2586. EMBARGO, Submission, or War?—[further continued].
Under a continuance of
the belligerent measures which, in defiance of
laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals,
overspread the ocean with danger, it will rest
with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the
course best adapted to such a state of things;
and bringing with them, as they do, from every
part of the Union, the sentiments of our constituents,
my confidence is strengthened, that in
forming this decision they will, with an unerring
regard to the essential rights and interests
of the nation, weigh and compare the painful
alternatives out of which a choice is to be made.
Nor should I do justice to the virtues which on
other occasions have marked the character of
our fellow citizens, if I did not cherish an equal
confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever
it may be, will be maintained with all the fortitude
and patriotism which the crisis ought to inspire.—
Eighth Annual Message. Washington ed. viii, 105.
Ford ed., ix, 220.
(Nov. 1808)
