Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1808-05-06


makes his protest, and sends i; 20 the near
est A.nericaD minister or Consul. When
he rctuTDs hcmc, he transmits the duplicate
ct his protest To the secretary of state In
process OF time, the names of the impress
sed men, and of the ship into which they
have been Impressed, are received by the
agent in London; he makes his demand
thatth men may be delivered up; the lords
! OF the admiralty, after a reasonable time
Tor enquiry and advertisement, return for
answer, that the ship on foreign station.
and their lordships can, therefore, take no
further steps In the matter; or, that the
ship has been taken, and that The men have
been received in exchange for French pri
soners; or, that the men mad no Projections
(thc imprcssing officers often havin,. taken
them from the men) or, that the men were
Ifro6ooly British subjects or, that they
have entered, and taken the bounty: TO
which the officers know how TO reduce
them); or, that they have been married
or settled in England. In all these cases.
without further ceremony, their d scharee
| is refused. Sometimes, their lordships. In
a vein Of humor, inform &C agen.. that the
man has been discharged as Uaseruicea5ye
sometimes, IN sterner tone, they say he
was an t0'foStor Or perhaps, BIZ way of
consolation TO his relatives and friends, they
!
nations in amity with his country. some
times they coolly return, that there is no
SHch man on board The shin and what has
become OF him, the sgones of wife and
Children In his native land may be left to
conjecture. When all these and MANY n
Their sucn apologies for refusal fail, the ma
tive American is discharged; and when. bv
the charitable aid of his government. h,.
has found his way home, he comes to be in
formed, tina, all is rs it should be that the
number of his fellow sufferers l. smaN !.
that 1t was Impossible to distinguish him
from an Engiishman (; and that lie was de-
hvered up, on duly authenticated hroof
Enough OF this disgusting subject; can
not stop to calculate howmany OF these
wretched victims are natives of Massachu-
setts, and howmany natives OF Virginia /
Cannot stop to solve that knotty question of
national Jurisprudence, whether some OF
them IN ght not possibly he slaves and thet,.
tore not citizens of the u. States cannon
stay to account for The wonder, WHY, poor.
and ignorant, and .riendless, as most OF item
are, the voice of their complaints is so sci.
dom heard IN the navigating states adj
mt nat we have endured this cruel indie.
nity, through All the administrations OF the
gems raj government. 7 acknowledge that
BRITAIN Claims the right of seizing her sub
1t we could acknowledge it the line Of dis
mlnaticn would be difficult to draw. We
are not In "a condition to maintain right. Inv
war, and as the British government have
been n.ore than once ON the point OF giving
Il up OF their own accord, would still hope
for me day when returning justice shall in
cuce then 10 abandon 1t, wIthouC compui.
SION. Her subjects we do not want Tie
degree o. protection which we are bound
To extend TO them, cannot equal the claim
OF our own citizens. | wouiu subscribe 10
any compromise o! this Contest, consistent
with the rights of severe gnty, the duties of
humanity, and the principles cfreciprocity
our to the right OF forcing even her own
subjects out of our merchant vessels on the
hiSn seas, 1 never can assent
| Ihe second point upon VIII CHI Mr.. Pick.
ering defends the pretensions of CT. Bri am
J Is nee DENIAL to neut al nat ons of the right
OF prosecuting with her enemies and their
coionles, any commerce from which they
are excluded In time Of peace. HIS state
inent OF this case adopts he British doc
trine, as sound The rtght, us on the que.
ton of impressmenJ, So ON th.s, it suIren
ders at discretion and it is equally defec
tive in point o; fact
In the hrst place, the claim of Or. Britain,
IS not to 8 a right OF IMPOSING on this neu-
bat OF III eFdicting 1t altogether, at her plea.
sure, OF lntcrdicting II without a moments
notice to neutrals, after solemn decjsionsof
her courts Of admiralty, aud formal &C.
acknowledgements Of her IaInis ers, that it is
Lawful! trade and, on such sudden, unno.
tined interdiction, Of pronDu',cing upon all
neutral commerce nav. gazing upon the faith
OF her decisions and nowledgments, and
OF gorging with conhscaton The greediness
OF her cruizers ; this is The right claimed
by Britain this is the power she has eyer,
cised; what Mr.. Pickering calls "limits
and restraints" she calls reiaxations of her
right.
1t is but little more than two years, since
this question was agitated both in England
and America, with as much zeal, energy
and ability, as ever was displayed upon any
question Of national law. The British side
was supported by sir William Scott, Mr..
Ward, and the author of War IN Disguise.
But even in Britain their doctrine was efu-
ted TO demonstration by the Edinburgh re-
viewers. In America, the rights Of our
country were maintained by numerous wri-
! tiers profoundly skilled in the science Of ma
tionai and maritime law. Ghe Gnever TO
War in Disguise was p cribed to a gentle
man whose talents are universally acknow-
lodged, and who by his official situatsons
had been required thoroughly to investigate
every question Of conflict between neutral