The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-06-05

and presently call the of the watch together and
thank God you are rid of q knave.
PeTges.-If he will not stand when he is bidden he is
none of the princes subjects.
DogberryTrue, and they to NEEDLE with none but
the princes subjects.
The truth is, that unless we wish pirates to hoist
the standard of the Republic instead of the cele-
brated black flag, with its skull and bones,
which in novels and story-books is sup
posed to be their favorite ensign; and unless
we wish Piracy to be revived, and the Slave Trade
to flourish, under the protection of the American
name and flag we must concede the Right of
Search. Unless we wish the English or other
foreign flags, in like manner, to be made conve-
nent cover for the commission Of depredations
upon our commerce. and of infractions of our laws,
we must exercise the Right of Search. This is not
to be done, of course, lightly unnecessarily; bit
in Of argent necessity, or ander circumstances
aohich afford Just ground for suspecting the chdrac
ter Of any yessel, the right Of public ship Of any
nation orcibly stop such uessel upon the high seas
though sailing under foreign fag can not be dis
penSed wah. The safety Of commerce imperaiUely
requires it. We greatly regret, therefore, that in
the present controversy with England, our Gov
eminent should have undertaken to call into ques-
ton Right, which can not be successfully assail-
ed, and which we require much for our own
protection as any other nation in the world. We
should rather have planted ourselves upon the par
tcular grievance of which we now have so much
reason to complain. We should have rested our
demands for satisfaction from the English Govern
ment, not upon the untenable ground of the as
sumption by that Government of right which
does not exist, but upon the uLjustifable attempt
to exercise that Right in to which, clearly it
does not apply. English cruisers in the Gulf of
Mexico have been boarding and searching Ameri-
can vessels, without the pretence of the slightest
necessity, and under circumstances which forbade
the possibility of a suspicion that they were other
than fair and honest traders. Coasters laden down
with cargoes of sugar and molasses or with deck
loads of log-wood and fustic have been fired into
and boarded. Regular traders that have been ply
ing for years, between the Gulf and the Atlantic
coast, have been stopped and searched. American
merchantmen discharging or taking in freight, in
foreign port, have been compelled to show their
papers, and subjected to Impertinent visitations-
All these acts have been committed in a systematic
way, which shows that the English Government is
either disposed to deny that our flag possesses any
of the attributes of nationality or to regard it as
absolutely piratical. Such acts are offensve-un-
justiiabe and insulting. They are the acts of a
belligerent, not of friendly power. They are in
the fullest sense of the word-'o utrages" AS
such, they must be atoned for, and good pledges
given to secure us against their repetition This is
the sentiment of the whole Nation-and we doubt
not, the action of our Government will be in ac-
cordance with the wishes and expectations of the
country.