The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-12 00:00:00

Asia, Africa, or America, or from any port or place in Europe,
in British ships or vessels ? Only that the produce of Europe
maybe imported into Great Britain in a.British ship or vessel,
or in a ship or vessel belonging to the country of'which the
cargo is the produce, or in atripS or. vessels the build of the
country or port, or place in. Europe, from whence or from any
port , whereof such goods and merchandize shall be exported
or shipped, tin the purpose of being exported to Great Britain.
To these p:ovisions in the pending. Bill, your Petitioners
beg leave to solicit the attention. of your Honourable House;
that as regards the imports between Great Britain and Asia,
Africa, and America, the loag transit is ceded to all nations ;
only, that an English ship must be employed from any foreign
port to Britain, and that the imports between Great Britain
and all parts of Europe stand so open, that should the pending
Bill receive the sanction of, the Legislature, the produce and
manufacture of the whole world (the excluded articles ex-
cepted), may he deposited in the Scheldt, or the Room Pot, or
any other continental depot contiguous to our shores, and which
it will be the interest of other Powers to establish, not only as
a commercial ,benefit, but as the sure means of annihilating
the Commerce and Naval Power of Great Britain. In this
Way will the brave and hardy Tars of Old England become
the liglitermen in the transit. from those depots to Britt.in in
steath-boata and other small: crafts to the seamen of conti-
nental -Europe and America :—that this must soon be the
result if such a new system of transit receives the Sanction of
the Legislature, is the firm belief of your Petitioners.
Your Petitioners submit to your Honourable-House that in
the late tremendous struggle to subdue revolution, the blood
and treasure of this Country .. was unsparingly expended, and
that the abolition of the Slave Trade, and many other spontane-
ous concessions have been made, too numerous to detail, which
are proofs beyond any doubt of the generous and liberal prin-
ciples which °rest Britain has acted upon. But notwithstand-
ing these sacrifices,_ your Petitioners have never been able to
discern from a Foreign Tariff, nor in any other way, that other
nations or states are smitten with a propensity for concession ;
they seem influenced as all nations generally have been, care-
fully looking after their own interests. , .
Your Petitioners are not amongst those who'consider that the
time is arrived when all the restrictive Statutes in the kingdom
may be repealed, so as to admit a perfect freedom of trade ; but
should that time be arrived, they will never object to it as a
general principle for all classes to conform to, yet they earnestly
hope that they are not singly to be sacrificed to make the expe-
riment ; as they entertain a more old-fashioned opinion—that
the marine laws made England what she is—and by her ma-
rine laws she must maintain her spre-eminence, or fall into the
rank of a very subordinate State.
Your Honourable House are fully sensible of the necessity
of protecting a profession, on which depends the powerful ma-
rine which is the natural protection of the Empire, and which
the agriculturists and manufacturing interests are as much in-
terested in' reserving, as those who are immediately connected
with the marine. Y our petitioners are more anxious than any.
other class of his Majesty's subjects that a careful revision'of
the Navigation Laws! should be made ; but your petitioners,
relying with the utmost confidence on the wisdom of your
Honourable House, trust that in this revision your Honourable'
House will .never, under any circumstances, surrender. that
great principle which is contained in the 12th of Charles the
Second, " Wherein, under the good providence and protection
of God, the wealth, safety, and strength of this kingdom is
much concerned."

Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray, that they may be
heard by Counsel against so much of the Bill as affects them,
and that the said Bill may not pass into a law as it now stands.;
and also that your Petitioners may have such relief in the pre-
mises as to this Honourable. House shall seem meet.
And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c.