The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-04-14 00:00:00, page 2

its subjects afe safe,for they are defend
ed by Almighty power, & they shall rise
to eternal prosperity and glory when all
earthly kingdoms shall vanish like a
shadow or a dream.
1 here is an unseen hand which
guides the affairs of nations. Through
out all their changes and revolutions,
through the seemingly dark and trou
bled chaos of human concerns, an Al
mighty Providence overrules ; and all
events, past, present, and to come, are
employed in directing and completing
the destinies ot all creatures, in subserv
iency to that infinitely great and glori
ous kingdom which shall never be re
moved.
DOCUMENTS
Relative to the attack on the frigate
Chesapeake.
[The documents communicated by the
President to Congress on the 22d ult.
are too voluminous to be published in
a weekly newspaper. It is stated that
the reading of these documents occupied
ihe House of Representatives nearly se
ven days, and that they will make two
large octavo volumes.—We this week
give the instructions to our minister at
London after the attack on the Chesa
peake, the first notes between our mini
ster and the British government on that
subject, and a letter from Mr. Munroe,
detailing the substance of some subse
quent communications, and his observa
tions relative to the disposition of the
British government and people towards
this country. The instructions did not
reach Prlr. Munroe until about the first
of September. The communications just
mentioned, it will be observed, are dated
before that time.]
[From Mr. Madison to Mr. Munroe.]
Department of State, July, 6, 180T.
Sir,
The documents herewith inclosed
from No. 1 to No. 0 inclusive, explain
the hostile attack, with the insulting
pretext for it, lately committed near the
cape of Virginia by the British ship of
war Leopard, on the American frigate
Chesapeake. No. 10 is a copy of the
-ocUmation issued by the picsident,
interdicting in consequence of that out
rage the use of our waters and every
other accommodation to all British arm
ed ships.
This enormity i3 not a subject for
discussion. The immunity of a nation
al ship ol war lrom every species and
purpose of search on the high seas, has
never been contested by any nation_
Cheat Britain would be second to
none in resenting such a violation of her
rights and such an insult on her flag.
She may bring the case to the test of her
I own. feelings, by supposing that instead
ol tile customary demand of our seamen
serving compulsively even on hoard her
ships of war, opportunities had been
seized for rescuing them, in like man
ner, whenever the superiority of force
or the chance of surprize might be pos
sessed by our ships of war.
luit the present case is marked bv
circumstances which give it a peculiar
dye. The seamen taken from the Che
sapeake had been ascertained to be na
tive citizens of the United States, and
this fact was made known to the bearer
of the demand, and doubtless commu
nicated by him to his commander pre
vious to the commencement of the at
tack.—It is a fact also, affirmed by two
of the men, with every appearance of
truth, that they had been impressed
from American vessels into the British
frigate, from which they escaped, and
by the third, that having been impres
sed from a British merchant ship, he
had accepted the recruiting bounty un
der that duress and with a view to alle
viate his situation, till- he could escape
to his own country ; and that the attack
was made during a period of negoti
ation, and in the midst of friendly assu
rances from the British government.
The printed papers herewith sent,
will enable you to judge of the spirit
which has been roused by the occasion.
It pervades the whole community—is
abolishing the distinction of party—and
! regarding only the indignity offered to
the sovereignty and flag of the nation,
and the blood of citizens so wantonly
! and wickedly shed, demands in the loud
est tone an honourable reparation.
With this demand you are charged
by the president. The tenour of his
proclamation will he your guide in re
minding the British government of the
uniform proofs giv-n by the United
States, of their disposition to maintain
faithfully every frit ndly re'ation ; of
the multiplied infractions of their rights
by British, naval commanders oft our
coasts and in our harbours ; of the in
efficacy of reiterated appeals to the jus
tice and friendship of that government;
and the moderation on the part of the
United States, which reiterated .disap
pointments had not extinguished ; • till
at length no alternative is left, but a vo
luntary satisfaction on the part of Great
Britain, ora resort to means depending
on the U. S. alone.,
The nature and extent of the satisfac
tion ought to be suggested to the Bri
tish government, not less by a sense of
its own honour than by justice to that of
of the United States. A formal disa
vowal ol the deed, and restoration of
the four seamen to the ship from which
they were taken, arc things of course,
and indispensable. As a security for
the future, an entire abolition of im
pressments from vessels under the flag
of the United Ststes, if not already ar
ranged, is also to make an indispensable
part of the satisfaction. The abolition
must be on terms compatible with the
instructions to yourself & Mr. Pinckney
cm the subject ; and, if possible, with
out the authorized rejection from the
service of the United States of British
seamen who have not. been two years
in it. Should it be impossible to avoid
U- this concession on the part of the
nited States, it ought, as of itself more
than a reasonable price for future secu
rity, to extend the reparation due for
the past.
15ut beyond the se mdiscnsable condi
tions the United States have a right to
expect every solemnity of form and e
very other ingredient of retribution and
respect which according to usage and
the sentiments of.mankind, arc proper
in the strongest cases of insult to the
rights and sovereignty of a nation. And
the British government is ,to be appriz
ed of the importance of a full compli
ance with this exp ctaiion to the thor
ough healing of the wound which has
been made on the feelings of the Ame
rican nation. <
Should it he alleged as a ground for;
declining or diminishing the satisfac
tion in this case, that the United Stales
h ive themselv'-s taken it !>v the int< rdict
contained in the proclamation, the an
swer will Ik* obvious. The interdict*is
a measure, not of reparnti >n,-but of pre
caution, and wouM Iicsdes be amplv jus
tified by occurrence:-, p: i »r to the extra*,
ordinary outrage i.u rj ie:;tion.
Idle exclusion of all armed ship*