The Sun.
London, England, 1812-06-05 00:00:00

J. STA iES FOR 5.4 L .

131)(71(s, •
IrItEELIOT,F) ESTATE, FAMILY RESTDEISCE and One
Fruncir•t,.-1 Four Acres of Ltzi;.!,, with immediate posses-

TO, BE SOLI) BF AUCTION;
By Mr .STEIVART,:
his Great Room, 11,4, 114:CC!..1.1)1LLY, on WEDNESDAY,
June• hi, at I 2,„witil iturnediat: pot'Fqssitra,
Yajuabl e
, - FREEHOLD ESTATE of
BUCtiSBIDGE, most desirably-sitnated in the PariSh
ad a adjoining Town and- linroug-h df 'AVendover; Dick-
highamshire, with Votes for the County and Borough of
Avleshiirri• earritiriSinx ;.1-Delling-honse for. a Family of re-
Out-alZices, llarns,,Fam-yfird, Garden, Orehard,
Troat-stream 1.-liindred and 'Four Acres
ot.rich arable Meachiw exten.iive-Right of Comanon or
Shea wa.l~ bounding the same, the wit iI very-couia.ct and,
inclosed on ;.;,ni ,icijoiniinr, the Tiatipilte-road, and Branch
of the Grand ,inneiion Canal; ,conveyances,to and, tram Lon-
doh every day; a at pit of the country for field sports..
Richard SrJulw, oat Bucksiiiidge, Weudover, will
sl)eW . •

. Particulars :iad of Thomas Uearne, Est. 'Solicitor, Buck-
inghawc; the George and Angel runs, Northampton; George,
Aylesbury; White Hart, Grk.!at Nli'sientien; Crowr,,'Anter-
sham ; Vxl.):idge; Red Lion, iirendover, and
of Mr. Stewart, l[l4, Piccadilly.

VALUABLE STEAM MILL.AND STORE-HQII:StS..,• AT
DOVER..
TO-..-BE SOLD BY AUCTION,. •" , .
On TUESDAY, the- Sis...ce,:th day of Jane next, at the
ROYAL OAK. INN, in DOVER, at 'Three o'cicick the
Afternoon,. by -order of the Assignees of Peter,Becke,r; -a
Bturt.:Tupt, and of-th 2 Mortgagee, '
A.I4L. that
.1/741uable 'New-erected Freehcld
SI'EAM-MILL,'. lately employed in tht .Corn
with capacions-Stol-e-lionseS, Caves, aril' ctir qpen-
,da..;•es, situate ,at Dover,- very conti;;:cvs t;) the harbour,
which affords 'Oeit, facility of shipping and nurliippiug goods
at a Very,trifling. expense ~of carriao: :The Mill. c'.tives five
pair of Stones and a Wheat Machine, or three pair of Stones
anti Wheat Mich inery ;' fner may 'be obtai.: A at-a; very nis).-
tirrate ,expense, and. the concern possesses t4e mtans
vying on an extervive and lucrative trAtle;in a manner prca-
liarly advaatageatm.
For particulars apply to •Mr. Shipdem -and Mr. GrOvener,
. Solicitors, Dorer ; Mr. John Barnes;Solicitor, Cliff:4M's inAn, -
and Messrs-. Egan and Waterman, Solicitors, Essex-street,
Strand. - •

ORDERS IN COUNCIL.

FROM THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.

(Continued from our. Paper of Yesterday.)

I'Ve are at a loss to discover what colifthave
prevailed on Mr. Madison to insert in his ,kessag-e
any notice of the affair of the Lille Belt, in the
shipe of a complaint, since his
_own officers- have
proved, by their evidence,. that Commodore Rodg-
ers was the aggressor.7—it is proved that Com-
modore Rodgers bOre down on, the Lille Belt ; it
:is proved that, he endeavorred to place his ship in
aposition'for yaking the Lille Belt; it.is proved
that Captain Bingha► . wore three tilde? to avoid
the President's taking this advantage.

•
Commodore Rodg 'avows avows that he took a
position to windward on the same tack, within
short speaking distance,' and that the chase ap-
peared, from his manoeuvres, anxious to prevent
it.' The aggres. shin then is on the 'part pf:Ccru-
. .
modore Rodgers. But whiCh -of the two firi:a the
'fist shot ? If we consider the difference of force,
we must set down Captain,Bingham as a madman,
before•we can consent to allow the 'Lille 1,t;14 -to
have given the first shot.

• The Minutes of a Court of Inquiry, held at,
Halifax, prove the President to have fired first ;
the Minutes of, the American Court-Martial prove
the Lille Belt to have fired first. hence the
quantity of proof is pretty nearly equal; as t the
quality of the evidence, we -shall not make one
'single observation. " •

But there were two seamen on board the Pre-
sident at the time of the aggression, who have

voluntarily made Oath as follows :•••-4Villia»? Bier 7
kelt, an Englishman, sworn at Deptford,"deposes
that the President fired the first gun by accident ;
that he turned round to acquaint the Lieutenant
with this circumstance, but that, before he conld
do it,. the whole broadside - of the Presidebt
discharged ; and that immediately apier, a-gene-
ral order was given to fire atvay as -tiifiCk as pos
sible.'—Joluf Russell, an Anierican,, sworn ' at
Bristol, depoSes that he -was on board the. Presi-'
dent at the-time of the. action ; that the first.gun,
was fired by accident from the .President : that
the„guns had locks, nnd, were all cocked ; that,

after i.he action, he was informed Ly the men in
the waist, that a mati,hai heenentancled with the
lanyard of the locks,- WhiCh occationathe gun Co
go off. But wre really do not think it "worth an
argument who fired trust the true question is; who
chased who took au hostile position ?
the ships in that situation in whiCh even the acci-
dental firidg of a gun, must inevitably produce
decided. Warfare ? who came idwn with °his ship
cleared. for action-----the crew <t their quarters—
„lnns double-spottedL-matchesdighted ? The nett-
.
•
tral lie who had not an enemy on the seas,
rushes a display of all this. 'pomp and (circum-
stance of war,' and then complains of
vtlft hosti-
lity of those who had .used ail their: i enslea-
vouTs to avoid his doui.;lo-vholted reutrct?iti
'lf to all these scircuinsvapcs, we :
portant consideration that 'C...pt'sin Bhaghain.wns
d;rected, by Adiniral Sawyer's instr..,...tions,
be particularlyscareful :2011.0 give any just --e use
of oieace to•the Governinent or Sehjects- of: the
Vnited .states of Amerio4-;' .and that Mr. Atadison
has thougilt fit to conceal- the orders under which
Cominodore ItodgerS chased the Lille Belt, ‘ve
think it is pretty clear, that the y.-isest policy of
the American Government would have been to
have wrapped up the conduct of their Commodore
in profound obscurity; and. covered, Avith.the..yeil
ofnOiscretion, this uncalled for effusion of Ameri-
can valour.

to

England has voluntarily and distinctly disclaim-
ed the practict of searching ships of war. Not
content. with this concession, th e Vaited States
set up the pretension that free shit-s make free
goods,' and claim the right: to use the ocean
as the common and acknowledged highway of

I. :This ci.aim, we presume,
tis put forward either
to deny the r right of searcgi' of merchant vessels,
.or to provoke a discussion of the -English title to
the dorniaion.and sovereicuty of the seas. _ It will
not be our misfortune, we sincerely hope, to see .
the
u day when the former shall be abandoned. As
to the latter, we. re of -opinion that the .preten-
.... . .
sions to this right,'!et -up by • Belden and-others,
Went no, farther than that right. which conquest,
• . •
.and an uninterineted. superiority..of naval. pover
had achieved, acid Which bad obtained the sanction
.of most of the _nations Of Europe,. • •
Great Britain never pretended to‘anylegal and
possessory right, to the exclusion of others. The
first idea ofsea dominion seems to have been taken.
.from the ordination of the laws of Oleron,.which.
were promulgated from that island by Richard L
on his return from the Holy Wars, obeyed by all
seafaring people in the .Western parts.. cf -the
world, and made the common standard o:.r:ght
and wrong in the maritime law of nations. It
must, however, be obseived that Richard Was
Puke of Aguit-ain and Normandy, and, in right -
pf.the latter, lord orrhoth sides the-English Chan-
nel.; which, reason a code of- laWs was neces-
sary to
rregidate the intercourse between his
glish arid French subjects, and those of-his-allies,.
. and for_the more speedy and impartial deterinina-
tioll of all coritrover',;ies Which might occasionally
.arise.. The. laws- of Qierbn are bia, in fact, a
.transcript of the old 1--thodian laws, to which all
• the • surrounding nations • conformed ; and the
adoptiOn of them in England infers no more a sea.
...dominion, than it conferred on the Romans the

,,soverelg-iity of the Medit,:rranean, for conforming
themselves, in their un:n-itinie ac fairs, to the laws-
of the little republic of rthodes. The ordinance-
. ...
at Hastings, maide by King John in the second.,
.year of his reign, ordered all ships laden or,empty,
r to strike their sails at the conimat d of theaina's
governor pr admiral,. .or King
.John, being in possession of Normandy, was lord
9f both shores; it has never been disputed
that he is lord of the intermediate river who is
lord of both . banks. This, therefore,. was no-
thing more
,than a mere municipal regulation for
merchant ves4els, and, implied nothing, whatever
'of sovereignty.
The right of, the flag7as.dem,anded from all na-
tions in the British seas; from a very early period.
of our, iy,.val history.
Philip IL of 'Spain was, shot at by the LOla Ad-
miral of England, for wearing his flag in-the
row seas, whenhe came over-to marry!. ,2ueen.4ary,
Sir William Cllonson says, that in 1605,
with a Dutch Admiral in Dover roads, ail
him not only strike'his flag, but keep it in ail the
while he was ia.company.
In the Earl of Northumherland's first yoyagc to

E-'a, the Happy Return, meeting the Spanish fleet,
ca-AsiSting ;26:_sail, between Calais and Dun-

kirk, nmde th'ein strike on their own coasts.
In 1647, a lieu of Swedish men of war,: and ten
ineTell2-:;it-fi,,tn, bound for Constantinople, refusing
to strike to some of our men of war off the Isle of.

an engagement ensued, and they wereall
into the Downs, but soon released,

In 167'2, the
,Count D'Etrees, Vice-Admiral of
France,.joining the Duke of York, with a s'qua-
droll of 34 men of war, saluted I)im witb 13 guns,

ant strurk his flag.

In• 1663, Sir R. Tloi es, going- down the Sv-in,
in the Charles., met the King of Denmark's bro-
ther coming into the river with his' flag flying, and
suffered him to go by without striking, for which
:was sent to the Tower. " •

•
1n,1675, Captain, Joseph Harris,, Commander
of the Quaker ketch, ha.ving struck his topsail to
a Spanish man of war, in the. Pay, of Biscay, was
tried atl Court-Martial, and sentenced to be shot
to death ; and he was accordingly brought upon
deck, and men stood ready with their muskets to
•
shoot him ; but was pardoned, unier the Great
Seal, consideratiori of- his former good services,
and knovrn prOofs of courage.

King Charles H. in. his declaration of war
against the Dutch in 1761, observes,—` The right
of the flag is so ancient, that it was• one of the
first prerogatives of our royal predecessors,- and,
Ought to be the last frdm which this kingdom
should ever depart,' Sic.—Ungrateful insolence !
that they should contend with us about the domi-
nion of those seas, who, even in the reign of our
royal father, thought it an obligation to be per-
mitted to fish in them !' And King William's
cleclavation. bf -war against France, in 1689, has
these words :—"rhe right of the flag, inhercnt
in the Crown of England, .has been disputed by
Lis (Louis's) orders, in violation of, our sove-
reignty in the narrow _seas, which, in all ages,
has been asserted-1;v our preflecessors, and which
we are resolved to maintain for the honour of our
crown, and of the English nation.'

In the general printed insttnctions'to the Com-
manders of ships of war, issued by Order in Coun-
cil of 1734, and continued down to 1806, the arr
ticle runs thus

When any, of his Majesty's ships shall meet
with any ship or ships, belonging to any foreign
Prince or State, within his Majesty's sears (which
extend to Cape Finist4rre), it is expected that the
said foreign ships do strike their topsail, and take
in their flag, in acknowledgment of his Majesty's
sovereignty in thoSe seas ; and if any shall refuse,
or offer to resist, it is enjoined to all Flag Of-
ficers and Commanders to use their utmost endea-
vours to compel them thereto, and not suffer any.
dishonour to be done to his Majesty.'
But the right of the flag, as well as that of
searching ships of war, has been abandoned.—
When the glorious victory of Trafalgar had swept
every hostile fleet from the ocean, the new gene-
ral printed instructions}, Li sued immediately after
that battle, dropt the article respecting the flag
altogether. How far this concession of a right
so highly prized,by our ancestors, was wise or po-
litic, we will not trust our feelings to argue. But
it is, at least, a refutation of the charge so 'fre-
quently brought against us of being the tyrants
of the sea.' Possibly, indeed, it is not our in-
justice, but our too great concession and mode-
ratien which has produced or encouraged these
captious complaints. Had England maintained
the state of her naval throne, America would
never have dared tO refuse obeisance and reve".
rence to her power.

The modern Charlemagne, however, talks of
restoring the liberty of theseas.' A specimen
of what that liberty would be, were the French
fig triumphant, the, Americans• have already had
in the destruction oft their merchant 'vessels by
French incendiaries: Let Mr,
.iefferson himself
furnish the description. Speaking of French
armed vessels (but concealing the naine), some
some without, and.. others with illegal
they bare captured,' 'says be, at
the very entrance of our harbours; . as well as
.
upon the high seas, not only .the vessels of our
friends, coming to trade wit'a us, but-`our own
alAo : they have earrie,d them off
,under pretence
of legal e.djueication ; but not daring to approach
a court of justice, they- have plundered and sunk.
them by the way, in obscure places, where no
evidence, could ariseagainst them, maltreated the
crews, and abandoned them in boats in the open
sea, or on desert shores, ,without food or cover-
*. "Yet it is by these people that America
expects, her maritime rights' to be respected ;,\
these are the apostles of the liberty of the seas.
3. The impressment of American seamen fur-.
nishes an inexhaustible topic of 'appeal to the
passions of the multitude. In the last. messagel
Mr. Madison Adverts to it only in a general '‘vty
among those other wrongs of which Amerilea has

c6rarnssions,

* Zeffereon's Nlesc,i C,,‘ltig:e.3s, iu December, 1805.

to complain r but. clic. C6mmittee rr.4ke ample.
amends for the President s silence,

'While we are laying before you the just com-
plaints of. our, merchants against the plunder of
their ships and cargoes (by tbe.French, let it he
observsri, thiangh designed as a charge- against
England), we cannot refrain from presenting to
the justice and 13urnanity of our own country the
unhappy case of, our impressed seamen. Althotgli
the groans, of these victims of barbarity for ,the
loss of (what should be dearer to the American's
than life) their liberty, although the cries of their
wives and children, in the privation of protectors
and parents, have of late been drowned in the
louder- qlamours at the loss of propertyi yet is the
practice of forcing our mariners into the British
Navy, in violation of the rights of our.flag, car-
ried on with unabated rigour and severity.'