor put into his hands what will enable him to wield the world •, and on the very prlucipie that I wished success to the French arms, in 1T&3. And wherefore ? Because the case is changed. Great-Britain can never again see the year iToO. Her continental influ- ence is gone for ever. Let who will be uppermost on the continent of Europe, she must lind more than a counter- poise for her strength. Her race is run. She can only be formidable as a maritiuie power : and even as such, per- haps, not long. Are you going to justify the acts of the last administration, for which they have been deprived of the government, at our instance ? Are you going back to the ground of 1798-9.? I ask of any man who now advocates a rupture with Eng- land, to assign a single reason for his opinion, that would not have justified a French war In iTyS. If injury and insult abroad would have justified it, we had them in abun- dance then. But what did the republicans say at that day ? That, under the cover of a war with Francv, the execu- tive would be armed with a patronage and power which might enable it to master our liberties. I'hey deprecated foreign v/ar and navies, and standing armies, and loan;j, and taxes. The delirium passed away ; — the good sense «f the people triumphed j — and our diiSercnces were ac» ■^-! ':% f.:' i ,' '%■ f' % 20 ) commodated without a war. And •nhat is there in the si- tuation of England that invites to war with her ? 'Tis true she does not deal so largely in perfectibility, but she supplies you with a much more useful commodity — with coarse woollens. With less professions indeed, she oc- cupies the place of France in 1793. She is the sole bul- wark of the human race against universal dominion — No thanks to her for it. In pi-otecting her own existence, she insures theirs. I care not who stands in this situa- tion, whether England or Bonaparte— I practise the doc- trines now, that I professed in 1798. Gentlemen may hunt up the journals if they please— I voted against all such projects under rhe administration of John Adams, and I will continue to do so under that of Thomas Jeffer- son. Are yon not contented with being free and happy at home? Or v,-;il you -.urrendcr these blessings, that your merchants may tread on Turkish and Persian carpets, and burn the pe.fumes of the east in their vaulted rooms. Gentlemen say, 'tis but an annual million lost, and even if it were five timcj that amount, what is it compared with your neutral rights ?— Sir, let me tell them a hundred n/.l- lions will be but a drop in the bucket, if once they launch without rudder or compass, into this ocean of foreign war- fare. Whom do they Avant to attack — England. They hope it is a popular thing — and talk about Bunker's Jiill, and the gallant feats of our revolution. But is Bunker's Hill to he the theatre of war: No, sir, you have selected the ocean — and the object ol at-ark is that very navy which prevented the combined ilecrs of France and Spain from levying contrihutic.u upon you in your own seas — that very navy which, in the famous war of 1798, stood between yim and danger. Whilst the fleets of the enemy were pent up in Toulon, or pinioned in Brest, we performed wonder?, to be sure ; but, sir, if England had drawn off, France would have told you quite a different tale. You would have struck no medals. If ♦ < ( 21 ) in the si- ler? Tis > but she ity — with she oc- sole bul- lion — No 'xistence, lis sitna- the doc- len may ;:nnst all Adams, as Jeffer- d happv -ist your ets, and rooms. nd even ■ed with red n.;i- ' launch ^n war- They r's Hill, er's Hill ted the ' which in from »at very ecu vuu lion, or p; but, 3ld you medals. 1' This Is not tlie sort of conflict that you are to count upon, If you go to war with Great-Britain, ^lem Deus vult perdere pr'ius dementat. And are you mad enough to take up tlic cudgels that have been struck from tlie nerveless hands of the three great maritime powers of Europe ."^ Shall the planter mortgage his little crop, and jeopardise the constitution, in support of commercial monopoly ? in the vain hope of satis- fying the insatiable greediness of trade ? Administer the con- stitution upon principles for the general welfare, and not for the benefit of any particular class of men. Do )ou inedi- tate war for the possession of Baton-Rouge, or Mobile, places which your own laws declare to be within your limits ? Is it even for the fair trade that exchanges your surplus pro- ducts, for such foreign articles as you require ? No, sir, 'tis for a circuitous traffic — an ignis flituus. u^nd against whom .'' A nation from whom you have any thing to fear .'' I speak as to our liberties. No, sir, with a nation from whom you have nothing, or next to nothing, to fear — to the ag- grandizement of one against which you have every thing to dread. I look to their ability and interest — not to their dis- position. When you rely on that, the case Is desperate. Is it to be inferred from all this, that I would yield to Great- Britain ,'' No; I would act towards her iio^v^ as I was disposed to do towards France in 179S-S) — treat with her; and for the same reason, on the same principles. Do I say treat with her? At this moment you have a negociation pending with her government. With her you have not tried negoci- ation and failed, totally failed, as } ou have done with Spain, or rather France. And wherefore, under such circumstances, this hostile spirit to the one, and this (I won't say what), to the other. But a great deal Is said about the laws of nations. What is national law, but national power guided by national inter- est ? You yourselves acknowledge and practise upon this principle where you can, or wi.cre you dare ; with the In- dian tiibcs, for instance. I might gi\ e another and more for- v:' I ( 22 ) m d^ ^i.ii iiliV ■d»i*.l ■i\ cible illustration. Will the learned lumber of 3'onr libraries add z ship to your fleet, or a. shilling to your revenue ? Will it pay or maintain a single soldier ? And will you preach and prate of violations of your neutral rights, when you tamely and meanly submit to the violation of your territory ? Will you collar the stealer of your sheep, and let him escape that has invaded the repose of your fire side j has insulted your wife and children under your own roof? This is the heroism of truck and traffic — the public spirit of sordid ava- rice. Great-Britain violates your flag on the high seas. What is her situation? Contending, not for the dismantling of dunkirk, for qukbuc, or pondichekry, RUT FOR London and Westminster — for life. Her ENEMY ''OLATING, AT WILL, THE TERRITORIES OF OTHER nations — ACQl'IRING THEREBY A COLOSSAL POWER, THAT THREATENS THE VERY EXISTENCE OF HER RIVAL. Bl.'T SHE HAS ONE VULXER.ABI.E POINT TO THE ARMS OF HER ADVERS \liy, WHICH SHE COVERS WITH THE ENSIGNS OF NEU- TRALITY. She DRAWS the neutral flag over the »EEL OF Achilles. And can you ask that adversary TO RESI'ECT IT AT THE EXPENSE OF HER EXISTENCE .'' — AND IN FAVOUR OF WHOM? — AN ENEMY THAT RESPECTS NO NEUTRAL 1T,RRIT0RY OF F.l'KOPL, AND NOT EVEN YOUR OWN. I repeat that the insults of Spain towards this nation have been at the insiigHtion (^f Fr.ince : That there is no lonp;cr any Spain. Well, sir, becaus? tlie I'j'Tich government do not put this into the Monirciir, you choose to shut your eyes to it. None so blind as those who will not /■<:«- Hum to carry it on, perhaps I might give it : but my rights ( 23 ) ' libraries le ? Will 1 preach hen you erritory ? m escape insulted his is the rdid ava- igh seas. FOR THE [CIIEKRY, E. Her F OTHIH R, THAT L. Bl'T OF HER S OF NEU- TER THE 'VERSARY ? — AND ECTS NO UR OWN. ion have ip;cr any ) not put yes to it. nt your go into affair of hat your I'ou mav let your et us go ttle p(cu- \y rights and liberties are involved in the grant, and I will never sur- render them whilst I have life. The gentleman from Massa- chusetts (iVIr. Crowninshield,) is for sponging the debt. I can never consent to it. I will never bring the ways and means of fraudulent bankruptcy into your committee of sup- ply. Confiscation and swindling shall never be found i.mong my estimates, to meet the current expenditure of poace or war. No, sir. I have said with the doors closed, and I say so when they are open, " pay the public debt." Get rid of that dead weight upon your government, that cramp upon all your measures, and then you may put the world at defiance. So long as it hangs upon you, you must have revenue, and to huvt revenue, you must have commerce — commerce, peace. And shall these nefarious schemes be advised for lightening the public burthens? will you resort to these low and pitiful shifts i wnll you dare even to mention these dishonest arti- fices, to eke out your expenses, wh-^n the public treasure is lavished on Turks and infidels } on singing boys, and dancing girls \ to furnish the means of bestiality to an African bar- barian ? Gentlemen say, that Great-Britain will count upon our divi:.ions. Huw ! What does she know of them ? Can they t-'vor expect greater unanimity than prevailed at the last Pre- sicit-niial elect iuii ? No, sir; 'lis the gentleman's own con- science that squeaks. But if she cannot calculate upon your divisions, at least she may reckon upon your pusillanimity. She may w-ell despise the resentment that cannot be excited io honourable battle on its own ground — the mere effusion of mercantile cupidity. Gentlemen talk of repealing the British treaty. The gL'ntleman from Pennsylvania should have thought of tliat before he voted to carry it into effect. And what is all thij for ? A point which Great Britain will not abandon to Ru:j>^ia, you uApect her to yield to yuu. Russia, uidisputably the second pu-.ver of con'inental I'.urope, with h'.ijf a niiliion of huidy troops, with sixty sail of the line, ;h\y\-x minion of inbiects a tcr/itorv more exie:»:-iv:j „ncn tba:4 ■;(*■•:,? .■■M "i, ( *"M 5 our own — 'Russia, sir, the store-house of the British navy— whom it is not more the polity and the interest, than the sen- timent of that government, to soothe and to conciliate ; her sole hope of a diversion on the continent — her only efficient ally. "What this formidable power cannot obtain with fleets and armies, you will command by writ— with pot-hooks and hangers. I am for no such policy. True honour is always the same, i^cfore you enter into a contest, public or private, be sure you have fortitude enough to go through with it. If you niean war, say so, and prepare for it. Look en the other side — behold the respect in which France holds neutral rights on Innd — observe her conduct in regard to the Franconian estates of the King of Prussia : I say no- thing of the petty powers — of the Elector of Baden^ or of the Swiss : I speak of a first-rate monarchy of Europe^ and at a moment tooy ivhtn its neutrality was the object nf all others nearest to the heart of the French Emptror. If you make him monarch of the ocean^ you ma%^ bid adieu ta it for ever. Ton ffiay take your leave., sir, of navigation — even of the Mississippi. WJiiu is the situation of New Orleans, if attacked to-morrow ? Filled with a discontented and re- pining people — whose language, manners, and religion, all incline them to the invader — a dissatislied people, who de- spise the miserable governor you have set over them— whose honest prejudices, and basest passions, alike take part against you. I draw my information from uo dubious source — from a native American, an enlightened n)ember of that odious and imbecile goveriunent. Vou have oiiicial information that the town and its dependencies are utterly defenceless and untenable — A firm belief, that apprised of this, government would do something to put the place in a state of security, alone has kept the American portion of that community quiet. You have held that post — you now hohi it by the tenure of the naval predominance of England, and yet you are for a British naval war. ititib nav)'— han the sen- iciliate; her inly efficient 1 with fleets I pot-hooks ! honour is itcst, public go through lare for it, hich France •t in regard : I say no- ty or of the OpCy 071 d flt ject nf all mperor. If id adieu to avigation — nv Orleans, ed and ro- •eligion, all , who (le- m— whose lart agauist rce — from hat odious Dation that celess and jvernment if security, oniinunity it by t])( d yet you r ( 25 ) There are now two great commercial nations. Great- Britain is one— we are the otlier. When you consider tlie nuiny points of contact between our interests, you may be surprised that tiiere has been so little collision. Sir, to tlie other biilligerent nations of FAirope your navi- ffation is a convenience, I might say, a necessary. If you tlo not carry for them, they must starve, at least for the luxuries of life, which custom has rendered almost indis- ])ensable. And, if you cannot act with some degree of sjnrit towards those m'Iio are dependent upon you, as car- riers, do you reckon to brow-beat a jealous rival, who, the moment she lets slip the doc^i of war, sweeps von, at a blow, from the ocean ? And, cut bono? for u^hose I'cne- fit?~Thc phmtcr?^Nothing like it :^T/iefah\ honest, real American merchant?— No, sir — For renegadoes ; to- day American— to-morro-u', Danes. Go to -u-'ar ivhen you "i'ill, the property, vow covered hj the American, xvilt then pass under the Danish, or some other jieutral fag. Gentlemen say, that one Knglish ship is worth tliree of ours: we shall therefore have the advantage in privateer- ing. Did they ever know a nation get ricii by privateer- ing? This is stuif for the nursery. Kemember tliat your products are bulky—as has been stated— that they re- quire a vast tonnage. Take these carriers out of the mar- ket:— What is the result ? The manufactures of England, which (to use a finishing touch of the gentleman's rheto- ric) have received the finishing stroke of art, lie in a small comparative compass. The neutral trade can carry them. Your produce rots in the warehouse— Vou go to Statia or St. Thomas's, and get a striped blanket for a joe, if you can raise one— Double freight, charge.-, and commission : Who receives the profit?— The carrier. Wiio pays it?— 'J'he consumer. All your produce that htids its way to FnglanJ must bear the same accumulated charg.-s — with this difference:— that there the burden falls on the home .,!jift.; ■M {"ilk' In' . ( 2S ) price. T appeal to the experience of the last Avar— \vhich has been so often cited. What, then, was the price of produce, and of broadcloth? jBut you are told England 'dill not make "war — 5//^ has her hands full. — Holland calculated in the same way, in 1781 : — How did it turn out? You stand noxo in the place of Hollanil, then — without her navy, unaided by the pre- ponderating fleets of France and Spain — to say nothiniif of tiie Baltic powers. Do you want to take up the cudgels where these great maritime powers have been forced to drop them? to meet Great-Britain on the ocean, and drive her off its face ? If you are so far gone as this, every capital measure of your policy has hitherto been wrong. You should have nurtured the old, and devised new sys- tems of taxation— have cherished your navy.— -Begin this business when you may, land-taxes, stamp-acts, window- taxes, hearth-mone}', excise, in ail its modifications of vex- ation and oppression, must precede, or follow after. But, sir, as French is the fashion of the day, I may be asked for my projcf. I can readily tell gentlemen what I will 7iot do. J li'ill not propiiiaie any forcig)i nafion "s'lth vwniy. I will not launch into a naval war with Great ]h'itain, al- though I am ready to meet her at the Cow-pens, or Bun- ker's Hill, And for this plain reason. A\'e arc a great land animal and our business is on shore. I will send her no money, sir, on any pretext whatsoever, mucii less on pre- tence of buying Labrador, or Botany Biiy, when my real object was to secure limits, which she formally acknow- ledged- at tlie peace of n8;i. I go further — I would (if any thing) have laid an embargo. This would have got our own property home, and our adversary's into our power. If there is any wisdom left among us, the first step towards hostility will always be an embargo. In six mouths all your mercantile megrims would vanish. As to us, although it would cut deep, we can stand it, Witli- )k ( 27 ) r— \\ hich price of —she has way, in the place the pre- nothiiiLr 2 cudgels forced to can, and lis, every 1 wron{r. new sys- egin this window- s of vex- r. But, be asked t I will mnmy. tail), aU or Bun- cat land lior no on j)re- 11 ly real cknow- )uld (if ivc got ito our 16 first In six J, As With- out such a precaution, go to war when you will, you go to the wall. As to dfbts — strike the balance io-morroxt', and England is J befieve in our debt. I hope, sir, to be excused for proceeding in this dcsnl tory course. I flatter myself I shall not have occasion again to trouble you — I know not that I shall be able — certainly not willing, unless provoked in self-defence. I ask your attention to the charactc^j: of the inhabitants of that southern country, on whom gentlemen relv for support of their mea- sure. Who and what are tliey ? A simple, agricultural people, accustomed to travel in peace to market, with the produce of their labor. Who takes it from us ? Another people devoted to manufactiuTS — our sole source of supply. I have seen some stulV in the news-papers about manufac- tures in Saxony, and about a man who is no longer the chief of a. dominant faction. The greatest man whom I ever knew — th(^ immortiil author of the letters of Curtius — has remarked the proneiiess of cutming people to wrap up and disguise in well-selected phrases, doctriuestoodeformcd and detestable to bear exposure in naked words ; — by a judici- ous clioice of epithets, to draw ihe attention from the lurk- ing princij)lebeneath, and perpetuate delusion. — Buta little while ago, and any man might be i)roud to be considered as the head of the republican party. Now, it seems, 'tis reproachful to be deemed the chief of a dominant faction. Mark the magic words! Head, chitf. Republican party, dominant faction. But as to these Saxon manufactures. What became of their Dresden China? Why the Prussian bayonets have broken all the pots, and you are content with Worcestershire or Statlbrdshire ware. I'herc are some other fine manufactures on the continent, but no supply^ except, perhaps, of linens, the article Ave can best dispense with. A few individuals, sir, may have a coat of Lou- viers cloth, or a service of Seve China — but there is too little, and that little too dear, to furnish the nation. You if" . .;*»■ •r'v •' i««' r:: •>. ( 28 ) must depend on tlie fur trade in earnetit, and wear buffalo hides and bear skins. Can any ni:in, who understands lun-ope, pretend to say, that a particular forei^^n policy is iwu' ns;lit, because it would have been expechent twenty, or even ten vears ago, Avithout abandonini; all roujard tor common sense ? Sir, it is the statesman's province to be ;^uided by circumstances, to anticipate, to foresee them — to give them a course and a flirectlon — to mould them to his purpose. It is the business of a compting-house chn'k to peer uito the day-book and ledger, to see no further tlian the spectacles on his nose, to feel not beyond the pen behind his ear — to chatter in coifee- liouscs, and be the oracle of clubs, from 1783 to 1793 and even later (I don't stickle for dates), France liad a formi- dable marine — so had Holland — so had Spain, ' • two fu'st possessed thriving manufactures and a flourishing commerce. Great Britain, tremblingly alive to her manu- facturing interests and carrying»trade, would have felt to the heart any measure calculated to favor iier rivals in these pursuits — She would have yielded then to her fears and her jealousy alone. What is the case now ? She lays an export duty on her manufactures, and there ends the question. If Georgia shall (from whatever cause) so completely mono- polize the culture of cotton as to be able to lay an export duty of tiiree per cent, upon it, besides taxing its cultiva- tors, in every other shape that human or infernal inge- nuity can devise, is Pennsylvania likely to rival her and take away the trade? But, sir, it seems that we, who are opposed to this re. .solution, are men of no nerves — who trembled in the days t>f the British treaty — cowards (I presume) in the reign of terror ? Is this true ? Hunt up the journals; let our actions tell. We pursue our unshaken course. We care not for the nations of Europe, but make foreign relations bend to our political principles, and subserve cur country's interest. ^ car buffalo 'nd to say, because it vears ago, ? Sir, it is >tanc(^s, to use and a business ■book and iS nose, to in coffee- 1793 and 1 a i'ormi- T' e two ounshinii; er manu- ve felt to s in these s and her in export ition. If ly mono- n export i cultiva- lal inge- her and tl)is re. the days reign of r actions J not for bend to interest. m ( 29 ) We have no wish to see another Actlum, or Pharsalla, or the lieutenants of a modern Alexander, playing at piquet, or all-fours, for the empire of the world. Tis poor comfort to us, to be told that France has too decided a taste for luxurious things to meddle with us ; that Egypt is her ob- ject, or the toast of Barlrary, and at the worst, we shall be the last devoured. We are enamoured with neither nation — we would play their own game upon them, use them for our interest and convenience. But with all my abhorrence of the British government, I should not hesitate between VV^estminster-Hall and a Middlesex-jury, on the one hand, and the wood of Vincennes, and a file of Grenadiers, on the other. That jury-trial which walked with Home Tooke, and Hardy, through the flames of ministerial persecution, is, I confess, more to my taste, than the trial of the Duke d'Enghien. Mr. Chairman, I am sensible of having detained the com- iTiittee longer than I ought — certainly much longer than I intended. I am equally sensible of their politeness, and not loss so, sir, of your patient attention. It is your own indul- gence, sir, badly requited indeed, to which you owe this per- secution. I might oifer another apology for these undigested, desultory remarks ; my never having seen the treasury documents. Until I came into the house this morning, I have been stretched on a sick bed. But when I behold the aftairsofthis nation instead of being where I hoped, and the people believed they were, in the hands of responsible men, committed to Tom, Dick, and Harry— to the refuse of the retail trade of politics — I do feel, I cannot help feeling, the most deep and serious concern. Ifthe executive government would step forward and say, " such is our plan — such is our opinion, and such are our reasons in support of it," I would meet it fairly, would openly oppose, or pledge myself to sup- port it. But without compass or polar star, I will not launch iuto an ocean of unexplored measures, which stand cou-> ( 30 ) !l(f" '■'<• demned by all the information to whicli I have access. The constitution of the United States declares it to be the pro- vince and the duty of the President " to give to Congress, from time to time, information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge expedient and necessary." Has he done it: I know, sir, that we may say, and do say, that we are inde- pendent i (would it were true) as free to give a direction to the executive as to receive it from him. But do what you will, foreign relations — every measure short of war, and even the course of hostilities, depcml upon him. He stands at the helm, and must guide the vessel of state. You give him money to buy Florida, and he purchases Louisiana. — You may furnish means — the application of those means rests with him. Let not the master and mate go below when the ship is in distress, and throw the responsibility upon the cook and the cabin-boy. I said so when your doors Avere shut : I scorn to say less now that they are open. Gentle- men may say what they please. They may put an insignificant individual to the ban of the Republic; I shall not alter my course. I blush with indignation at the misrepresentations which have gone forth in the public prints of our proceedings, public and private. Are the people of the United States, the real sovereigns of the country, unworthy of knowing what, there is too much reason to believe, has been commu- nicated to the privileged spies of foreign governments? I think our citizens just as well entitled to know what has passed, as the Marquis Yrujo, who has bearded your Presi- dent to his face, insulted your government within its own peculiar jurisdiction, and outraged all decency. Do you mistake this diplomatic puppet for an automaton ? He has orders for all he does. Take his instructions from his pocket to-morrow, they are signed " Charles Maurice Talleyrand." Let the nation know what they have to depend upon. Be ! I access. The > be the pro- to Congress, of the union, easures as he he done it? : wc are inde- a direction to do what you of war, and n. He stands ;e. You give Louisiana. — ■ se means rests low when the ity upon the r doors were en. Gentle- 1 insignificiuit not alter my iprcsentations ' proceedings, Jnited States, of knowing seen commu- jovernments ? low what has J your Presi- ithin its own :y. Do you ton ? He has im his pocket Talleyrand." d upon. Be ( 31 ) true to them, and (trust me) they will prove true to them- selves and to you. The people arc honest ; now at home at their ploughs, not dreaming of what you are about. But the spirit of enquiry, that has too long slept, will be, must be, awakened. Let them begin to think ; not to say such things are proper because they have been done — but what has been done ? and wherefore .'—and all will be right. THX END, ■ • 'i'M 1 ■ '^M ^ '! 1 'ii^i i i: j : :^ : -'i'''' -■ '; -r; , '"'■:C. ■'=»!. '4V ||. 4(1: ■'!* .#, ■'■'t:' f ^ • < . >; J SpecdiJj/ will he publUheJ, A new Edition, with Additions of WAR IN DISGUISE. l-iuit*" l^y ' OVVISJS, Wli.t' !: nrs -«»9 ' i * i \i