Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)United States. Congress
History
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)
United States. Congress
Law -- United States; United States -- Politics and government
Mr. S. said, as he knew indecent and harsh language always recoiled upon
those who used it, he did not wish to adopt it; but, at the same time,
it was due to ourselves to express our feelings with a proper degree of
strength and spirit. He was not in the habit of quoting any thing from
M. Genet, but there was one expression of his which he thought contained
good advice, "all this accommodation and humility, all this
condescension attains no end."
After the gentleman from Virginia had dwelt sufficiently upon the danger
of irritating the French, he had emphatically called upon us to
recollect our "weakness." It might have been as well if he had left that
to have been discovered from another quarter. He hoped we had
sufficient confidence in the means of defence which we possessed, if
driven to the last resort; and he believed if there was any one more
certain way of provoking war than another, it was that of proclaiming
our own weakness.
He hoped such a language would now be spoken as would make known to the
French Government that the Government and people of this country were
one, and that they would repel any attempt to gain an influence over our
Councils and Government. The gentleman had said that there did not
appear to be any design of this kind, and had endeavored to do away what
was stated as the opinion in France, in General Pinckney's letter. He
did not mean to rest this altogether upon the reports of an emigrant,
whom General Pinckney mentions as having represented this country
divided, and of no greater consequence than Genoa or Geneva, but he took
the whole information into view. [He read the extract relative to this
subject.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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