Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-05-27
BR1TIsH ~AeaREssIONs.

s~ Ao
spare this venerable mar as o worthy example TO
his younger brethren"
BRITISH AGGRESsIONs.
In other columns, the reader will fad several
selections touching the recent repeated acts Of ag-
erosion by British men-of war upon our merch-
anthem trading in the Gulf of Mexico. These
high handed outrages, coming the one after the
other thick and fast, have aroused an intense eI-
element throughout the country, and caused we'll
founded and serious apprehensions Of an open
rupture with Great Britain. Under the pretence
of suppressing the Slave Trade, British cruisers
have exercised a right of search almost within our
harbors, in o manner far more offensive than that
which provoked a warm 1872; when, at the same
time, their fleets on the coast of Africa have passed
by unnoticed, the most fragrant violations Of the
treaty on the part of British subjects as well as
those acting under the license of the French gov
eminent. Never in our history has this arrogant
assertion Of this right been made more insolently
and insultingly and never has our Government
been called upon more urgently to demand an in.
slant and complete reparation.
The subject has already received the attention
of both Houses Of Congress and it will be seen
that instructions have been promptly transmitted
to our Minister at London; and, meantime, sever
al vessels Of war have been despatched to the
Gulf, with orders to protect our seamen 'tat eve.
cry hazard and to the last extremity"
The following table of operations within the
past four weeks, will give the reader an idea of
the extent to which these unparalleled outrages
upon our flag have been carried. The particulars
of other outrages reach us by every mail:
Ship Tropic Bird, fred into, boarded and search
ed. E.- -.
Bark Clara Windsor, fred into, boarded and
searched.
Bark Glenburn, oYerhauled at sea.
Bark W.. r.. Chandler, boarded and searched
while laying at anchor in the port Of ssgua Ia
Grande.
Twelve other vessels also boarded and searched
in the harbor Of Ssgus Ia Grande.
Brig Robert Wing, fired into, boarded and
searched.
Schooner Wingold, fred into, boarded and
searched. g.
SClOOueF COEtoH1 ociLcu, " INV ootoihSo ~
Inagua.
Schooner N. B. Borden, fired into, boarded and
searched.
Schr. Mobile, fred into, boarded and searched.
Ship Clarendon, fred into, boarded and papers
demanded. The Captain, Bartlett, gallantly re-
fused; and the British Captain left the American
in full possession Of his deck. -
Ship John Howe, boarded at Sagua La Grande,
by the same steamer, and her papers examined.
That our readers may understand how these ag-
g~ressions are regarded at the seat Of government,
we extract an editorialfrom the Washington States:
The most remarkable fact that has ever occurred
in any of our international affairs since the origin
Of this Government, is the recent and sudden as
sertion by the British Government, without notice
or explanation, ofits extreme pretensions OF police
jurisdiction over the high seas, in application to
vessels Of the United States. This pretension is
revived and exercised in its most ~atrocious form,
ana accompanied by incidents Of the most outra-
geous character. p .
It is not only on the high seas and the coasts Of
Cuba that our vessels, pursuing a lawful trade,
are fred at and into, boarded and searched, by
British cruisers, but also upon our own coast, and
in the case Of enrolled and licensed vessels passing
from one port to another in the United States, and
almost within our own territorial waters.
The position which has been taken heretofore
by our Government on this subject is firmly adj
hered to ut this day. Mr.. Buchanan and General
Cass have both actively participated in the discus
sion Of this question, and have given expression to
the decision Of the American people in regard to- 1t.
Congress has more than once declared, in the
most solemn manner, that the right of maritime
visitation, even In its mildestform, shall not be e1-
ercised against our vessels.
Gen. Cass, when o.. s. Minister in France, was
influential in preventing France from signing the
quintuple treaty, which WAS an engagement that
England then attempted to interpolate upon inter-
cured to her to visit and search vessels on the
high seas, on pretenceo of suppressing theslave trade
on the coast of Africa and America.
When the Ashburton treaty was framed, Q like
proposition for the grant Of the right to visit or
search was made and rejected. In an official let
ter of Mr.. Webster, he declares that the last word
in diplomacy, on that subject, had been uttered I;
that we had been to war once onthis question;
and that if the pretension should ever bee1ercised,
it would be regarded as q commencement of hos
%tilities. Equally decided were declarations in the
United States Senate.
There is not the slightest pretext for the recent
and other aggressions upon our vessels TO be found
in the 9th article of the Ashburton treaty, which
provided Tor mutual euOrtS 10 suppress tne slafo
trade on the coast Of Africa.
Utterly at q loss for the motive Of this aggres-
sion upon the sovereignty of the United States, we
would believe it to arise from that fatality which
maddens men and nations before it leads them to
destruction. Again, we are half inclined to think
that the orders under which the British cruisers
arc acting were a legacy Of mischief left by Pal
merston to his successors in the Ministry, and in
tended to produce q war.
All maritime courtesy and humanity are neg
lected in the execution Of the order. The man.
ner adopted is a part of fhe spirit of the instruc.
tons. Whoever before heard of q man-of-war
bringing-to o merchant vessel on the high seas
with q volley of small.arms? Bullets fired into
a coasting schooner from o war steamer! LISA
indelible disgrace to the British naval service; .
deeper disgrace will it be to our Government and
people if the perpetrators Of the act not visited
with. condign punishment.
Maritime usage only permits o man.of-war to
fire an unsolicited gun, as q signal, when she de-
sires to speak q merchantmen. Then it is only
allowable for the ship-of-war to ask questions-
ciyility, too-touching the nationality Of the ves-
sci.
There is some intent in the execution Of these
orders that lies much deeper than any purpose to
hunt for slavers. The motive ought to be a mat
ter of Indifference to our Government, which can
only look to the act. It would not appear, from
the recent correspondence between the British
Minister and Mr.. Cass, that the former was aware
of the existence of any such orders. 1t belongs
to our Government Immediately to send a feet to
the Gulf of Mexico, with orders to protect our
vessels at whatever hazard.
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SOMETHING TO HOPE FoR.-There is nothing
more exciting and gratifying to human nature and