Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-05-25

Ieoratcd statue of gold held outby the British
ministry as the reward of seditious services
m the U'States, think it is undeniable that
the administration will not go to war, be-
cause (pray mark their reason y the Presi-
deHt mas ordered Amelia Island 10 be restor-
ed to The Sfaniards. 1t is not long, since the
same prints Eepro2ched Mr.. Madison for
taxing possession of it, and endeavorcd 70
render him odious by giving him nick name
IA Vulgar practice, for which these gazettes
ar much famed. But why should the relin-
,ishment of the Island to the Sy1aniards, be
Construed into nact otpacihcaton to the Bri-
'ish IL We d1 not fight Spain. it is no proof
that we do not mean to chastise Great Bri-
tam: On the contrary, it proves only that
we are DESTROYS Of rendering our enemy as
single us zyc can that it is Great Britain
alone that we mean To fight--Great Britain,
whose Admiralty Courts, Vice and High,
have been the death beds of our commerce,
and whose officers have, like the first born
OF death, devoured its remains. Granted
mat Amelia is restored TO the Spanish au-
ihorit;es the nation may well give up that
which it never conquered. The ". States
dlsdain 10 make war, as the British make it,
before they Issue a formal declaration and
Mr.. Madison is the last man in the Union
who would sanction an outrage on the rights
OF any power, however that power may have
violated our own.
Some of our journalists, who arc the
friends of Great Britain, have given them
selves the trouble 70 assure the American
public, that the greatest hGins. the incest
| care is taken, by the British magistracy on
the Canadian frontier, to prevent the least
act of hostility against the citizens of the u
nited States so that il war does take place
(quoth these English apologists) the ./dUt
gsW be al Our oyvn. It really requires a
coed command of temper to listen to this
| monstrous attempt TO impose upon the I'M
derstanding. What. then The capture Of
our ships is nothing the impressment Of
our seamen is nothing 81 long as affairs are
well conducted on the Canada line: And
| although fnr more than one year past, Great
Britain has been actually carrying on war
against us, yet according to these precious
impostors, if all is safe in the direction of
Canada, the British are perfectly justi6able
1t was in the same spirit that Mr.. Foster (as
we learn) alledged early last winter, that if
hostilities took place, the United States must
strike the first blozv Now. from such an
expression. one would suppose that Great
Britain had done us no injury at all---that
she was totally innocent of all olfence---that
she had given us no cause Of complaint what
ever But, what is the fact? Hundreds of
our merch antmeu captured, thousands of
our seameu impressed, not allowed To trade
in the native productions of our soil! our
cotton, tobacco Goldfish and rice interdcted
a market, our insurance Offices struck with
palsy, our merchants impoverished and
ruined-alI by the British. And yet, ac-
cording 70 Mr.. Foster, if war is to take
place, America must strike the first blow.
Where will this shameless audacity ends
Are the plumber of our property, the slave
ry of our seamen no biozcs Is it no 6Lozy
to have every vessel that sails from our har-
bors, and that does not subject itself to
British regulations carried into an English
port and condemned We know not what
Mr.. Foster calls 6Eo7v; but we should be
glad to know what worse could happen to us
IN war, in relation 10 our interest and honor,
than actually happens to us now. BUT, the
British are peyy Precise on the Canadian
border. If we will only suffer them to
tweeak our noses, they will be very parti-
cular about touching us in the rear
a few federal prints have taken great
pains to convince their readers that Mr.
Foster has offered to restore all impressed
American seamen. We do not believe a
word of the story. We are sure il is not true
But if it were true, that is not the great
grieUance. 1t is not so much the detention
as it is the imfYcssment of our people that
we complain of: And to come up to the
point which justice demands, instead of pro-
ising to release them, Mr.. Foster should
, in the name of his government, guarantee
that none should be taken.