Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-05-30

of Europe one day adopt !"f''io S'"A ~
aa:,!,iad. 50 excellent a maxim I'll the
Of war
In the .e,se Immediately before us
yent,;rasl to SAY, that viewed the coaauc'
or the pieaIro equally fragrant as II 'ie
had come along side Of tuiton's steam
haat IN the North River, ana impressed
sll sic passengers rot having projections:
:, dis, however. Lam now we'll satisfied
upoa further reflection and examinations
, vas mistaken: because that wol!u nave
been to enter AID exercise briiiSerent
yowenviflin oar Acknowledged territory
am! therefore paIpai!e violation OF oHr
neutrality, and an insult Of the grcssest
nature. After this concession, We VIII
consider il as il actually was, a molc'';!-
ton by beiIi%trcnt cruizcr, Oh one oil our
vessel. Gil her way from enc OF our ports
20 another. The place il which she was
mel. was within 20 miles from the land,
and, therefore bY the maxim last mention
cd. within such distance Is ought to
have exempted her from sei.ions moEesta-
ton. A. s;Ich exemption, however. IS 20
be considered rather as a desirable and
"iatiit0us fay0nr. than IS an established
right, VIC will place it On that ground, and
shall! only contend than i entitled her to
miltie? treatment. that ii met with on the
high seas with foreign destination.
Surprising then il to be admitted that She
was liable to visit under such circum-
stances. it certainly was to courteous
visit only, no, to q severe scrutiny. The
utmost that ought 10 have been asked Tor
relative to the nationality OF the sailors,
was for some account Of them, OF their
birth place, 6e. &c. and any rational an
swer ought to have commanded belief and
been received as sufficient
4 sight Of the briggs papers with the
captains story, were enough 10 convince
any man, that the vessel was only bound
round from Portland to \. York, and it
was, therefore not, to be presumed that
she was provided with regular crew.
for a voyage armed with projections.
do maintain, that. in tlis ease, 10 prOtec-
tioas were 10 be locked Tor, much less de-
mandedas Indispensable. And let me here
ask what is this protection, OF which so
much is said A protection is a favour
granted sometimes by the king Of Eng
land 20 certain Of his subjects, to secure
them from imp.sssmcnt, within lis do
miniors and il is very properly granted
where the granter has power TO give it
efficacy. But what is a protection, and
with what sort Of prcpriety can it be
granted to our sailors against foreign
nation? Irow is it to be enforced But
to pass law ascribins pretended au-
thOri,y to a certain instrument, without
nym.ans to enforce its execution, is con-
temntible folly it is worse, it is no less
than trap to the unwary seamen. Elk
pericnce ought long since to have taught us
this. The truth is, protection is, i'll re-
ali;y not a whit better than piece OF
blank paper as security against impress
ment. II it is presented by sailor, who
carries in his personal appearance proof
that he is an American, then his protec-
ton is perhaps received as evidence that
he is 50; but whenever it is offered by
ole whose tongue betrays foreign accent,
his protection is laughed at. Thus it is
regarded as a test when no test is wanted,
and no test in any other case. This, to
be sure. bears little hard upon us, bat |
We have nobody to blame for it but our
selves. The business OF giving security
by furnishing our sailors with projections
was the contrivancc Of the democratic |
leaders in the house Of Representatives in
the early period of the government, who
held themselves up as great friends of ~
mcrican sailors, and brought in a bill that
they should all be secured by these protec-
tons: which after much Intellectual oppo-
sitios from the Senate, and several a.
amendments, finally passed into an act.
Had it been seriously intended for the
purpose ostensihly held forth by itsautlors
it ought TO have been made and would
have been made the subject of 8 treaty,
and then both sides would have been equal
ly bound to observe it; whereas by MAX
inc il obligatory upon the americans a.