United States. Congress

“ Forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. War on the one side, and peace on the other, is a situation as ruinous as it is disgraceful. The mad ambition, the lust of power, and commercial avarice of Great Britain, arrogating to herself the complete dominion of the ocean, and exercising over it an unbounded and lawless tyranny, have left to neutral nations an alternative only between the base surrender of their rights, and a manly vindication of them. Happily for the United States, their destiny, under the aid of Heaven, is in their own hands. The crisis is formidable only by their love of peace. ”

“ But, sir, while there is life, there is hope. So long as the fatal shaft has not yet sped, if Heaven so will it, the bow may be broken, and the vigor of the mischief-meditating arm withered. If there be a man in this house, or nation, who cherishes the constitution under which we are assembled, as the chief stay of his hope, as the light which is destined to gladden his own day, and to soften even the gloom of the grave, by the prospect it sheds over his children, I fall not behind him in such sentiments. ”

“ Sir, the most innocent party in the war against us is the savage himself. How comes he in the ranks against us, with his tomahawk and scalping knife? Why is he impelled to shed our blood? Why has the gentleman shielded British instigation of their outrages?
Again, sir, has the gentleman no feeling for the sufferings, no ear for the groans of our suffering seamen? Has he no sympathy for those relations of life, from which the seamen is torn away, and for that moral sentiment which is violated in that outrage—and are we guilty because we seek to shield our citizens from it? ”

“ Is there a reflecting man in the nation who would not charge Congress with a culpable neglect of its duty, if, for the want of such a force, a single ship were to bombard one of our cities? Would not every honorable member of this committee inflict on himself the bitterest reproaches, if, by failing to make an inconsiderable addition to our gallant little Navy, a single British vessel should place New York under contribution? Yes, sir, when the city is in flames, its wretched inhabitants begin to repent of their neglect in not providing engines and water buckets. ”

“ It has been uniformly my opinion, sir, and still is, that the embargo ought to be adhered to until a majority of the great body of the people of the United States should prefer war itself to a longer continuance of it. I cannot perceive any middle course between those two alternatives, which can truly maintain the honor of the nation; and shall this nation descend from that ground to any degree of submission, either openly or covertly, to any nation on earth? God forbid, sir. Forbid it every thing that is dear and valuable to us as members of a free and independent nation! ”

“ Sir, gentlemen appear to me to forget that they stand on American soil; that they are not in the British House of Commons, but in the Chamber of the House of Representatives of the United States; that we have nothing to do with the affairs of Europe—the partition of territory and sovereignty there—except in so far as these things affect the interests of our own country. Gentlemen transform themselves into the Burkes, Chathams, and Pitts, of another country, and forgetting, from honest zeal, the interests of America, engage, with European sensibility, in the discussion of European interests. ”

“ Sir, I do trust in Heaven, that the people of this Union will not sleep forever—I do trust, that the time is not far distant when the rulers of this nation shall be compelled again to travel in the paths of peace, commerce, and honor. I do trust that this new system, fraught as it is with new destruction, will meet an effectual overthrow. On this floor, I have no hope of such an event. The current of influence is here too strong to be resisted. But if the God of nations "doth seek our rulers, and hath given our Senators wisdom," it must find its grave in the other branches of the Government. ”

“ It has been said that the Goddess of Liberty was born of the ocean. At this solemn crisis, when the blood of these American seamen mingled with the waves, then this sea nymph arose indignant from the angry billows, and, like a redeeming spirit, kindled in every bosom indignation and resentment. A nation of patriots have expressed their resentment, and the sound has reached the utmost bounds of the habitable world. Let a reasoning world judge whether the President's proclamation was too strong for this state of things, and whether it should be rescinded without atonement. ”

“ Repeal the embargo, throw open your trade to Great Britain; you can put money in your pocket by it. I want no substitute. Sir, if my tongue was in the thunder's mouth, then with a passion would I shake the world and cry out treason! This abandonment of our rights, this sacrifice of our independence, I most solemnly abjure. Astonished indeed am I, that a gentleman so eloquent, so well qualified to uphold the honor and dignity of his country, should so abandon them! Is it possible such doctrine should be advocated on the floor of Congress? ”

“ Shall we frown and look big at England, while, with timid and abject submission, we crouch at the feet of France, and quietly rivet the chains prepared for us? Mr. Speaker, the goddess of justice has been described as being blind, with sword in one hand, and the scale and balance in the other, but if she is invoked in this measure, she comes blind indeed, with a sword in one hand, but no balance in the other; in one hand is the emblem of war, in the other the badge of slavery. ”

“ The liberty of speech, and freedom of debate, are sacred by the constitution; and to refuse all debate, to deny us the privilege of speaking at all, on the most important questions of peace and war, is a subversion of the first principles of the constitution. And what is to justify this measure of imposing silence? It is said, the right of debate has been abused. Let gentlemen beware how, for an occasional abuse of a right, they take away—destroy the right itself. What right, in the whole charter of our rights, has not at some time been abused? ”

“ Whilst these peaceful experiments are undergoing a trial, what is the conduct of the opposition? They are the champions of war; the proud, the spirited, the sole repository of the nation's honor; the exclusive men of vigor and energy. The Administration, on the contrary, is weak, feeble, and pusillanimous—"incapable of being kicked into a war." The maxim, "not a cent for tribute, millions for defence," is loudly proclaimed. Is the Administration for negotiation? The opposition is tired, sick, disgusted with negotiation. They want to draw the sword and avenge the nation's wrongs. ”

“ It is an unpromising spirit, always ready to yield a part to save the balance. It is too timid to have in itself the laws of self-preservation. It is never safe but under the shield of honor. Sir, I only know of one principle to make a nation great, to produce in this country not the form but real spirit of union, and that is, to protect every citizen in the lawful pursuit of his business. He will then feel that he is backed by the Government; that its arm is his arms; and will rejoice in its increased strength and prosperity. Protection and patriotism are reciprocal. ”

“ Why, truly, to justify this House in making a solemn asseveration of a particular fact! As if any injury in the world could be even an apology for the deliberate utterance of a falsehood. Let the conduct of Mr. Jackson, or of Great Britain, be as atrocious as it will, if the fact which we assert do not exist, we and this nation are disgraced. It is evident, then, that irksome as such a task is, it is necessary that we should submit to a precise inquiry into the truth of that to which we are about to pledge our reputation and that of this people. ”

“ But, sir, we are now contending for the restoration of our rights, the deprivation of which strikes at the very foundations of our prosperity. Sir, to us, it matters little whether our cities tumble into ruin by desertion for want of employment, by poverty produced by British wrongs and aggression, or, in vindicating the cause of our country, fall by a quicker process. Sir, I have no fear of invasion, and, therefore, have no fears arising from the black population, which strikes with so much horror on the sensitive mind of the gentleman from Virginia. ”

“ These are the great objects of a good Government. And we may triumphantly ask, where is the nation or people that enjoy these with more freedom and safety than the American people? A parallel for our liberty and prosperity, for the last twenty years, is not to be found in the history of man. Our wealth, population, and resources, have increased beyond what any one would have calculated or imagined, and beyond what strangers and foreigners now believe. Industry, wealth, and contentment, pervade every quarter of our country, and poverty and oppression are unknown to our citizens. ”

“ Sir, a naval establishment will create a new and a dangerous interest in our country. Nothing is more common than to be told, that such are the wishes of the naval interest of Great Britain, and that this or that war must be entered into to gratify them. For my part, sir, I shall be very sorry indeed, if ever the period arrives in the United States, when any particular interest or community shall direct the Government, whether it be naval, agricultural, manufacturing, or commercial—the general welfare should be the sole great ruling principle in the National Councils. ”

“ Suppose the war to have continued five or ten years, and the country to be impoverished, its commerce annihilated, its resources exhausted, its best blood expended in wild and fruitless projects of conquest, the people oppressed by debts and taxes, will it then be deemed improper to expose the absurdity and mischief of continuing the war? Surely, sir, it will be patriotic and laudable to alarm the people, to entreat them to put an end to that which is the cause of their calamities. ”

“ Does any man believe that this frontier traffic is not as beneficial to us as to our enemies? Can your law fail of producing more injury and loss to the United States, than benefit? Have you not witnessed, sir, that while you was exercising paternal care in enacting an embargo by water, for the seaboard, that our merchants and navigators, roused as by a shock of thunder, escaped from your shores, with their vessels, as from a destroying angel—from pestilence and death? ”

“ Am I counting too much on the valor of my countrymen, when I indulge the hope, that, if we are forced into war, the American hero now lives, who, upon the walls of Quebec, imitating his glorious example, will avenge the fall of the immortal Montgomery? But we shall, at least, gain the approbation of our own hearts. If we surrender without a struggle to maintain our rights, we forfeit the respect of the world, and (what is worse) of ourselves.
We are often reminded that the British navy constitutes the only barrier between us and universal dominion. ”

“ Tell them, if they persist in such daring insult and injury to a neutral nation, that, however inclined to peace, it will be bound in honor and interest to resist; that their patience and benevolence, however great, will be exhausted; that the calamity of war will ensue; and that they, in the opinion of wounded humanity, will be answerable for all its devastation and misery. Let melting pity, and regard to the interest of humanity, stay the hand of injustice, and, my life on it, the gentleman will not find it difficult to call off his country from the bloody scenes of war. ”

“ Suppose that in every land-project you are successful—suppose both the Canadas, Quebec, Halifax, every thing to the North pole, yours by fair conquest—are your rights on the ocean, therefore, secure? Does your flag float afterwards in honor? Are your seamen safe from impressment? Is your course along the highway of nations unobstructed? No one pretends it. No one has or can show, by any logical deduction, or any detail of facts, that the loss of those countries would so compress Great Britain as to induce her to abandon for one hour any of her maritime pretensions. ”

“ I hear nothing from the gentleman about the honor of the nation. It would appear as if gentlemen on the other side of the House are willing to sell their country if they can put money in their pocket. Take off the embargo, they cry—for what? money. Pay tribute—for what? money. Surrender your independence—for what? all for money, sir. I trust the people have a different feeling from these gentlemen. The people love money, sir; but they love liberty and independence much better. If money had been the sole object, the Revolution would never have happened ”

“ What object more consolatory to the friends—what more paralyzing to the enemies of our Union—than to behold the natural jealousies and rivalries, which are the acknowledged dangers of our political condition, subsiding or sacrificing? What sight more exhilarating than to see this great nation once more walking forth among the nations of the earth, under the protection of no foreign shield? ”

“ The blood of Christians enjoying the privileges of jury trial, of the writ of habeas corpus, of the freedom of conscience, of the blessings of civil liberty, citizens of the last Republic that ambition has left upon the face of a desolate earth—the blood of such a people was poured out as an atonement to the Moloch of France. The Juggernaut of India is said to smile when it sees the blood flow from the human sacrifice which its worship exacts; the Emperor of France might now smile upon us. But no, sir, our miserable offering is spurned. ”

“ We need all our resources and all our energies to save this war from a disgraceful conclusion. What then but madness can dictate a policy tending to dry up our resources and paralyze our energies. Wounded by the spear of war, what but downright political quackery could prescribe those "restrictive" nostrums, to restore the nation to health and vigor? Are the old chimerical notions of starving the enemy, yet floating in the brains of gentlemen? In despite of experience, do they yet believe that our blessed country alone can produce food for the world? ”

“ If an enemy were to invade us, without any government at all, they would be promptly resisted. But, if we are going to war to redress grievances, to revenge injuries received, we should choose our own time. If we begin war before we have an army, it is bringing the nation to the last stage of degradation, not to consider at all the sufferings and losses which would be in such cases sustained. It would be a great error to attempt to put this country, by a forced vote of Congress, into war. You cannot lead this country to war as the butcher leads his flock to the slaughter-house. ”

“ When resistance to Britain is submission to France, I protest against the castigation of our colonial infancy being applied in the independent manhood of America. I am willing, sir, to dispense with the parental tenderness of the British navy. I cannot subscribe to British slavery upon the water, that we may escape French subjugation on land. I should feel myself humbled, as an American citizen, if we had to depend upon any foreign power to uphold our independence; and I am persuaded that our own resources, properly directed, are fully adequate to our defence. ”

“ Yes, sir, our faith is plighted; and that, too, to that scrupulous gentleman, Napoleon; a gentleman so distinguished for his own regard of faith; for his kindness and mercies towards us; for angelic whiteness of moral character; for overweening affection for the American people and their prosperity. Truly, sir, it is not to be questioned, but that our faith should be a perfect work towards this paragon of purity. On account of our faith, plighted to him, it is proposed to continue this non-intercourse. ”

“ We are not only, sir, to ruin many innocent and unoffending individuals, but to derange the national finances; and for what is all this to be done? To promote the public good or advance the national prosperity? No, sir, it is not pretended. We are gravely told, that we, the Representatives of the people, must sacrifice the people to save the constitution of the people, whose happiness and welfare it was intended to secure. If this be true, it is indeed a strange Government under which we live. ”

“ Your whole circle of commercial restrictions, including the non-importation, embargo, and non-intercourse acts, had in view an opposition to the offensive measures of the belligerents, so justly complained of by us. They presented resistance—the peaceful resistance of the law. When this is abandoned without effect, I am for resistance by the sword.
No man in the nation wants peace more than I; but I prefer the troubled ocean of war, demanded by the honor and independence of the country, with all its calamities and desolation, to the tranquil and putrescent pool of ignominious peace. ”