Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1814-12-05

IN the declaration OF Wa' iioH-dn OPP
portunity was then afforded of extricat-
ing the country fror' the war with honor.
The effect of the proportion of the enc
nv if acceded to, would have been to
have re.eitablilhed the relations OF peace
by reltoring the two countries to the itatc
in which they were at the commence
ment of the war-terms, which the gov
eminent appeared willing now to accept,
but which he feared could not be obtain
ed until after protraetsd and bloody
CONTEXT.
Here Mr.. o. quoted from the propoGs
ton made by Mr.. RuGell to the Britifh
Min,itry and from the initructions to our
Commlllioners, by which he ihewed that
our Government had made the queition
Of imprefsment (of Britifh feamen) fine
qua non to any treaty of peace, and that
" if the flag did rot protect the crew the
appeal to arms was ia vain" This doc
trine was Unlisted Oh down to the 2sth OF
June 1914. -.
l, was true, Mr. O faid, that the gov
eminent had oceaGonally varied It's
ground as to the limitation in point OF
time, of the Population contended for,
and had gone very tar in rendering Great
Britain an equivalent for fuch itinn'a
ton. 1t had even gone the length OF pro
pofing, that the crews Of our veileis
ihould be muitered previous to the voy'
age, AID be iubmi,ted to the examination
and fcrutiny Of Britilh conluls or COM
mercial agents A regulation, Mr.. ..
said, almoit, if not altogether, as degras
ding as the practice of mprefmen, itfeif,
and much more injurious 10 the com
mercial interets OF the country But,
notwithstanding ,hete conceflions on Tub
ordinate points, the iiipulaiion in Its
principal feature, had been conftantly ad
hered TO in every initrucdon to our min
iiters, down to the 2sth OF June 1914.
a little previous TO that ime, Mr.. q.
faid, gentlemen would recollect, that
authentic intelligence was received in
this country, of the dethronement Of the
late Emperor of France. That event
made it certain that peace would not only
be reltored in Europe. bur would be re.
ftored under circumstances rendering fu
tile any expectations which might have
been entertained by our government, of
reaping any advantage, in the CONTEXT
with England, from the power and in
huence of France. The effcct of this on
the administration, had certainly been to
lower its tone on the fubject of impref-
ment. In the letter to our miniiters of
the 2sth June, 1874, the frit appearance
was manifeRed of de6sn to recede from
the main ground. In that letter our
commiflioners were Instructed that,in cafe
no liquidation could be obtained from the
Britiih government, either relinquifhng
the claim of impeachment, or dilcontinu
ing the practice. they are at liberty to a.
gree to an article, rslering tie juyect to q
Juture negotiation. The government,
however, itlll looked forward to an even
tual arrangement of the difference on this
point, hmilar to that tor which i. had
uniformly been con,ending. An ultimate
fipuLatisn BY treaty, ditcontinuing the
practice Of imprs hment, was Till its OBJ
jcct and intention. Two days afterwards
however, Mr.. o. fad, the views of the
government underwent further change
and son mature colideration," it was dc
tcrmined to abandon the whole ground.
In the letter OF the 2sth june, the com
millioners were told that they might So
NIT any .fipuLations on the /a6;ect sf inn
preDmsnt, i found indyPsn/aby necslary 10
terminate the War."
1t was thus apparent, MIR. O. laid that
war, commenced for the purpofe of vim
dicating the rights of the nation, which
its authors Coniidered ehentially violated
by the impreAment OF Britilh feamen
from our veficls, was TO have been con
Guided by an abfolute abandonment on the
part OF government, of ali the grounds OH
which it had been declared, and the coun.
try, after two years OF futfering and fac
ritice, the extent of which was even now
little underitood, which would DC felt for
generations to come, was to have been
placed in the fame iitua'ion, as it yefpec-
ted the que!tion Of impeachment, in which
it food at the commencement of the war.