The Statesman.
London, England, 1813-11-02 00:00:00

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TOitilEDuES.

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. . s.
• intdst 'fitE tttfCSINGII.~3t PAPER.?
.'lltstModisbooourable attempt, made, as there is too Snitch
fain $ Wilier., thier the sanction of the AtneileadExecutiie;
to destroy the Rosalie', has inddced Sir T. tlarriy to addr •sti
letters tit the Peblle .ftiodsoritles of New laindon, anctid are Go-
vernment Of the state of Connecticut, on the 'abject; In these
&r Moving states; that 4i fie W fully apprised f the ifforti to
de troy the Ronettles, and that he should do all its hi • power td
defeat them bat be thick% k right td notify publicly, that since
the lute attempt, be had ordered on beard Mins 50 tai an Amer!:
c:au prisooeN•f war, who;. in thd event of the efftirts to destroy
the ship by torpedoes, or other infernal Myra:ions; berg ~ue
cessfol, would share the fate of hintieif and hi. cten•. That in
Wheneier a vessel Sias taken, the Crew would be kept en
board until it Was rice: rained that no snare was lahLfor the de-
struction Of the British seamen; Hid that this regulation would
be Observed alien a vessel wai boarded and abandoned toy hrt
crew." Sir Thomas adds, that " his example would i.e follow-
ed by all the commanders of. his silutaltOar nese retries-ma-
tions appear to have had some egret Ow the America.. pohtic ;
for on the contents of the le:ters being known, tt public meetri.g
. was held, and as many of the citizens had relative.. arid friendd
prisoners on board the BritiA squadron, it . was 4t:erlpiaad to
present a remonstrance to the Atirerican Excentire against ti.e
farther employment of torpedoes in the ordicary course of st arx
, .
fare. ' •''

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The above ha 4 hien eoletfitto tftpst of the Nests%
papers in this' kingdom, "Writitiot remark; Sind with
apparent approbation. it notfor tire sake of crtth
rising 'the conduct of the Biitish otticesi, That it' is
made to constitute so' proolinent a .felture thil
Paper; fik-butt meat big o(terii tait'ldtetif mind in-
'deed which does not ,admtt his to be *raigitimate*
mode of Solf-security i nor itt-it With and slew to
justify the-Americans in thi -mode of aarfire tho 7
hare adopted, though, *ere 'We war-inecttleW•
and duly embued with the phi' groper to ophold
that very popular trade, we Should belt a loss to fiCid
out in what the disgrace of (iSing, torpedoed codolit-
ed. They injure and frighten, and these are the
principal purposes to which ofensiie weapons ttredes-
tined. The object of these iesittirks is discotiry
rather than dogmatical dictation ; and their source, a
wish to obtain correct notions on a very important
subject. Contraband of war, hi a mercantile sentiel'is
defined by Act of Partiament, it'd confined to cer-
tain articles peculiarly useful in enabling enemies to
provide the means of mutual injury, such as gdn-
powder,• ship timber, and hemp. Contraband 'of
action, in the modes of destroying life, remains yet a
matter of dispute; but it is to be hoped, that, iu 11160
days, when improvements in the art of destrtictiOri
are'daily making, and nothing but wholesale devas-

tation seems to suit the public taste, a proper lino
will be drawn, and every way, in which an enemy
' may be lawfully killed, be Clearly specified. A
authorising the modes of killing, and ratified by all the
Governments in the world, would not only be a great
curiosity, but save the Americans a great deal of trdu-
ble in the inventkn of annoyances, to which they seem
of late to have given themselves up, with consider.;
able success. What then are the bounds within which

the giciey4cquiring science of thinning the popula-
tion of the earth ought to be confined ? What are
the Mao-arable and dishonourable, the legal and it•
i legal-nodes of 'taking away life: ~Las ancient times,
it was held dishonourable to poison wells or streams,
that might come into possession of an enemy, whilst,
to dry or fill up the former -and to d:vert the latter,
so that he might perish with thirst, was perfectly al-
lowable. Formerly to set.prisonert In the front of a
. battle, Or on the battlements of a fortification, to as
to deter from the accustomed measures, pursued lii,
the conflict of two armies or the besieging pftowns,
was deemed' contrary to idlatuthorited wairfirq and,
we believe, if, it the late siege of ti:,Se'bistien, Rev
had exposedthiii'pitinaittri to the
,40_,0f the batteries,
hoping thereby o'46* their Opelatleas, ill Woiiid
have been execiatedio the end of time., and consi-
dered a Wretch-for ever after unfit file the society of
men; and yet netiody'SCrapies_:tit justify a si-
milar course font:lived .lay ; Sir. Thomas. Hardy
against the assadlts ofthe Americans. It will be said,
that torpedoes are different things from cannon arid
...
bomb shells,—andso they areehtted that they Una
' species of weapon, against which there is net a
chance 4 providing any defence. Buts it not tfie
character of all important new inventions toplace
i those whose` interests are opposed to the inventets„
tin a state of disadvantage, as long as the knowlet
of them is confined to their authors? whose right
,o
j the benefits accruing from their ' ingenuity, whether.
i in agriculture or manufactures, it does not seem just
lor rational to circumscribe. A new mode of watcher
or making ships, by which an ingenious man could
Ido five or• six times-as much work as can be naive
i done, in equal portions of time, by-other men, must
1 ineritablkinjure those who know °Myths usual way
;of pursuing those arts ; but they could futee no jest
[cause to.ceanplain, though.entirely ignorant of self.
defence in the adoption of readier and' mere compre-
hensive modes of labour. The• ignorance of oneis
surely nodiscredit to the knowledge and ingenuity
of another in the economy of life ; nee ought Ma-
genuity to.be undervalued, because tit men cannot
be ingenloas. Why should the cue be otherwise its
the art of.dealing death? The question is peseliag
in the highest degree, and we long for the answer
of some grave casuist on the subject. If one
nation, by superior strength, is enabled to eater
the rivers of another, to sack its towns, and forma
the women and the children to takeskelter in woods,
why should not the latter, by superior cunning,
counteract these evils ? It there more honour in a
strong man upon the water destroying hie weaker foe,
than in the weaker man under water aiming, at
the same purpose with regard to his stronger adver.
eery ! But it is said, -" that this is a weapon
against which there are no means of being on guard."
—...',There is nothing fair in the lase of it." The
firaceasertlon is nottrue, for Sir Thomas Hardy has
Oared a very sufficient defence, and, we appre-
hand it will not be used again very often.. As to the.
latter plea, we "cannot speak with, decision. As
far, however,: u. the instrument with the e:ode and
time of nelog It is compared with others, universally
approved, we should. think the plea not easily
maintal ~ Jul what respect the
dispute' ins'roment ? whilst
are'the liradon of all the world.
any mode of defence against
worse, they are calculated for ink.
householder, and used to ruin those

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Is the torpedoes it
Congreve's rock ih
rid. No nation hss
them, and, wbl,t is
Ijoring the peaceahlo
hose who have not