The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-07-18

/ jurisdiction! Were we not on the high seas,
where as much of the Ocean, on which
the neutral bottom floats, is, as it were, a
portion OF the sovereignty of the country. to
which she belongs-witht the simple excep.
tiOn Of those two cases which the laws of ma
tions mad estabiisheds
1t was fortunate for inc that this man mere
ly met the arguments which, was thus urging
upon him. with bind stupidity and an AIR OF
proud defiance. MANY an.epauletted scoun-,
drel in his situation would have stopped me
in my harangre, with the blow of his Cut
lass The only reply which he condescen-
ded to make me, however, was, that his
Master wanted the services OF such chaps
as myself to man his fleets. :. Your mas
ter! And WHAT'S he to me-. Your master
is not mine. And, what arc,his wants TO ME
or tony country! Your imt.,mous baeshot
murdered and robbed the innocent traveller
on the. highway. because. he wanted his
purse. Your nation tyrannises over every
sea, because she wants to be the sovereign
of the seas. The great Napoleon overstcps
the bounds OF justice, because he aspires to
he the sovereign of the lapd. If the real or
affected wants of, every man or nation were
to be taken as the standards Of justice, what
would there be in the hands of the good,
however preciouS to them, which might not
be put under requiSition by the weakest or
the worst of menl" These were. the last
words, which uttered-for one, of his myr
midoms lifted up an-in,menSe bludgeon and
with one blow felled inc tothe Deck. Twas
Immediately borne of in their boat to their
floating He'll" My companions, my pro-
perty, every thing which was dear to me in
the world, was thus in one moment torn from
me-. / was cast like a dead dog. into the
noisome hold of their, ship OF war;, where
was thrown into the heaviest CHAINS
these .inhuman. wretches after having la
wished flood or curses upon my head, were
charitable enough to leave me for few mo-
ments to my meditations. 80,
What sad vicissitudes had my destiny IN
dergone in the course of one short hour F,or,
a merchant vessel of tile U: States, I was
suddenly transferred to the hold of British
man OF war;. l was once freemanLnow "a
slave. Once, accustomed to tread the decks
OF my native Country with bold and heaven
born spirie-Sc now dependant upon the nod of
British officer, for the very air which 1
breathed. Twas torn from my friends, from
my native country, from the birth right of a
freeman-my wages were reduced-the rod
OF capriciou3 authority was now vibrating
yer my head. called to mind my unfortu-
nate countrymen who were iucarcerated IN
the old Jersey prisonship-perishing amidst
| the barbarities of :Britain-the Goddess of
Cruelty herself, as the fine print in Barlow's
Columbiad represents her, stationed over
the grated deck and drinking in their pite-
Gus crieswith ears of delight. recollected
my starving countrymen, cooped up in the
prisons OF Philadelphia-their inlmman mas
ters kicking over the meagef soup, intend d
! tor their subsistence, and insulting them with
| the exclamation: Down upon the pave
ment, yon rebels--lap it up like dogs"-I
compared my situation to- theirs But then
! they were in the midst of a revolution, con-
tending for their independence Now nv
| Country had taken herrank amongst the ma
lions of the Earth. How long will she tole.
rate the cruelties, which are inflicted upon
her impressed sons,
! In my next, sir, shall expatiate upon the
mlseries which have endured during my
captivity. and my escape from them
BEN BUNTING.