The Sun.
London, England, 1812-05-29 00:00:00

VALII.4..ILS
IIV (Ai U NCIL.

The-e has been so much mistake, mitconcep•
tion, and misreprz....Famtation upon this subject, ,
that we avail ourselves of an article which ap;
peared lathe last number of The Quarterly Review;
a work distinguished for learning, judgment, and
true constitutional principles. - This article treats i.
the subject in question in so able a manner, and
takes so comprehensive a vi.:.'w of it, in all its bear- ~
z.,
in ga a*...1 relations, that we are persuaded it will
afford satisfaction satisfaction to our Readers in general, and.
excite conviction in all minds, that are exempt -
from the bias of Party, as to the policy of thosei
measures which have been so violently condemned' ,
by ignorance and obstinacy, and which were not-1
only strictly justifiable as measures' of -retaliation,
but, absolutely necessary for a due support' of our
national character, •as well as of our commercial
interests.. The article which follows, is a revievi
of sonic pamphlets, to which the subkethas"given
occasion.

In the message of the President of the United
States, Communicated to Congress on the sth of
November last, Mr. .Madison concludes a long
string of complaints against Great Britain, with
a recommendation that they should assume ".ao.
armour and an attitude demanded by the, crisis..*
Whether any or- all 'of these complaints, are well
or ill grounded, one thing at least must be quito
obvious to those who have paid any attention t 7
.the proceedings of the Ainerican GoVernment,
namely, that, ever since the accession of that
stout republican and, stern philosppher. of .the
new school, Thomas Jefferson, there has existed s
strong disposition on the part of the ,American
Executive to quarrel with Great Britain tb seize
every occasion of exciting a hostilefeeling between
two nations, whOm their relation to each other io
point of origin, of language, and of habits, to say ,
nothing of common intOest, ought to predispose
to amicable intercourse,.,and mulual good will;
and whom it is equally obvious that it is theinte-',
rest,of France to disunite And to array against each; '
other.

Of the origin of this spirit in the American Go-
- -
vernment, we shall say a• few words hereafter. At
present it will be our btisinessto,examine'into the
truth of the allegations of the President's' mcF--
sage, anti the object of those menaces lierd fdrtEi
in the report of the Col unittee; to whom. that part
of it relating to foreign affairs was referred, se-
ting aside some points of minor importance, tLt
wrongs complained of by Mr. Madison may, we
conceive; be comprehended under the threci
fcl-
lo heads :

.1, The assumption of new principles of bloc4"-
ade, and,, on the part of Great Britain, the rigor",
ous execution of certain Orders in Connell, in vi"-
olation of neutral -commerce and neutral rights,
2. The right of search claimed by .Great Bri"
tain, and the wrongs sustained by America in..tbe
execution of it.

3. The impressment of American seamen.
The first point, however, it would seem, e'X'
braces the heayieSt of their grievances. The rat:.
ber
.of the Senate who brings up the report of the
Committee, is stated to say that, in the opioiolk
of the Committee, the Orders in Council Wero,
themselves a sufficient cause of war ;" that I.tfi"
tish encroachments were such as to demand wart
as the only alternative to obtain justre'e.;" JL
that " it-was the determination of the Counnittee
to recommend open war to the utmost energies of
the nation." •

The report; to be sure, is sufflcientlr warlike-
It states-- that « France, availing herself of the
proffers Made equally to her
snerny by the Non-
importation. Law of May; 1810, announced the
repeal, on:the Ist of the following. November, of
the Decrees of Berlin and Milan •" and that in
consequence thereof, " it was confidently expect'
that this act, on.the part of France, would have
been immediately followed by a revocation, on CO
jinrt of Great-Britain, of her Orders in Council
but that "in this reasonable expectation thej.
were disappointed" and it goes, on to say, " it
affords a subject of Sincere congratulation' to be
informed, through the official organs of the Go"
Vernment, that-those decrees are, so far least as
our rights are concerned, really and practically at
an end." The. President, however, in his mes-
sage, not -venturing to go the wholelength of tbis'
assertion, expresses only a "hope that the mecca"
sive Confirmettions of the extinction of the French
decrees, so far as they violated the neutral corn"
coerce of the. United States, would have i:aduced
the Goverlment of Great Britain to repeal her
Orders in Council."

, The " hope" and the " eiPectation" held out
by the President and his‘Coriunitt;..e, would have
been" reasonable" enough, prcvided the grounds
of them had been true. But Mr. Madison knell'
perfectly v ell; 37nd Lis Committee knew also, if
they knew any thing of the subject, that daring
the si;lole of last summer French privateers, ill

the Baltic and Moliterranean, took every Ameri-
can vessel they fell in with, and carried them for
condemnation into the ports of Italy, Danteig.,
. .and Copenhagen. He knew that every week
American ships and cargoes hld suffered sequestra-
tion in the ports of France, which Woeful experi-
• ence had taught him to consider as 'pretty nearly
the same thing with confiscation. Nay, at the
Very moment, when the Committee were making
their report, a small squadron of French frigates
that had escaped from the Loire, were pillaging
and plundering Ainerican vessels 'in the Atlantic.
In fact, all America knew that no decree nor pro-
clamation had ever been issued by.Buonaparte,
announcing the revocation of the Berlin and Milan
decrees; and that Mr. Madison had availed him-
self of a mere conditional communication made to
General Armstrong, which, from its more, must
have been nugatory, as the condition was one
Which no person could expect to be performed.--
The President, indeed, is compelled to acknow-
ledge that no proof whatever had yet been given
by France of any intention to repair the other
tvrongs dove to the United States, r and particu-
larly to restore the great amount of American pro-
perty seized and condemned under edicts, which,
though not affecting their neutral relations, and
therefore not entering into questions between the
'United States and other belligerents, were never-
theless founded in such unjust principles, that the
reparation ought to have been prompt and ample.'
This being only a French aggression, is kindly
taken on the part of Mr., Madison ; and though
It he cannot conceal that the United States have
//Inch reason to be dissatisfied with the rigorous
and unexpected restrictions to which their trade
With the French dominions has been subjected ;'
Tet, against England only and her hostile in-
flexibility,' he thinks it necessary to recommend to
Congress to put the United States into an ar-
mour, and an attitude demanded by the crisis '

It may be useful to inquire how .the fact really
stands between the two belligem.as and neutral
America, and against which., as the original and
Principal aggressor, if she really be aggeieved, the.
hostility of the latter might be expected to be
Pointed. •We have no intention to diScuss over
'gain the merits of the vai;:ious Orders in Council.
'he question to be now considered is one of fact
`ter than arguw:ent. The circumstances in
ich neutrals P.:re placed by the peculiar charac-
of the present war, are entirely novel. France,
lone 'ner utmost to extinguish neutrality alto -
1-Nthat of America has survived only by the
'ention of the Atlantic. 'At an early period
ar, the skill and valour of our seamen had
swept from the face of the ocean every
hether of war or commerce, belonging to
ny ; but while her colonies in the Eastern
Vestern Hemisphere remained in her pos-'
;he continued to enjoy the benefits of a
with th6se colonies without any of its
ugh the channel of neutral America.—"-
k marine, it is true, was, in like man-
driven from the sea in the war which
n 1756 ; and they had recourse then,
to employment of neutrals, for sup-
)lonies, and bringing back their pro-.
ize Courts, however, condemned
ts of neutrality, on the principle
has no right to carry on a trade
of one of the belligerent powers
'n a way that was prohibited. by'
of peace.' On this principle
`hat war. The same 'rule was
fining, out 'of the revolutionary
of all the colonies of France
to every neutral flag. The
=our against the rule, on the
been abandoned, during the
however, was not true :
led, it was actually put in
nary relaxations it under-
'he first instance, to the
great measure, to carry
'ade ; and, 'secondly, tp
,that they had entirely
1, and meant t'o Ithrow
t nations in time of
step beyond this,and
ts, for the first time,
rt the war of 1756 ;
title to an. ancient
Mg. an establidied
says, that Great
as acted upon or
One might, in.
the date of the
?lent to satisfy
country which
)nd place, it is
1 the practice
carrying on
Tere neither
\or is Great'
a sanction