The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1815-03-29
An EXPOSITION



CAUSES AND CHARACTER OF THE.
LATE WAR WITH G. BRITAIN.
prehersd by Me Government Of s< U. s.
(coNTINuED)
The American minister at London, anti
cipating tie rupture between Great britain
aud France, had obtained assurances from
the British government, that III the event OF
war, the instructions gwen 10 their naval Of
ficers should be drawn up with plainness and
precision; and in geperf.i, that the rights
of bel)iyerents should be exercised in mode
ration, and with due respect for those otneu-
= trals'' (o) Ana in relation to the Important
subject of irlpressment he had actually pre-
pareti for signature, with the assent OF Lord
Hawkesbury and lord St. Vincent, conven-
zion, to continue during five years, declaring
shat /" no seaman nor seafaring person should,
upon the high seas, and without the Jurisdic-
ton of either party, be demanded or taken
out of any ship, or vessel, belonging to the
citizens or subjects Of one of the parties, by
the public or private armed ships, or men of
war. belonging to, or in the service OF the
other party and that strict orders should
be given for the due observance OF the engage
menr." co. This convention, which eXpli-
Citiv. relinquished impreSsnents from Amer-
can vessels on the high seas, and to which
the British ministers mad, at first, agreed,
lord St. Vincent was DESTROYS afterwards to
modify, &" stating, that on further reflection,
ne was of opinion, that the narrow seas
should be expressly excepted, they having
6een, as his lordship remarked, immemo-
rally considered to be within the dominion of
Great Britain The American minister,
however, Z" having supposed, from tine tenor
OF his conversations with lord st. Vincent,
chat the doctrine of mar tlauSuni would not
he revived against the United States ON this
occasion but that England would be con
aent. with the limited jurisdiction, or domini-
on, over the seas adjacent to her territories,
which is assigned by the law of nations to o.
ther states, was disappointed, on receiving
lord ST Vmcent's communication and chose
rather to abandon the negotiation, than to
acquiesce in the doctrine it proposed to
establish (c) But it was still some satisfac-
ton to receive formal declaration from the
British government, communicated by its mi
MISTER az Washington, after the recommence-
Inerrt ri the var iii Europe !ish promised,
III effect, TO reinstate the practice of naval
oIuckades, u1on the principles OF the law of
nations so that no blockade should be con-
sidered as existing" unless in respect of par
gicular ports, which might be actually in
vested and, then, that the vessels bound to
such ports should not be captured, unless they
had previously been warned not to enter
shem." (d)
All the precautions OF the American govern
rnent were, nevertheless, Intellectual, and the
assurances Of the British government were,
in no instance, verified. The outrage of i'm
presssaent was again, indiscrirninately, per-
petrated upon the crew Of every American
vessel, and ON every sea. The enormity of
tioclades, established by an order in council,
without a legitimate object, and maintained
by an order in council, without the app;ica-
ton Of competent force, was, more and
xlore, developed. The rule, demoninated
'sthe rule Of the war of 1885," was revived
IN an aft ccted style If moderation, but in
spirit cf more rigorous execution. (e) The
lives, the liberty, the fortunes aud the happi-
= ness OF the citizens OF the United States, Gu
gagged in the'pursuts of navigation and cont
vnerce, were once more subjected to the VIC
Ience and cupidity of the British Cruisers
And, in brief, so grieyous, so intolerable, had
the affections of the nation become, that the
people, with one mind, and one voice, called
loudly upon their government, for redress *
protection Cf) the Congress CT the United
States, participating in the feelings and re-
sentiments Of the time, urged upon the execu-
tive magistrate, the necessity of an inmedi-
ate demand Of reparation from Great Bri-
fain (g) while the same patriotic spirit, which
had opposed Britsh usurpation in i793, * IN
COuntered French hostility in 1898, was again
pledged, in every variety of form, TO the
maintenance Of the rational honor and inde-
pendcnce. during the more arduous trial that
arose in 1906.
Amidst these scenes of injustice on the one
ham, and IF reclamation or the ether, the
American government preserved its equa-
TiInity and It's frmness. 1t behed much in
the conduct OF France, and of her ally, Spain,
% provoke rcprisals. 1t behsjd more in tic
CoRtluct Of G.. Britain, that led unavoidably
iss had often been avowcd) to che last resort
Of arms. Ii behed in the temper of the ma
tioD, all that was requisite to Justify an i'm
mediate selection of Great Britain, as the OBJ
ject OF a declaration Of war. And it could
not but behold in the policy of France, the
strongest motive to acquire the u. States, as
en- associate in the existing conflict Yet,
these considerations did not then, more than
at any former crisis, subdue the fortitude, or
mjs'ead ihe judgment, of the American 20
yernment ; but in perfect consistency with IT'S
neutral, as well as tspacifc system, it deman-
ded atonement BY rcnOnstrances With France
and spain and / sought the preservation
% See 'ie proceedings ftic convention of FIori
d, transmitted to the secretary Of state by The COVER
IOr olthe Mississippi territory, in his letter Of tie 18th
OF October, 1910; and the answer % the secretary OF
site, 'atcd the l5tli of Noycmbcr, 1910
~ See the letter Of MIR MO,ier. Iyritis', eharpc