Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1808-04-18

. ItlaI
" restored to the precise state IN Whlch
they were previous TO the act Of dis
possession. The Spanish government
made some difficulties requiring par
ticulariy disavowal, on the part OF
Great Britain, of the conduct Of her
officer at FaKland'S Islands, which, 1t
was alledged, gave occasion 70 the steps
taken by the Spanish governor and
proposing an adjustment by mutual
stipulation in the ordinary forms.
The reply was that the moderation
! of his Britannica majesty having limit
ed his demand 10 the smallest preparation
he could accept for the injury done,
nothing was left for discussion but the
mode of carrying the disavowal and
restitution into execution retaration
losing lis Uaiuc fit be conditional and
to be obtained by any stipulation what
ever from the party injured.
The Spanish government yielded.
The violent proceedings Of its officers
were disavowed. The fort, the port,
and every thing else were agreed to be
Immediately restored 10 the precise sit
uation which had been disturbed and
duplicates Of orders issued for the pur-
pose to the Spanish officers, were deiv-
cred into the hands of enc Of the British
principal secretaries Of state. Here
again it is to be remarked, that satistac-
ton having been made for the torcible
dispossession the islands lost their i'm
portance in the eyes Of the British
govelnm ent, were in short time eva
cuated and port Egmont remains with
every other part Of them in the hands
of Stain.
Could stronger pledges have been
given than are here found, that an hon
durable and instant reparation would be
made in case, differing no otherwise
from those recited than as it furnished
to the same monarch Of great nation,
an opportunity to prove, that adhering
always to the same immutable princi-
pie, he was as ready to do right to 9TH
ers, as to require ii for himself
Returning to the instructions given
to the minister Plenipotentlary OF the
! United States at London, ! am to OBJ
serve that the President thought it just
and expedient to insert as a necessary
ingredient in the adjustment Of the
outrage committed on the American
frigate security dgain8t the future frac-
tice Of the British naUat commanders, IA
Undressing from merchant Ue88eIs Of
the United States on the high seas, such
Of their crezvS as they might undertake %
denonunate British su6jecl8.
TO the association Of the two sub
iects, the President was determined,
lst by his regarding beth as resting on
kindred principles the immunity Of
private ships, with the known excep-
tions made by the laws ofnations, being
as well established as that of public
ships ; and there being no pretext for
including in these exceptions the i'm
| pressment Off it could be freed from its
enormous and notorious abusesN of the
subjects of a belligerent. The rights
ola belligerent against the ships Of
neutral nation, accrue merely from the
relation OF the neutral to the other bel
ligerent as in conveying to him contra
band Of war; or in supplying a blocka-
ded port.
! The claim Of a belIigerent to search
+, for, and seize on board neutral vessels
on the high seas, persons under his
allegiance does not therefore rest on
any belligerent right under the law Of
nations, but on a prerogative derived
from municipal law and involves the
eA.rayagant supposition, that one ma
ton has right to execute at all times
and in all cases, lis municipal laws and
regulations, on board the ships of an
other nation not being within its terrific
tial limits.
! The President was led to the same
! determination, IDLY, by his desire Of
converting particular incident into an
/ occasion for removing another and
more extensive source Of danger to the
harmony Of the two countries :; and
! 3dly, by his persuasion, tina, the Eber-
atty Ofthe propositions authorized with
this view, would not fail TO induce the
ready concurrence Of his Britannia
| Majesty and the more extensive
source ofirritation and perplexity being
removed, satisfactory adjustment of
the particular incident would be the
less difficult The President still thinks
that such would have been the tendency
ofthe mode for which he had proyi-
ded and he cannot, therefore b,Itre-
! gret, that the door was shut against the
experiment by the peremptory refusal