The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-05-29

u uoiiiihdhe euSlny. ht tulS ConJunCture
toiled, oppressed and cast down, with a de.
vouring navy to employ, a vast mass of ma
nufaCtuies to dispose Of, jealous and appre-
hensiye of our already well-grown greatness
and commercial competition, the ministry
OF Great Britain resorted to one of those
expedients of national desperation, which
like the dishonest contrivances Of a deln-
quent individual, however they may serve
the moment. and however they may injure
others, always recoil with their worst re-
action OH their authors. The ministry of
Great Britain, behind the rampant of ma
Wy deemed impregnable, set the execrable
example OF openly violating the laws of ma
tons, and of tramphng upon the irnn,unities
OF neutrality IN order from its fragments to
level with surer effect the blows she was
aiming at victorious France. The voice of
America, fellow citizens, was ins,antane
ously and unanimously raised against this
infamous inroad on the comfy and usages OF
sovereign and neutral states. Not 2 town
OF any consequence our seaboard, but
applied tc the federal government for re-
dress, by solemn protest at'least, if not more
energetic opposition, against Britannia ag-
srievement. All parties, all classes were
united and the voice of the country des-
cended by reclamation upon its rulers, de-
manding retribution. =
with foeno wise slow to initiate their in
Justice. The conqueror of continental
Europe, III the hour of overwhelming victo-
ry-in his exulting camp-amidst the crash
OF principalities and the groans of royal
dlssolution--the arbiter of dismantled thrones
lat such tIme-in such scene-tracing
as it were the fate of worlds with the point
OF the sabre on a drum-head in the field of
battlc-the conqueror of continental Europe
wrote his fiat in answer to the fiat of Eng
iish dehance-and in an instant, by the sor-
Gerry OF power, the east and west, the north
and south were locked up in their respec-
tive precincts, and forbidden on pain of con-
hscation, conflagration, humiliation, to ap-
pear on the accustomed domains of all ma
tons. u -
we were the happiest people OIL the
earth, fellow citizens. We were reposing
In profound peace. We were governed by
magistrates who loved peace and who had
not learned from protracted, abortve nogo-
citation, that negotiation avails nothing with
the. gigantic wrong-doers we had to deal
with. Our policy was neutral. Our sys-
tenn was pacific and precautionary.--We
shut our own gates and denied ourselves
the profits, to avoid the embarrassments, of
Foreign traffic. We negotiated. When
sent away, without satisfaction, our minis
Ters returned, again and again, to the in
eXorable audiences of domination.--Sullen
silence or'insulting menaceS were the only
answers we could obtain.
Soon after, the murder of our countrymcn
IN the Chesapeake was superadded to ae.
gravate these injuries. The people rushed
to arms.-But pacific administration, still
not despairing of pacific redress, stayed the
noble ardor OF the Country---that country
which is always full of noble. ardor--whose
hnrcf rnh,, Ef., &c 81, I
scatter its enemies in prostration and dis
comfture. -
The right of search as it is called, ano.
Their of the catalogue of our wrongs, inter
polations ofvarious other indefensible claims
into the code ct nations, together with the
rigorous enforcement of certain absurd and
antiquated, but revived pretensions, were
also brought to bear upon our almost ex-
hausted patience. BY way of retaliation for
which impositions from one .belligerent, the
other exercised the more distressing, though
not more unjustihable, authority of actual
ly burning and destroying our ships and
cargoes on the ocean.
During these aggressions, Fellow Citi-
Zens, the deadliest of all, that last refine
ment upon outrage, which was reserved for
the page OF modern history, that foul, and
indelible stain on the bearings of our indie
pendence, the right of impressmen, as it is
also miscalled, has been systematically ex-
ercised on our persons and not less than
seven thousand American citizens, have
been dragged from their occupations, their
their families-scourged like mall
like galley slaves to the
sides OF British ships--exposed and slaugh-
tered like pirates--ahd their wives and
subjected an unnatural widowhood
and orphanage, while these deplorablc vic
TINS themselves. by force of British service
and British law, are compelled to become
1eni2ens of that monarchy, which prohibits
and assumes to itself jurisdic-
ton to reclaim, wherever found, the fugi-
tives from its impressmentS, its taxation x
It's ignominious harclships of existence.
1t would be easy, Fellow Citizens, to rnas--
hify this retrospect with many other jndig.
mites, and with the hideous details of those
.hus cursorily noticed. Put the 'volirfe is
already overcharged end it's necessary to
break off the narrative, which has beeti so
often so much more strikinglyurfoded tl,at
is images must be engraven on tho memory
Of every lover of his country. We might
also carry your attention from the ser to
the land: and arresting it first or the from
tier, where the tomahawk of the savage is
prompted to the butchery of our unconsci-
BUS settlers by the Internal stratarems of
ruthless England-direct it afterwards to
he more civilized department OF the union,
TO our Cities, to our firesidcs, where The
mode of attack again appears adapted to
the scene OF its operation, and glozing,
civilized British Spy is found, like tile Ser
pent III Eden, tempting our weakness with
lntried changes. and with all the witness
-. &c.