Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-07-18

fac. when the commodore states that he
had never been able to sec the dast'ncuHe
national marks in the flag OF the Li''ie
Belt But although the eommouofe
cou,d not see the size and the force OF the
Little Belt, it is certain that captain
Bingham saw clearly the tormWao'y sa-
perior size and force Of the commodore
sinner he would not have run from her'
For this reason, when the commodore
came along side, captain bingham aimed
all his shot at the spars and rigging Oh
the President, in the hope, by some lucky
shot. to disable her, and then to erect MS
ESCAPE. And are the endeaVors OF cap
tain Bingham, during more than SIX hourS
running to get away from the fresiaeh,'
an evidence to the commodore, nhhG'
that the captain was eager to attack In
the hone of acquiring laurels and prom'-
ton? and at the eNpence oil VIOLATING:
our neutrality and insulting our nag
Tie commodore says that when 'he hrs'
shot was fired Git being IS or 20 minutes
past in the evening, and the two s"aiis
distant from 20 to 400 yards from each
o,her) captain Bingham was as Ignorant
OF the real force Of the President as 'i,e
commodore was Of that OF the L'slie
Belt. How then (upon the commodore ; >
ideasl should captain Bingham dream OF
ACQUIRING laurels and promotion by his
attack, When it might turn out to DC an
attack on a vessel OF much inferior force
70 his own The commodore will certain
ly Judge more correctly in his own case
and nc; expect an atlmirai's hag Tor "rlu-
ding" the little ship Lite Belt, and Kill
ling and wounding thirty CT her crew.
But how are we to account Tor sucil
strange ideas of captain Sing CHAINS mo-
ives for his attack, gaining in moment
possession Of the commodore's mind lie
declares that "neither his passions nor
oreiuiices had any agency in this affair :"
and vet he conceived that captain binSs-
nam, though necessarily taking him for
An enem,, intended. by attacking him, $ to
,ioate the neutrality and Insult the tag
,ftha United States !''-.After the action
was over after the commodore had
made sucl, hayock among the crew oil tie
Little Belt, he again hailed, What SHIP
S that 80 and then "ltarned, for the first
time, chat it was q ship Of his Britannia
Maiesty's." But had the commodore no
,nisgiyings. no previous suspicious as u
the national character Of the ship he pur.
sued II he had supposed her to be IA
French or an American ship (and none
other except the British were to have
been expected to be off our ccast) wouk
he have given eilhera hard chase OF SIN
orseven hours, purely to graf ty his inno-
cent curiosity to speal: her and ascertain
1chat she ,cas 2" Why should tie thot
have entered into his head that the ship
he had pursued and come up with. meant,
BY the firing OF shot, to violate the neu-
trality and insult the flag of the U. States
unlc,s he believed her TO be q British yes
sci of war: Surely, neither the e'mmQ-
dore nor any of his political friends would
entertain an idea that public ship 9. ON
loving friend the French emperor would
violate the neutrality OF the United States
or insult their flag; especially when sac
was afterwards to find an asylum IN our
DOptS. IL Is titsS, iIuCSNs s"'@e Wv >AAAIo
ror had told our rulers that they were a
miserable pack" men without just po-
,i,;cal views. without honor, without ener-
w." AMI the unresenting, abject submis-
SION with which they have borne his gross
| and outrageous reproach, proves that the
| emperor knew we'll their character, and
that his signaily conlenPtaous language
was net mlsapplied. But still, this did
not violate our neutrality nor Insult the
dignity -Four Dag. The commodore states
| that previously he had reason to feel
incensed at the repeated outrases commit,
ted on our Rag by The British ships of war;
and very much fear tina, the readers of
his own Official report of his rencounter
with the British ship Little Belt, will be
! constrained to suspect, although The COM
modore himself did not, that during the
whole of this affair. he felt that Gin pur-
suance of his orders) he was chasing and
fighting British ship Of war. and thus