The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-10-18
elraaeai, JnteIiigenee.
From q late London aap.r.

traordinary iucon(ifency & inconer,itv. wh;c,
mutt Immediately frike every man upon tn,
hrit glance. they begun by telling us that Their,
is but one wayof making peace-That they
VIII nave the peace of Amiens, {" the Who'll,
peace OF Amens, nothing but the peace oil
r. Am,ens.--france will never fgn any Others
five days atterwaro: they declare, "that there
are feuo ways of making peace-the one either
to iubfcribe TO the peace ofAmiens, or TO con.
lent, with rcfpeet to the affairs of the continent
ana OF india, to the maritime right, and to the
! rsnt or blockade, TO reciprocal comperfatiops
ana retitutions, which were not in the contem-
piation of that treaty.' From thefe eyprefIi-
ems. and indeed from the manner in which the
inbett is treated in the official paper, it is evil
dent that the French government themfeIves
nave abandoned The idea of rc-eftabIifhiHg the
treaty or Am'ens, and that they are prepared
10 negotiate upon different bafis--the BATS of
reciprocal rettItntions and computations. They
.nen communicate to us their ideas with refpeGt
70 c tine nature OF thoie refitutions and compen-
iations, accompanied with a preliminary pane
eyrIc upon the Emperor's moderation.
Ii the Moniteur has correctly ftated the ma
ture OF thefe reftiiutions and congratulations. il
would be eafy to predid III Hmine the ifue of A.
ny negocIatIon which might be opened with the
french government. We are not to be permit
tea 10 negotiate upon any BATS calculated TO
reitore the equilibrium of Europe, without con-
ienting to reitcre the equilibrium of the Eaft-Ip.
dies. In all thefe difcuiiions upon the eouiE-
Drum OF Europe, the French confider no other
power to be at all interefed in it, but Great
Britain. We who are efs concerned in it than
Auitria, Rutiia, and PruiIia, are called upon TO
make all the facri6ces and retitutions which
france may deem TO be az equivalent for her
combating to reitoreit. Bat the equilibrium of
inc Eat-lndies! Does France mean by that
exprefion, that we fhall content to give her fnch
footing in the Eat-Indes, as to enable her.
with the Mahratta powers, to eftablif, ba
lance againft cur power and preponderance in
that part al, the world To the reititution OF
del-there would not probably be any object
on but we are iure that no minifter of this
country would ever content to any increafe of
her territory in that quarter, more Especially af-
ter her intrgues which have been difcovered
with the Mahratta powers. But the French
always keep that part of the fubjeet out of fight
they route the Mahratta powers againft us,
and then, becaufe we reduce them to filbmiffi-
on, and do that, which we have clear right to
do, cripple their power, they characterize us as
influenced by nothing but the mott rapacious
and inordinate ambition.
Another demand which the French make, is
the abandonment of tie right of blockade. Up
curious doctrines--t wifhes the right of block
adc to be thus defined: place blockaded on
all lides, by lend as well as by fea. What would
be the effect of fuch definition? The whole
advantage would be on the fde of France for
when could We be in condition to exercile it /?
Suppofe we were to blockade Rochefort, 10
RENT, or any other port ever 70 clofey by fea !;
of what avail would it be? We mutt permit
the enemy to receive, by fea, flores and fupples
| which fAe could not perhaps procure in any o.
ther way, becaufe we have not force blockad-
ing tho!e parts by land AS well rs by fea. This
demand arifes we fuppofe out of Bonaparte's
Laws of Nations. Vattel cxprefsly fays: "If
| lay iicge toa place, OF limply blockade it,
have right to hinder any one from entering it,
and to treat as an enemy whoever attempts to
enter the place, or carry any thing to the be.
| ieged without my leave."-He fays too" Ir
the long and bloody war carried on by the Uni
ted Provinces againft Spain for the recovery ~
their liberties. they would not fnffer the EngIifl
TO carry goods to Dunkirk before which the
Dutch feet lay" This, upon the authority o
Grotius, he thinks they had clear right to do
At the fame time we mutt confefs, that it feem
to be an undue extenhon of the right to- declar
a long line of coat upon which we may hay
no force, in Gate of blockade. To the relin
quilhment Of the right 70 extended, there nigh
be much objection; but it is ridiculous to fup
pofe for moment that we fhould ever acced
TO the definition propofed by the Moniteur
which, in fact, would be an Abandonment Of tn
right altogether.
i 1t mua be confelfed that the anxiety whic
the French evince upon this fubie6t is a ftron
proof of the efficacy of our fyftem Of blockade
the greater, therefore, their anxiety to induc
us to abandon it, the ftronger it ought TO b,
, and Of courfe will be, our attachment to it.