Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1813-06-10

namely securing u "a aasi apoitiing qvrong,
tat, a. the rresideHAiastIy says, they will
bear no surf of 2 ExDison; and this we
n"N propose brig yto<<}sponstrate by d
plain and simple raS
in ae nrst pncS Nto he'bbservcd, that
! Eressmcnt takes p(Ee. at Sea. where the
na,i'e American Is ,G.ist abe To prove his
nativity, and where the question must be
decided by che mere opinion Of tie British
boarding officer. on the ON. hand, or, on The
other, by the bareStleclaration & passpnr, OF
the party challenged as Br, t,sh subject--the
passport, Being generally ofNpo avail. be-
cause latte to theiRptration off.rgery-
The act Of Congress, u thecontrars, provides
that the exahlnatlonWf a6zenship, or ma
ti,ity, shall take placd 6f1$hore, where the
citizen may not onlyEprove his brth, but
where any fraud, in tbat respec', may b.
m,re easily prevented. detected, or punish
ed. n
!, the second place, it Is to be remarked,
chat. ia the csse of impresSn,ent, there is no
umpire to decide between TN accuser and the
accused, tween the -BritishIsfficer and the
person challenged as subject of Great Bri-
tain but that, contrary to- every principI of
iustirc, disinterestcd testimony is excluded,
anil the British officer is. at the same time,
sccuser and judge.-By the act of Congress a
regui:r judicial tribunal is established, con-
sisting of the collector Of the customs Nv the
United States, and of British consu or OTHER
agent Tor Grcat- Britain Before these, IL the
seaman be of doubtful navity, he must exhibit
his evidence of birth, 80 and if he does no,
satisfy The collector and consul i'll that parti-
cular, he cannO, 10 on DoaTd IN American YES :
see
Thirdly, by impressraent tn" employment of
British seanen IS Tendered only hazardous (;
by the actQt Congress 1t IL altogether pre-"
vented l1IasE1
In the fourth place, III byaimpressment, a
British officer takes an Alnerican cisizen for an
English SUBJECT, by mi lake or design, he is
not punishable for the Wrong Whereas, by
the act of Congress, u He master or commaiI.
der OF public Or priv:it vessel of the Unite''
States EMPLOYS or hrbOrs British sc am ell
nc will be most l,cavilv lined.
Filthy the recognition OF nativity By I'M
pressment, depends wholly ON individual me.
M ry; whilst the recognition Off, b, the ac'
of Congress, is effected bv the force Of many
memories and by r. cord evidence.
In the sixth place, impressIncnt is not re-
gulsr operation, bit is exercised as vessels are
met with at sea, md is inscpt rably come CT cd
with wrong to the United States. BY the act
OF Congress no vessel will sail uEexamincd
no crew can be entered before investigation
and the wrong is merely subtractc1 from the
right claimed. without affecting the right
We might carry the contrast farther, hui
this is sufficient. The superiority OF the act o
Congress over the practi OF impressmcnt, Al
10 the object of preventing the employment o
British seamen ON. board our vessels, is con- pi
cuuus. Tire intefSkt of Great Britain is, by tn,
act, MOST ,crupufodsy guarded, in permittin.
the consuls of that nation to interfere an,
whilst they are faithful to their trust. lher
can be no duplicity
II might here be permitted us. perhaps, &
close our argument OH this part of the Presi
dents message. But we wish to leave no clu
unravelied--no labyrinth unscarched. W
have already demonstrated that release OF in
pressed Americans. after proof of citizenship
is no remedy of the wrong, inasmuch as tn
wrong does not con list in the detention but i
che seiznTe Of our sailors. The detention doe,
most certainly. GggTavste the seizure and tn
Selease Of persons impressed, is, as far us
extends. relief from the aggravation. Th
British and their adhtrents have been vc~y Air
pant with this apology OF veiSaSs. II we tax
yorsr citizens BY mistake (say they) we Away
restore them ON being made sensible OF our el
ror' Every day this frivolous argument
rung in our earsi anil it has Aourisb-d OF lat
in the ErgIish parliament Onthe 18th Of Fl
bruarv last, MIR Croker, SECRETARY to the Br
fish board Of admiralty, after staging in diScu
sion in the House Of Commons, that chen n:
tive Americans entered the British service
contract they were not suffered to leave IL q
their own application, added" but il suck
seaman was claimed, not at Ills own rcques
Nut BY his Sose,tign, who bad right {
"his allegiance, he was givsa gp, and Ill
voluntary enlistment, though good again
"the individual, was not held t. bar the rigl
OF the sovereign to the services Of the sui
eject" Mr.. Croker further stated, in col
tvfliction 60 what had been slledged by VI
4 kretary Monroe in his correspondence vii
n Foster, that Great Britain did not, by u,
Is, natlIralize forcigners,fo AS TO violate Il
rine Of allegiance. dis speech has bee
10 shed in many of the opposition prints, al
was quoted by the Natiop4 Intellgcncor wi
some slight comments. In3nswer TO Mr.. Cr
kcr's assert ION, .can.- sst ,.tlsat tho Unit,
States never cOntcnded for a. release Of Am
ricans WHO had voluntarily uttered the BIRTHS
service. The complaint il against imbres
,nens and not against vOlFsS1iy enferin
The very word impress5len clearly di
tlngushes the cases. II Implies viOien
done to the individual, whilst v0inpfa
salisfn,enf implies directly the contrary.
that Mr. Croker's Eemark, in ithis rcspet
has no force, and is mo- At all applicable TO Il
question. hut when he says thIt1potyithstan
ing private engagements, seaneWare deiRfr'
II. a -.