FROM THE BOSTON CENTINEL.
NEUTRAL COMMERCE.
Mr. Rosseil, . . . ;
. - A pamphlet, under the title of " War
in J'huilt. er the fraudt of Neutral flags,"
" has ocen publiihed in London under
' the dateof the t8th Oflober lad, fuppo
fcdto have Been written with ihe concur.
ence,Mf riot under the directions, of the
Engliih government. The fubjecl .is in
the highctt degree intereding to the people
of all countries, and peculiarly fo to the .
. people of the United States, in their neu".'
tral condition ; I prefume, therefore, the
following (ketch will be read with .avidity
by thofe who have not an opportunity rto
fee the whole piece:
The author begins by dating that therefto
ration of the marine, and ibn increafe of
the confederated navies, have been fined
the.renewal of hostilities, the means of
War. contemplated by Buonaparte; in
;. providing whieh, he has ex pec tied incal
culable lams, and devoted indefatigable
labor. That in the retrofpeft of the fad
war, and of the progrefs we have made in
the prefent, one Cngular fact immediafe
ly arrefls the attention, viz. That the
finances of France appear fcarcely to be
impaired, much . lefs exhauiled, by her e
normous military eftabli(hments,'and ex
le'nfive enterprises, notwithflanding the
ruin fo long apparently tmpofed on her
commerce. That "in our former con.
teds with France and Spain, their impo
verilhment was a fure effect of our hofti-
lilies, and the extent of this impoverifh
ment ws always in proportion to that of
its grand inftrument, our naval fuperiori
ty :" That we diftreired their trade,
we intercepted the produce of their colo.
nits, and thus exhauiled their treafurics,
by cutting off the chief fourccs of thtir re-
-venue ; and by. the fame means thefe ex
penditures were immenfely iocreafed and
waited in defenfive purposes. They were
obliged to maintain fleets in diltar.t parts
of the world, and to fur nidi drong con.
voys for the protection ot tlieir intercourfe
wuh the colonies both on the outward and
linrntward vtivaaes." 'That ihe ftp.
qucnt capture of ThHencon7oy'5pwhila it
enriched our feamcn, aided our revenue by
the increafo of import duties, and compel,
led the enemy to difpatch duplicate fup-
tie, at the r t Ik of new difaders, or to
eave their colonies in diftrefs, and forfeit
the benefits of their corps tor the year."
Infhort, that, 41 their tranftnarine pof.
fdlions became expenfivc incumbrancer,
ra'lirr than fources ot revenue, and that
by fuch lofli, rather than by our vicW
ries, the houfe of Bourbon was vanquifh
ed." "Have we tknloll," healks, the
triumphant means of warfare ? No, the
true folution of thclc fesming difficulties
is ihis the commercial, and colonial in.
tcreili of our enemies, are now ruined in
appearance only, ' not in reality. They
fcem to have retreated from the ocean,
and to have abandoned their colonics ; but
i' is a mtterufe de guerre. They have in
effect, only changed their flag. Their
tranfmarine foutces of revenue have nor
been for a moment dellioed by our hyf
t tiliiies, and at prefent aic fcarcely im
paired." In the hopeof contributing to the cor.
recryin of this evil, he propofei to coj.li.
tier,
' id. In origin, nature and extent
V 2d. ihe remedy, and tec right of
applying it.
" 3d. The prudence of the refort."
0 14 he full ihviOoit, he llaici, that the
coinniiin;; powers ot Lorope nave always
, wonopolifcd the trade cf their colonics
that fuch has been the (almofl) univctfal
lyflcm iii litre cf peace, and that on a
clofc adherence to this fvdetn, the value of
colonics his been fuppofei wholly to de
pend ; that in the war, which commenced
in the year 1756, France being hard prctf.
cd by the maritime fuprrioriiy of England,
retorted to the expedient of relaxing her
colonial monopoly, and admitted neutral
veirls, under certain reductions, to car
ry the produce of her ifiandsto French or
, foreign ports In Euro,- ; but that the
rrite couiu of England conflicting at 1
xbftantUI principle of the law ot nations
that 1 neutral si nt right to deliver
1 belligerent front the prclfurc f hi ne.
my'i holMnifi, by tracing with his coin,
nlri, in time of war, in a manner prohi
bind fn time of peace" condemned fu.h
tctTcU a were cipntrtd while engigtd in
this commerce, together with ihcfr car
fci ; and, in vindication of the ji(lice f
this manner, he quote the words i.f Sir
William Srwti, in the cafe of ihe Imuia
rtual, 170? MT general tutc it that
the neutral hat tight 10 rary on in lime
of war his accuftumcJ trade tolha utnnd
extent i Mc, that trade is opable.
Very different Is the cite I tride whUh
she neutral hat rem pofTcflVd, winch he
hoUs by no title and tifcof habit in tin e
.. ol peser, and hich in fail he can obtain
in war by no ether title than by the fi e
ctfo( one bellienctit iail amiiher j
nJ it the ciftiifc cf that vciy td'.'w.
rent, under whbfe luccefi he feti up his
title: 'It cannot be cootended , to be 1
right of neutrals to intrude into a com
merce which has been uniformly &ut a
gainft them and which is now forced o
pen merely by the preflure of war j for
when the enemy, under an entire inability
to fupply his colonies, and export their
produces, affecls to open them to neu
trals, it is not his will but his necellity,
that changes the fyllem" 41 the change q(
fyflem is a meafure, not , of French coun
cils, but Britifh force.,-:-After: proving
that 44 the principle of the rule of the war
of 1756," has been abhered tO though with
fome practical indulgence, on the part of
Great. Britain towards neutrals,' he pro
ceeds to (late the mi (chief to which the
" rule of 1756" was ft rft applied,, was of
a partial and limited kind. In that war
neutral (hips, though, admitted Into fome
of the colonial ports of; France, were . by
no means the folc carriers of their pro
duce or fupplies. - The enemy continued
to employ his own commercial flag,
as far as his power of protecling it exten
ded; and neutrals were rather partners in,
than aflignees of,- the national monopoly.
But now, France and Holland have Jp
tally ceafed to trade under their own flags,
and have apparently afiigned the whole of
their commerce to the merchants" of the
neutral dates ; and Spain, though, with
more heGtation, has nearly made as en
tire -a transfer. "But why (fays he)
fhould I proceed to ftate particulars, when
it may be truly affirmed, in a few words,
that . not a Angle merchant (hip. under a
flag inimical to Great-Britain, now crolT
es the equator, or traverfes the Atlantic.
Yet this formsonly part of a. more, com
prehenfive and fiogular truth, that, with
the exception of a very fmall portion of
the coafting trade of our enemies, not a
mercantile fail of any defcription -now en
ters,, or clears from their ports, in any
part of the gIober but under .neutral co.
tors. . And yet notw'uhftanding this,
Buonaparte has recently boafted, that
Martinique and Gaudaloupe are flou Tith
ing, in defpite of our hotliliiics, fo much
beyond all former experience, that fince
1789 they have adlually doubled their po
pulation. He-mighihave faid, with , the
fme truth, the fame of their produce
but he ought . to have added, that fince
the firft notice of the war, the French flag
has nol brought them a barrel oi flour,
nor exported a hhd. of their fugar. To
theSpanifh colonies a!fo war has changed
its nature, and has become the handmaid
of commerce and the parent of plenty.
In (hort, all ihe hofliie colonies, whciher
Spanilh, French, or Baiavian, derive
from the enmity of GreaUtiritain, their
antient fcourge and terror, not inconveni
ence but advantage. They may fay. to
each other, as Themifloclci (aid to his
children, when enriched during his exile,
by the Perfian monarch, we fhould
have been ruined if wc had not been un
done." After enJcavouring to prove at fme
length, and whh plaufibiliiy, , that ihe
produce of the enemy's colonies, arrives
at the mother country, by the aid of neu
trals, with Icfi expence of freight and in
fu ranee, than is paid by the BiitiAi mcr-.
chant 1 that, exclufive of duties, (fugars
are ( Augutl) cheaper iti France than in En.
glan;i) and that the Englifh planter iiun
detfold in every market in Europehe
fys, that though the preceding (late,
mcnts and calculation naturally lead to
this refult, it will perhaps be regarded
with fome (lniflmcn(. We defcnl
our colonics at a v;i expenct ; wc main,
tain at 1 ft i II greater cxpcnHf;. an irreHft.
ible navy, we chafe the flag of every e
ncmy from every fea, and, at tlie fam
moment, the hoililc colonics are able,
from ihefupcrior fafcty and chrapnefs of
their new-found neutral ntviga'ion to tin
dctfcll us in the continential marketr of
Europe. Where it the partial compenfa.
tion now that our planters ufed to find
for the heavy burthens and dangers of
wars If the col of their fupplies wis er.
mncoufly enhanced, if war taxes prcfTed
them hard, if freight and infurance wai
.doubled and trebled if their interior He
fence became expenfivc and laborious,
and if they were fomctimei invaded or
plundered by the foe flill the fuperior
prtirure of the war upon the hofliie colo.
nics infurcd to our own the benefit! of
rmrken more than commonly advantage
"ous. Rut by the prefent unprecedented
and artificial (late of things, this com.
pcnlaiion hat betn mnowed inj almort
.tally lofl ; an! much of that filently
I'logrciTue ruin of ourolJco'oniet miy be
ttatcd to thisfinsular foutce. It appears
then, on the whole, that our enemy car.
lici cm hit - colonial commirce tinder fhe
neutral Hag, cheaply 11 veil rafey .
that, wiihuut li t charge t t defending hit
colonic, or their tfide, by a finple fqua.
dfoi or tonvoy.heteccivei nearly all the
tribute from im that they would jitld
-un'criU ifcoficttepfircprotcflion. The
mifchuf. hawivrr. LV lid mr.m Inmi.
tuiti in fofliining i,'e Kret ch ctchec
T,tf rtitkit, in t..Mui dutiliyri at
the very vitals of our national fcqurity i
it tends to the depreflion of 01 r maritime
power, and to the exaltation of the navy
6i France By this licentious ufeof the
neutral flag, the enepy is enabled to em
ploy his whole military marine in purpo
fes of ofFenfwe war-He is riot obliged
to maintain 'ajtjuadron or a fhip, for the,
defence of hiscoTonial ports ; ahd by a
voiding the dUperfion of his maritime
force, and the confequent rilk of its de.
feat and capture, lie obtains, by its con
centration near the feat of empire, a molt
formidable advantage.' After enlarging
upon the, advantages accruing to the bel
ligerent from their commerce being con
duled entirely by neutrals in the direc
tion of their whole marine to purpofes
purely ottenlive in. prelcrving their vef-
fi. r. r ' 1' 1 r -
lels horn deltrudtion of battle or of weadLsou'd nor, becaufc .1 am fure they bufhl
.1 j..t. .r e JTrE:trj. ...u.k .1 x ...... :
ther. and their feamen from caoturpTrrm
proceeds to the confideration "of rt he" re
medy for thefe evils,- and the right of ap
plying it ;" and this remedy he confiders as
fuificiently obvious : " If neutrals ,havc
fio right," he fays, but through our
own gratuitous conceffion, to carry on the
colonial trade of our enemies, we 'may,
after a reafoiuble notice, withdraw that
ruinous indulgence. If, after the revoca
tion of?thc licence, the commerce (hall be
(till continued, we may jullifiably pu
nifh the vioiattiifs of our belligerent right i,
by the fcizure and confiscation of iuch
mips, as lhall be found engaged in the of
fence, together with their cargoes. But
is this a cafe in .which we have a right to
any remedy at all .'This, if attended
witnuouDt, woulu be lmlecu a molt im
portant dueftion. If h cannot be faiif,
fadlorily anfwered on the part of our '
country, there fhouhi be an end to every
thought of refittancei if not to complaint.
Nothing cart be more advantageous for
us than the fupprcfiioa of this commerce,
but if, like the advice cenfured by Arif.
tides, it requires a breach of juilice, let
us inflexibly abftain.'V He proceeds to af
fert, that io this cafe, moial right and vi
libleexpediency harmonize that it fhould
firft be obferved that the neutral powers
have all aiFented to the rule of the war of
1756, in point of principle, by fubmitiing
to its partial application that whate
ver indulgence Great. Britain, may have
fince that time granted to neutrals fdf
prefervation now demand the revocation
That the trade in queftion has been
ihowr. to be ruinous to her prefent hopes
iirthe war, and her future profpcQs
that it would be a mod extraordinary fit
uation for two friendly powers to (land in
if the one had a right to do, any thing
which is deflructive to the other, and yet
that the continuance of this trade, by dates
at prefent in amity with Great-Britain,
will, in its natural confequtrnce, draw
dowu dedruction upon her That flie is
engaged in a contcd, the adyctfc ill'ue of
whicii may be fatal to lier fafcty, and that,
if the cutting off the colonial refources of
her enemies be a neccifary means of pre
venting fuch an iflur, to :ifpute her right
is todilputc her right of ftlf iicfence. But
waving the argument of neccfli y he pro
ceeds to confidcr, and to deny the ri ht of
th neutral flag to avail thcmfclvei of
liicir admilHon into the ports of the hortiic
colonici, and, after fcvcral pages devoted
to th't enquiry,, he proceeds, ' A fur alt
that has been faid or can be faid on this
important fubjed), one plain quedion will
probably b felt to be deciflve by every c
quitab!e mind.
" Qui anitno f With what intention did
the enemy open the ports ot his colonics to
foreign flags i
" If it was with commercial views, or
for the "mere fake of Imparting a benefit
to friendly powers, their .acceptance of
the boon may perhaps be judicable, but
if the fingle, undillemb'.ed manifed objeel,
was to obtain prnieclion and advantage in
the war, to prefervehis colonial intcrerti,
witlkout the tilk of defending them, a .id to
fhictd himfdf, in this mod vulnerable part,
againd thq naval hodilities of England, I
far, If fuch wit the manifed and known
; urpolc of the meafure, I fee not how any
dffpalllonare mind can doubt for a mo
ment, that a co-operation In fuch anexa
t'cdient, by powert in amity with Eng.
land, was a violation of the duties of reu.
traliiy." That thit wat the fole intention
of the belligerent!, he rravct from their
lonuuu ancr inc peace or Amiens. 20
far wat the charge of colonial fy dctn from
bring permanent, at wat argued on be
half of the neutral claimants, in the lad
war, that orders were fent to revtrfe it tie
moment the fword was fheathed, and,
on the other hand, the firft advices of a
new war wiih (MCat-Ilritain were ac
companied, In atl the colonic!, with or
derttoopen their port! again to their
former extent. Hcconelu !ci i!rfccotid di.
ifiunbyaflcrting,that as in in motives !
pnrpofef, the whole iranfavlion is ofahof.
ti e iharai!cr,foareiltet.Tcni actually pro.
ditcrdofa kind mod direttly hoflili and
injiirioot that the illegality of this com
merce, is it it ruin at in mifihicvoui
tendency j and to engine. In hit to in
lcifc Io the a, fcr lU jurjofecl
refcuing the nmy from the fuperior
naval force of Great-Britain, or, in the
"terms of an cxpfelfive metaphor (ome
times applied to it,"4' hnjli irrxmlnentt trU
pert prftem and that the merchants who
thus Violate the duties, have no' claim to
the rights of neutrality. i
I a confidering the hird divifioji of his
fybjeel; viz. "of' t'hc prudence of ap
plying the propofed remedy in regard to
tne colonial traae, ' tne . autnor coniero--jslates
fomeydegreq of complaint and re
monftrance on the part.. of the neutral
powers- But would, they' fays ' he,
' if firmly and temperately refifted, pofb
the controverfy inlo-a quarrel f Would
they mantain their pretenuons to the trade
in quedion at the expence ojt with
Great-Britain? T firmly - believe tliey
riot, whether tlhey regard- ihalr honor,
theirduty, or their lnterelt. But tt is not
my purpofe-to recommend a total and un .
qualified prohibition of even the colonial
trade. Wc might perhaps, without any
very ferious mifchief, extend to ill ihe
ports of the French colonies, 'and to every
neutral nation the privilege enjoyed by
Americans at fooit of thole ports in time
of peace. Nay, we may perhaps allow
an intercouifa of the fame fpecies, and
lubject to fimilar reftricttontwith the colb
nics of .Spain and Holland. If permitted
to retain fuch a ppriion of the trade in
qut(liol, together wiih all therclt ot fvieti
cxilting commerce, as is the fair fruit of
ihcir neutrality, in every quarter of the
globe, what motives could ihtlc nations
find fur their further and unjuft pretehft
oris by arms i To fuppofe thai commer
cial imered would excite them to do fo is
to fuppofe that for the fake. of. a i 'part,
they would wilfully facrifice the whole."
1 t.c remainder of ihis pamphlet 'is oc
cupied by Ms fuppofuions on tne pofllble
evils which might rtfult from a ftuie of
hoftility wi'ih tne ncuual p'owcri (an event
which however he appears earneftl to
deprecate) compared with the evils, un
der which hecoulidcrs Great-Britain labor
ing, in confcquencc of the prefent 'extent
of the neutral trade ; and this Urter. he
does not hefitate to conlidcr as the moit a
larming. Sugar k Molasses
Jujl received ly the Bug Neptune, Cap),
Story, from 'Trinidad, '
101 hhds. Sugar,
3 barrels do.
b hhds. Molalles,'
Which will be fold low. for Cadi or ap
proved Notes.
A. LAZARUS.
13th Jan. 1806.
A great Bargain '.
FOIl SALE,
A VALUABLE Tract of Land in the
couuty ot tilaJtii, containing 646 a
'ere, on the nonh-cait fide of the North
wed of Cape-Fear, twenty milei below
i-ayettcvillc and eighteen above Elizabeth,
on which is a new dwelling Houfe nearly
finilhcd,'jo by 38 feet including Shed and
IMatza, i dory and an halt-high a
Kitchen, fmcks Iloufc, &c. kc. It c
well filuattd and equal in fertility 10 any
Tra'd on the River.
ALSO,
Four hundred acres bai.k find t.1u
joining the above defcribca Tr'acl, which
abounds with Lightwood for Tar and
Pines for Turpentine. Range for cattle
and hogs at this place, is nearly if not
quite as good as any in the date.
A lurtiicr iiclcription is onnccciTary,
ai'any fierfon inclined to purchafe would
previoufly wilh to fee it. The price may
be known by applying to the Tubfcribcr
on the premifes. Cadi or Negroes will
be taken in payment, and pofltflion giv
en any time previous to the fird day ot A
pril enfuing. t
m M. MOLTON.
January 17, i8c6.
Fresh Garden Seeds,
Jud received and for fila by
JOHN WILLKINGS fcCO.
Wilmington, Jin. 20, 1806.
'TMIU SuWriliert, at Kxecutort cf WiU
liam ltallmir, deceated, request ill ere
dilntt to deliver their iccounts properly at
tested, at the dccciud'i lite store, at soon
at pottillc, or within aKe time limited by
law, otherwise they rill barred cf recove
ry 1 hoe who raiy be IndcMed and hive
open account! will respectively be tilled tip
on for settlement during the couik of this
tnimth."
The Hcfute cf the Ooodt nnv.ld U be put
tn to i'ublie Auction on t'ridiv the 31th Inn.
1 in three upente I)is j)a'.le by an sp.
' proved Note it 6 monU.i, ncgociaUe at t).
uana ot cipc rear.
W. J. HI". ATT Y, Ea'rt.
A. MKM.AX, J