[199] Jefferson to the Secretary of the Treasury, May 15, 1808; Works, v. 289. [200] Jefferson to the Governors of Orleans, etc., May 6, 1808; Works, v. 285. [201] Jefferson to Gallatin, May 16, 1808; Gallatin’s Writings, i. 389. [202] Gallatin to Jefferson, July 15, 1808; Gallatin’s Writings, i. 394. [203] Jefferson to Sullivan, July 16, 1808; Works, v. 317. [204] Sullivan to Jefferson, July 23, 1808; Jefferson MSS. [205] Sullivan to Jefferson, July 21, 1808; Jefferson MSS. [206] Sullivan to Jefferson, July 23, 1808; Jefferson MSS. [207] Jefferson to Lincoln, Aug. 9, 1808; Works, v. 334. [208] Jefferson to Gallatin, Aug. 11, 1808; Works, v. 336. [209] Jefferson to Gallatin, Aug. 19, 1808; Works, v. 346. [210] Jefferson to Gallatin, Dec. 7, 1808; Works, v. 396. [211] Jefferson to Gallatin, Nov. 13, 1808; Works, v. 386. [212] Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, Nov. 13, 1808; Works, v. 387. [213] Gallatin to Jefferson, July 29, 1808; Gallatin’s Writings, i, 396. [214] Jefferson to Governor Tompkins, Aug. 15, 1808; Works, v. 343. [215] Jefferson to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sept. 9, 1808; Works, v. 363. [216] Jefferson to Gallatin, July 12, 1808; Works, v. 307. [217] Jefferson to Gallatin, Sept. 9, 1808; Works, v. 363. [218] Smith to Gallatin, Aug. 1, 1808; Adams’s Gallatin, p. 373. [219] Gallatin to Jefferson, July 19, 1808; Gallatin’s Writings, i. 396. [220] Jefferson to Gallatin, Aug. 11, 1808; Works, v. 336. [221] Jefferson to Governor Pinckney, July 18, 1808; Works, v. 322. [222] McIntyre _v._ Wood, March, 1813; 7 Cranch, p. 504. [223] Annals of Congress, 1807-1808, p. 2091. [224] Annals of Congress, 1807-1808, p. 2130. [225] Annals of Congress, p. 2147. [226] United States _v._ Fisher and others, February Term, 1805; Cranch’s Reports, ii. 358-405. [227] Story’s Life of Story, i. 185. CHAPTER XII. The embargo was an experiment in politics well worth making. In the scheme of President Jefferson’s statesmanship, non-intercourse was the substitute for war,--the weapon of defence and coercion which saved the cost and danger of supporting army or navy, and spared America the brutalities of the Old World. Failure of the embargo meant in his mind not only a recurrence to the practice of war, but to every political and social evil that war had always brought in its train. In such a case the crimes and corruptions of Europe, which had been the object of his political fears, must, as he believed, sooner or later teem in the fat soil of America. To avert a disaster so vast, was a proper motive for statesmanship, and justified disregard for smaller interests. Jefferson understood better than his friends the importance of his experiment; and when in pursuing his object he trampled upon personal rights and public principles, he did so, as he avowed in the Louisiana purchase, because he believed that a higher public interest required the sacrifice:--