Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-03-18
,sso, ;fpo, from periods still more n s ear ):
!. anvn - the era Of therepasiic: ae

1850, ifno, from periods still more ear ear.
", down to the era Of thefepa0ll:: =.
Sine ~ practice ba. been recognised .,
standing regulations of Great Britain sa a.
leas, as far back AZ the year leso. na
thori,ies to that effect have oeen rees"
" laid before the public, citation VI
Which would protract these remark . -,
pr.s s war in Europe, this practice has
been probably more common tnan ~
49, w tornoer neriod. The reason, without
doubt. is. that during This PERIOD grea.,
er number of British seameh haso ,ou"a
means to shelter themselves uno''
neutral flag. This WAS the nts' ,u"'s ~
which il affected the United States as an
inJenendent nation. That they have
been more affected by it than any o'ner
nation. ba, arisen from their speaking
the same language, and from such 81.
.,;,,r;tr &c ,r,nnsrs and customs, more
striking perhaps among sea,1aFlhg pso
ple, than among those OF any other de'
scription, as renders it almost lmpossi-
bIe TO discriminate. Rao either france
or Spain been the neutral which was
carving on lucrative commerce. inc
ENGLISH sailor could not have taken re-
fure on board their ships, without being
liable to almost instant detection; oue
on hnard of an American ship II Is al
nost Impossible to distinguish him from
one of our native seamen. 1t Is natura'
for seaman to prefer peace to war; the
quiet pursuits of commerce on ooara Oh
neutral, to the dangers incident 10 TIC
service on board a ship OF the line or
frieate. This preference gwen TO the
service, connected with that tloorlshlns
state ofthe American commerce. "h.c"
enabled the merchant to give such hign
wage. to sca,pen, held out such power
fuI inducements to British sailors, as
prevailed upon vast numbers to abandon
their country and to seek employment
on board IF American ships. For seVe'
ralyears previou. to our sdoption OF the
restrictive system, which gave check
to commercial enterprise, the number
of foreign seamen, principally BRITISH
who have been in the Americas employ
have been computed to average not Tess
than 10000. 1t Cannot be denied that
the Withdrawing Of so large NUMBER Oh
a class of people, necessary in the pre-
sent situation of the country to her very
existence as an independent nation, was
such serious injury to Great Britain
as, if continued, must greatly diminish
her power, les: en- her sccurlty, q even
put her safety at hazard F.; an evil which
probably there is no nation In the world
which, situated as she is, would not ia &c
some measures to prevent ltthereiors
the question should be asked why she
resorted to the practice of impress'ng
seamen from on board our ships, the
answ er is plain ore. 1t is because thou
sands of her seafaring SUBJECTS are on
| board Of our vessels, to her manifest inju-
~ and danage, sheltered under Ame-
| rican projections, and. for that reason,
| claimed as American citizens Il there
is no arrangement whereby she can re-
claim then, in any other way. do not
| mention this to Justify the practice OF
imprcssnent, but to show what that
practice is, and what has given rise to
il 1t is impracticsble from any docu
ments within my reach, TO ascertain the
number OF seamen vino have been actu-
ally impressed from on board OF Ameri-
can ships, since the commencement OF
the present war in Europe, and, could
that difficulty be removed, still great.
er would arise, in determining what pro
portion of these are 6ons fde Americans
Various circumstances however, have
induced me to believe that The number,
particularly of real Americans, has been
by far overrated. AS a,general rule the
apparent magnitude of objects increases
is you approach them, and dimlnlshes
in proportion as the distance from them
is increased. The subject OF impress.
ment has different effect upon the op-
tics Viewed at distance, it appears
to be all object of vast magni'uds, but
diminishes in proportion as you approach
it. A natural and obvious enquiry is, to
what parts or sections Of the y. States
do these multitudes of seamen belong |!
Where are their friends, connections &
families, from which they have been
torn, and for which so much sympathy
has been expressed I? We cannot expect
to find them in Kentucky, Tennessee,
Clio, or airy where west OF the Allesa
ny. We will naturally expect to End
them in the seaports, In places where
there is the most commerce and navi va
ton. But DO we fisd those numerous
distressed families & connections here!
Enql ire of the best informed men i'll
those places, where you would natural
ly expect to hear the greatest complaints
aud you can bal Oily obtain information OF
halta dozen, where the proportion o: the
csiiu ated number vOuld he at least one.