Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1820-08-11
IMoORTANT DECISION.

The borough and committed TO p,iso,, on /,
WARRANT of =. Magistrate Of The State, Ter an al
legged cnehce against the laws OF the United
States. This case presents two collateral uues-
tons concerning Stale Rights, which are of
ihe very trsi i'npot tauce, aud both of which
nave been differently decided in different
States. Ii also presents the great question at
what IL Piracy by The law of nations Z which
one might suppose had been lon. ago settled,
OUT which IN Tact appears not, 10 this day, 10
have beeu fully understood. Iueaid.
THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
WM. B. LAYTON. Tailor of
Norfolk Bormsh.
On The application Of Thomns jones'
AHdfet0 i2ideiif, Philip Pearce, g. Nicho-
las Wilson, confined in the Jail ofihr Be.
rough oil Norfolk. have caused them 10
DR. Drought before ne, on writ of I!abtas
Corpus al subIciendum and The officer
IN whose custody tllev are, exhibits as
the authority by which he dciaiils them,
"a warrant of commitment under the hand
and seal Of j. f. Holt. Mayor Of the Boz
rough of Norfolk, Of which The following
Is COPY:
- Tirginia. -. NorfoL; Borough, to irit.
" Whereas | have received satisfactory
proof, OH the oath of Nathan Smith, late sea
man OH board the Patriot brig General Rou-
ueds, That The SAID brig sailed from Buenos
aEfes, under the command OF Captain David
hiiieS, aooat SIX months since, on Il cinize,
during which, she captured several Spanish
vessels, and received divers goods aud a larn t.
sam OF money, taken out of them, on board !;
and that afterwards. TO wit, some time about a
month and halt ago, having passed the Island
or Darbadoes, aud being then on the Ia; a;i
seas, lying On aud oti The Island OF Grenada,
distance aD0ni ten iuiles. the crew OF The said
brig mniinied aud rose against the master aud
ofher officers, and made prisoners of them, aud
there turned them adrlit' in The boats /: and
DDk nnft al Il! "A
divided large sum oft money! tountl i'm the
caPfains cabin, amongst themselves sirered
Tor tie tuitcd States. and afterwards scuitled
ner al sea ana cane ashore IN the brigs buai.
Ana whereas IL further appears from the oat
oil the sand Nathan Smith, that the following
persons, 10 wit: Ihos. Jones, john Radclti
Chas. Rodgers, alias Nicolas Wilcon. and
Fnilip Pierce; were seansn on board of the
saiu Dig during Tie time of her cruizi,iy. as
aforesaid and also OF the muliny, piracy.
robbery and depredaiiUns aforesaid cCnspir-
ing with and aiding the resi- of the crew i'm the
SAID m:iiiny. piracy, robbery and depreciation :;
and whereas tile said persons have since hte,,
fonnd IN the possession OF large sum OF mo-
nty, 10 wit, seven hundred and forty five dol
lars and Twenty-Five cents, which there is cause
To suspect aud believe they have teionions!y
ana violently taken. stolen. and carried away
from The SAID brig, and from aud out at thu
custody of said David Miles master, and other
Officers commanding the same These are
thereiJre. 10 cOu,mand YOU 10 eceive into your
J"i. anu ClistnuS the ai'oTe named th&S jSnez,
Jonn Nddci:tt, Chas. Rodgers, alias Nicolas
Wic0m aud Philip Pierce, aud them safely
keep tor t!ldi before Ina Circuit Court of The
United States FOR tia district of Vircipia OF
nniii ihey snail nc otherwise discharged by
due course OF law.
Given under my hand aud seal on this
18Th day OF June, in the year of our
Lord ISaO.
JOHN Z. HOLT, Mayor. Tseal ~
As Nathan Smith, the witness on whose
information Ills warrant OF commitment
was granted. is also in the custody OF lie
jailor, the Mayor certifying thai "he is
confined il, The Jail OF The said Borough
OF Norfolk, lie haring uoiuntuiiy assenied
thereto, y have though, il proper not to
rely altogether upon The facts stated i'm the
return, bni according 10 the power vest
ed IN me by The ACT OF Assembly, TO ex.
anime the witness himself. His evi
denco Is substantially as follows =
hal about eight months ago he and
The prisoners. at Bnenos AureS, shipped
aboard the privaieer The Gen. Rondrau.
bound on cruise against the SpaniaTds.
That The Gen. ROudeau had, as he IN.
dersiO0d, been captured some time be-
lore by a BHenos Ayrcan vessel, brought
10 HAT place, regularly condemned, titled
odi as PrIvaIeer. supplied will regu.
Sphb'iSS'"b, HHi " an 'IEH amour tt
proceed or her first cruise, under The
command of Capt. David Miles, who had
previously commanded Buenns Avrran
Privaieer. Thai accordingly fhev pro
cceded on their cruise, aud in the course
oil II made several valuable captures o
Spanish vessels, some OF which ,iev
manned and ordered 10 Margareiia, and
from others they took ont the cargocS
and permitted them 30 pass. That from
Spanish felucca ih,y took Comsidera-
| bic sum OF money which vas put aboard
The Gen. ROndeau. That during ihei,
cruise, they met with many vessels Eng.
| hsh, American aud Swedes, but djsiufbct
none except Spanish vessels, against
whicb alone they cruized. That on one
occasion they captured Il brig which
hailed as French but having Il Spanish
rs well as Frencli captain aboard, aud
| Captain Miles being informed by an Eng
Hshmap, one OF her crew, that she had :
double set Of papers, aisl had lust before
thrown overheard her Spanish PAGER.
and colours, aud il appearing that sI,,
was bound hoe, one Spanish port /,
another, nc Capt. Niles, took from her
few ariiclesaBd permitted her 10 proceed
but some four or five weeks thereafter
on finding papers III Spanish Mali Boa
they had taken, which as tie witness VA
told, more fully proved HE cargo VA
wholly Spanish, they cat her out Of il,
port she had ~ the mean time entered
aud made prize Of her. That aiIe
cruizing iu The Straits OF Cadiz, aud else
where, they intended 10 go into il,e ISlant
Of Marguerite, where HE prizes had bees
sent, aud IN prosecuting this intention
itey arrived off HE island Of Grenada
about twcniy-ihrce days before Tile
were taken before lheAlayOr al this place
AT Grenada they seni the boat asIOr
for flesh provisions as he understood
Which coming oil in tie might one Of III