The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-02-15

friendly uations upon ground 70 vague, 70 indefinite
and equvocal. Ofall law, certainty is the bea fsa-
ture and 10 rule be othsrwiie than unjui and
deipotc of which the fenre and the application are
and n,ua be ambiguous. n Eye Mtsk.'le prsfen,s
an Ineligible iiardard, by which it may always be
KNOWN that lawful trade can be carried with the
places agai1 which either has been ntiiu,ed but the
iuggs0ions upon which this belgerent eucroaeh-
ment, having all the elset ola fcze blockade is
founded, abfolutey incapable cf dGinca form,
either for the purPofe OF warning TO neutras,
the baiis OF uoio ial ientence.
The neutral merchant 6nds that III iaS, the coloi-
al ports of the parties the thrown open TO
him, by the powers which they belong; aud he
lees no hoRie iq,,sdron ihut chem againil him. Is
lie pauie and flop before he TO exerce his
natural right trade with thoe who are willing to
trade with him, until I've has enIured and determined
srly heie ports have been thus made free 20 receive
him Tosach compile, led and DISQUALIFICATION 10
nation has rgh, call him. l; ,uough tina, au
actual blockade be iet foo, coIe heie po,ts
and that they may be made the Objects oil drect ef-
'osts Tor conqaeh oocuon If the enen,ys force is
IN truth 10 entirely predominant pretended 10
be; and il it predominant that point and 20
that extent there be cauie for aicribing to
an effect which it is hyii.aly incompetent or for
allowing it do that conltruttivey which i, Cannot
do and has done actually. The perncious quail
ties of this doStrle enhanced and aggravated as
from its nature might be expected, by The fast that
Great-B Britain gives notice of the time when, or
the circumstances in which ihe 20 apply and
lniorce it. Her orders of the 9th November, lTc3
by which the !eas were i~cpt of veiitis and eff
iecis were, for the iir tie announced by the ihps
OF sar and priva.ees, by which they were carried in
to execution The late eci.ions Of her COURTS which
are in the fprit Of this doctrine and are calcu-
lated to reore in Practice that high tone of fe-
verify which miider decitions had almo0 concealed
from the world, came upon us by iurpri:e and the
captures, OF which the Dutch complained i'll the e.
ven years war, were preceded by warning. Thus
Is this principle nloa rapacious and oppreive in all
:s bearings Harih and nlyferious in iticlf, it ha.
always been and n,u be ufsd to betray neutral
merchants into trade, iuppoied be lawful, and
then TO give them up 10 pillage aud TO ruin. Conn
pared with this principle which violence and srt-
nee may equally claim for their ewn, the exploded
doctrine OF eO9ru7ipr G,skadt, by which bellige-
rents for time infulted and plundered the taes at
peace, is innocent and harmless.
That doctrine mad ioniething Of Certainty belong
rg to it, and made lafety at Leaf pof5s But there
can be ~ iafety while malignant and deeeitfu.
PrnciPe like this hangs over lt is ua what the
beilgerent chooics to make it--lurkne unhen *
un!elt-or viiible, active and noxious I, may come
abroad when it is leaf expected and the moment
OF confidence may DC the moment of deGrutaion |,
may iieep for time, hut knows whcr, it is to
wake, TO hed It's balefu nfluerc upon the commerce
.
IN what called ,riaxatioas :" but again. without
any previous intimation the deIuded citizens cf
the neutral powers thele reaxaons are fuddsny sid
ane either IN the whole in part, and the wc, O!
couiiseation commences. Nearly ten months of the
nte war mad elapied before announced fe!f NJ all
and, when it did 10, 1t in its n!oh formidable
hape, and in its fullelt power and expantjon IN a
lew weeks 1t was ieen to oe than half its fb
tance ard character; and, long before the conculion
OF the war, was icarcely percetbe. With the OPEN
my OF the preien war, 1t re-appeared in its n.ildeh
form, which 1t again abandoning for another more
conionant TO its ipirit. Such It's caprcieus ufu-
atoms, chat no commercial undertaking. which il can
III any way affect, be coniiered as oherwife than
precarious whatever may be the avoved Rate Of tn.
principle 1t the time of its commencement.
1t has been iaid that, By embaralg in the colonial
trade Of either OF the beigerents neutral nations in
lone iot, interpo!e III the wars nce they afiR and
i'IVe the bellgerent, i'll whole trade they 70 embark
II is inihcent aniwer this obl-rvaeon that the
fame courle OF reaiorirg would prove that neutrals
oueh' 10 dcontinue all trade wha;fcever, with the
parties at war. continuation Of their aeenGoyy.J
psaes trade, aiiits and itrves the be,tercnt with
whom it IS continued; aud, if this effect were lufci
ent to make trade unneufral and illegal the belt ei
abiilsd and mol ufud traffic, would of courfe he
come TO- But Great Britain fupFiies us with ano.
ther an!wer TO tins notion that our Interference in The
trace OF tile colonies of her enemies is unlawfsl he.
caGie tey are benefited by it, l. IS known that the
fame trade is, and long has bes carried on by Britii
in5ie1ta: and your menoriaA feel themfsyes bound
to Rate that according to authentic Information, lately
received, ths government of Great Britain does at
TINS moment, grant licences neutral veles tak;no
III proportion OF their cargoes there to proceed on
trading voyages to the colonies of Spain, from which
me would exclude us, upon tie condition that the re-
turn eargoes ha be carried Great Britain to ye
the gains of her merchants and to give her monopo
~ OF the commerce OF the world This great bellios
rent night, then, upon which 70 much has been fppo(
cd TO depend, is'hs into article ofbarer 1t uf-
ed, not as hottie istlrunlent, welded by war.ike
itate, by which her enemies are wounded or their co.
ionesinbdued, but as the fefh means of commercial
aggrandiiement, to the i:npovsrihment and ruin of
her friends; as engine by which Great-Britain is
20 be lifted up to vait height of PROPERTY, and the
trade OF neutrals crippled, and cruhed and dstroyed
Such acts are mott ineligible commentary upon
the principle in quenion. They flow tina, it /.
hollow and iallacious principle, fufceptble of the
WORT abuie, and incapable of ;un and honorable ao
picatioR. They thew tina: in the h,nds of great ma
Rhine fts.e, it is not, III its ofenibIe character of
weapon OF hoihy that i, is prftd Blu, rather as one
OF the means OF ettabliihng unbounded monopoly.
by which every enterprife, calculated promote natl
ona! wealth and power iiail be made to begin and
end in Grelt-Britai alone.-Such acts may well he
eoDiidered as Pronouncing the condemnation Of the
principle agarf which we contend, as withdrawing