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VOL. II.)
ATHENS, GEORGIA: PRINTED BT ALEXANDER M'DONNELL, SATURDAY, MAY 19, ISIO.
CONGRESS.
\ House of Representatives.
Mr. BOYD’S REMARKS
On the fajfage of the original bill
concerning commercial intercourje ,
(Ac.
Mr, Speaker—lt is with great
relu-fUnce that I rife, from the
knowledge that I have of the ftipe
rior ability of many gentlemen in
this Houfe ; add that I am not in
the habitaof public fpeaklng, lays
me under great embarraffnenr
bur, fir, I fenfibly fed it as an im*
peritive duty, and filence would be
criminal in this Rate of things.
Sir, I do not expert to make (nor
is it my wifh) ene profelyte to the
b.li that we are about to pafs.—
Every gentleman, for himfelf, ought
to confulc the intereft of his country
at large j and in fo doing, to uie
his own judgment. That is the
rule that I have prefer!bed to my
felf to govern my conduct. I trou
ble the Houfe but feldorn, and
would at all times much rather give
& fiilent vste ; but I fed it to be my
duty to anfwer fome objections that*
have been made to the palling of it.
The gentleman from Maffachufects
(Mr. Livermore) who I now fee in
his place, cbjedts to this ; becaufe,
fays he, <{ England will retaliate on
ycu by rcftridtive laws; (he hath
the power and will ufe it —and that
it i. abfurd to think other wife, or
ever to talk about it,” with a great
ceal more fiich Ike fubmdlive Huff
to the will and power of the king of
Great Britain. And in addition to
s, the gentleman from New-
York (Mr. Gardenier) hath faid
fhat we mud have done with thofe
eternal, diftreffing,deftru<stive, weak
and pitiful meafures ; that EngUnd
will not change or alter her grand
fyiftem of maritime law; that fhe
hath told you fo over and over a
gam ! Now, Mr. Speaker, may I
be allowed to ufe that gentleman’s
rtegant expreffions ? If I may, I
will obferve that I am much dif
gufted with thofe eternal, reitera-
P and and magnified affertions of the
poiver of this kirg of G. Br tain,’
made in order to deter us fram act
ing iy behalf and for the tights and
inr< reft of our own country.
Sir, are thefe arguments, if they
, nr.av be fo called, to prevent or
diffuade us from enacting laws, rule*
and rcgalations for the protection
nnd fecurity of our own commer
cial ghes and navigation ? Sir, I
fins here a great deal of iubmiffion
andh cupidity, but no argument.* —
Mi iff all our laws be formed to fuit
the vvill of our enemies ? Shall we
do nothing to tenure our own rights ?
Oh no, we are told—Britain will
Such are the tentiments
cf thofe gentlemen —I truft they
never will be fuch a* I Hull enter -
Foreign Correspondent
GEORGIA EXPRESS.
<c MANY SHALL RtfN TO AND FRO, AND KNOWLEDGE SHALL BB INCREASED.”
A gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Sheffey) hath faid that he hoped
that he fhould never fee the day
that an American fhou’d be fo de
graded as to (land in a work ihop,
and that agriculture and commerce
were the only proper purfuits of
the American people, and he hop
ed that the American people would
never debate themfelves fo far as to
become -manufacturers. Sir, [ hope
that I will fee the day that we fhall
be fuppfted with our own manufac
tures. I have feen mechanics that
would not think themfelves much
honored by fhaking hands with that
gentleman or any gentleman on this
f] ior—and w hen I fo fay I mean no
difrefpedt to the Houfe. Sir, is a
mechanic !efs comfortable or more
debafed in following kis induftry in
a work fhop, than a faitor; a
ploughman, a fythefman or a labo
rer in the fisld, or one that tills the
foil ? No, fir; I think he is not
degraded.
A gentleman from Carolina (Mr.
Macon) faith in vindication of this
bill, that , the non-inttreourfe is e-
Itided, and sdlowed on all hands to
be ineffective; that he cannot fee
how it ever came to be pafied. Me
fays he is an embargo-man end ne
ver denied it, and if ic had been ad
hered to, ic would have anfweied
every purpofe. But it Was given
up for tftenon-intercourfe, and how
it ever came to pais, he cannot ac
count, Fie fiys, he never heard
tTiat it had a fingle friend in or out
of this Houfe, that he had never
heard a fingle man in the Houfe
raife his voice in its favor. Now,
fir, I would r.fk, how ic came to
pals into a law by fo large a majority
of both Houfes and without a fingle
friend ? Now, fir, is this the fad ?.
To nae it appears very different. I
remember that at i or 2 of the
clock at night, or rafter the morn
ing, that it was paffed, I for one
fpoke in favor of it; the embargo
was to be given up and this was
iubftituted as a ftronger meafure,
and left objedionabie. Ithe*tho’c
it a ftronger meafure than the em
bargo, I think fo now ; and permit
me to afk that gentleman what it
was that brought the Britifb go
vernment, by their minifter here,
Mr. Erfkine, to propofe to our go
vernment a repeal of their orders in
council on condition that we would
repeal the non-intercourfe (for the
embargo ac that time was repealed)
and enter into an arrangement with
us. I feel myfelf authorifed to fay,
that it was the non-intercourfe, and
the propufitions made by Mr. Er
fkinc prove it to be fo.
Another objedion is raifed to the
bill. England will retaliate; v.e
(hall have no commerce ; and what
will our merchants do with their
vaft capital, is *ftced ? I would fay,
that if there is fuch a vaft capita),
let a part cl it be employ ed in ef-
tabliffiing manufa&ories, and a part
of our population tyrn their atten
tion and induftry that way, and
there wit] be no complaint of inac
tive capital.
This will fupport domeftic ma
nufactures. They in their turn
wiii take eff that furplus of raw ma
terials end provifiions that is now
exported, or at teaft a great part of
ir, and that part that you do export
wii command the better price. By
this means the farmer will have a
market at his door and his coat al
io. When we do To, then ftiail we
be Independent and not before.
Ah ! bar, fay gentlemen on my
right, if you pafs this bill it will
lead to war—War ! war ! is con
tinual;/ reiterated.
Do gentlemen mean by fu: h
means to deter us from forming
and paffing municipal laws to regu
late our own concerns, and protect
our own property ? Sir, war is a
great calamity, and ought to be a
voidcd by every proper means ; but
if it rr.":i come ro that, I mall nut
ftiripk from it. I know what it is;
I have ft It and feen it in all its ter
rois. I alfo know what the king
of G. Britain can do, and have lo
kno- ntver fince the year 1774.
New, lir, as to the bill, I
not ffluch to fay in favor of it; but
it appears to me that the Houfe is
about to repeal the non-intercourfe
and that this bill, with fome other
reftridtive meafures, will take the
place of it. It hath been brought
forward by the committee of Fo
reign Relations, and prefer.ted to
me as apart of afyflem, with fuch
as fhaii be added, to enable the Ex
ecutive to treat with the bellige
rents with greater facility and ad
vantage, anti in this point of view I
accept of ir, and fhdl vote for the
paffing of it. I have no further ob
fervauons to make.
SAVANNAH , May 10. -
Our harbor has been much en
livened by the arrivals this morn
ing. Tocapt. Cory, of the Lady
Hamilton, and. cap:. Hall of the
Amazon, we are indebted for
New-Yojk and Philadelphia papers
of the 3d and 4th inft. from which
we have extracted the congreffional
proceedings in this afternoon’s pa
per, refpecting the repeal of the
non-intercourfe law.
Capt. Hail ftates, that although
the coliedtor of Philadelphia had
not received iriftiucfions on the
fubjedt, the veffeis were droppirg
down the Delaware in all direc
tions, to be ready to flare at the
fifft warning.
CONGRESS.
House o? llepre entatives.
April 30.
The houfe proceeded to the
confideradon of the amendments of
the fenate to the commercial inter
courfe bill, (commonly cubed Ma
con’s bill No. 2.)
A/rer a long debate to the ar
rangement of the fenace propofing
convoy, the quell on was taken to
ftrike out, agreeably to the amend
ment of the fenate, the fe£tiou
which lays the 50 per. cent, addi
tional duties. The vote flood—
Ayes, 47 —Noes, 49.
The queftion was then taken on
agreeing to the fed ion of the fenate
to authorife convoy and loft—ayes
17, nces 70. After a debate of
feveral hours, a motion for adjourn
ment was made and carried, and the
bill was left unfmifhed.
N. T. Gazette , May 4.
Tuefday , May 1.
A meffage was received from
the prefidenr, iu compliance with
the cajl of yefterday, with docu
ments of which the following are
the moft materia!;
<c ln purfuance of the refolucion
of the houfe of representatives of
yefttrdsy the fecretary of ftute has
the honor to Lranfmit to the prefi
denc of the United States the ac
companying papers, marked A. IE
C. D. E. F.
Cf No information has been re-,
ccived, that any communication
has been made to our minifter ac
London., on the part of the Britilh
government, “in anfwer to any
note prefented by him in purfuance
of inft'rudions given on the 2jd
November, 1809.”
No anfwer rhave been given to
the “ propoffeions or overtures,
made on the part of the United
States to the government cf Great
Britain and France, refpeding any
of the orders and decrees uffebting
neutral commerce,” which have
not been heictofore or which are
not herewith communicated. All
which is refpedlfully fubmitted.
R. SMITH.
Department of State,
May 1, 1810.
Copy of a letter from general Arm*
jlrong to Mr. Pinkney, Paris ,
January 25, 1810.
S>r—A letter from Mr. tecreta
ry Smith, of the Ift of December
laft, made it my duty to enquire of
nis excellency the duke of Cadore
what were the conditions on which
his majefty the emperor would an
nul his decree, commonly called
the Berlin decree; and whether, if
Great Britain rev (Iced her block
ades of a date anterior to that de
cree, his majefty would confine to
revoke the faid decree ? To thefe
queftions, I have this day received
the following anfwer, which I haften
to convey to you by a mef
fuiger :
ANSWER.
“ The cnly cond cion required
fer the revocation by h : siraj* <+ ‘
the empero r , of the
(No. 100.