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- - - . " - .- - - . v. . . . - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmKMmimm-r . f1 Ti i !:: Vot. XV. Friday;! april. i4i i8i5. m . - k ' . m m b i i m b-xa : bbbbbbb -.--bbw b Bk bf- w bv bv r t -B& 1 i -a Bm ' . v i i ! b --r k. w- m ii - - b i . .b bi b , b - -Bk - I Ik, J an EXPosrnoN or Tin . .ra KSD CHKTBfl OP TUB lSriiWAUviniaDiaTAlN. q jch rc tnc frclinp ncl the sen- . cfihe American govern nrcnt, i codcr even- chaoge ofiti adoitnistra. t,i?resmcnt;. tod jinch the rcmon. Viftcf 3(3d"cs;cd to tlw justice of O. pnum h ohvlouj, therefore, thit 1;, c4U,r, iri3ertKent of everv othsr Yu tctn uoiformly deemed a juM and rrtt o c3Ue of -ur:j t:t the chrac-r-inic poln-v of the United States alll pi :f d : remorj-trnlc ou- l0:cctdct by nepwci::oD ; apd c rcV 'tvni of Americao rihu, msl tkofrjuied rit an ovrture to poire tn any fr3Ctica)lc form the ir'rsolG. Hrtuir j !ricr 'imi d i-'Lf-pf. to reDoer itjmore and mors B.a'rultto ayrrtaio f.nd fix thq 8tin- : cVj of lino.h nhtaocordmg fo succehsion of the Urittsh claim?. The right of entcriog and searching n American menhant ship,' for the r-irpe of impressment, watfor a nh !:, corfined to the cute of BritUh ccserfcrs; acd eve- so late as the tttcrh of Frbruary, 1800, the minis ur,cfhti I) iunnic Wrtjcsty tnen at Pi.iisdclphia, urj;:d ihe American go icrciTKCt, u to tate in:o cocaidcrar ton, as the only means of dryipg up every source of complaint, and irrita tir.c,upoD that head, a prupoal vrhi h htsd niide two eirs before, in the mc of his majcrity's government, tithe rtfiprocal restitution of deser fers. But thi project of a trcty tu then deemed icadmissible,bv the Prendect of the Uoiied States, and tc thief oScsrs of the executive dt cirtarntscf tle government,' whom ' heensukf d,for the sme reason, spe- cCraHy, which, at a Buhsequent pe- j r 'cduwd the President of the U. 'S-.iti, to withhold his approbation fcmthe treaty oegociated by the A rtrican minitters at Loudon, in the trar UQi ; namely : uthat it did not i'Sicicc:!y provide against the im prt?itient qf American teamen -it is better to hjve co article ti to m-ct the comequc.nces, than t'tto crumrraie merchant vessels on 6t Hph ea-, among the things not to be Icrcihly tntered ia search of deer fcn.r But the British ciainieiao c"'cg with singular elasticity was soon kutd to include a right to enter A rcrican vessels on the high seas, in tu.Vr to search for aod seize !! B i &h tear cn ; it rext embraced the tJ?ofeery British subject ; and fi 'y.tn its practical cnlorccmeot, ir been extended to evcr mariner, coutd Dot prove upon the spot, he was' a citizen of the United Site. Wni!e the nature of the British clai no tiu atnbiguous-jand fluctuating, tV priccple to which it was referred, r justification and support, appeared -e, at oLce arbitrary and illusory. 1'eaoct recorded in any positive . of the law of nations it wai uot J'P'fvedin theelementary wviks'ol tf-e civilian ; nct had it ever been cx 'rea in the cuaritime u.ages ol orhtr couotr, io j any other age. a truth, it was the offipting of the fci-ciptl law of Great-Briuid alone; 'v'-ly vi erative is a time ofneace. -dbltime of war i tndimKr ail FNiction upon the commerce and Batum of the world.' the iegiiimate righu of thebel- i" ' bU(P,nicu,jHJr iJr- KK's propositions c' Aori. 17QT ik.iK.k m . i-rfvi . kdV.lSQl.od ialuiy 1803. Ui lte dated tb4lh of Feb ' ... . W.?f Cpinim cfMr Kcktriny, ,00. Mr ? 01 WO, nd the opioioq t7J.foli,,e'rBry f the lrurr, da. tjJfopiittooof Mri PicVerinr.seere. 2&u cfrcand Uic SOlh of ApriL ligerent power-, the m United Sates had felt and evinced a iincere and o peo respect. AUho'thevhad mrkecl a diversity rT doctrine amo ihe ce lebrated jurists, unon many of f he li tigated pointi of thf lawr ofwtr ; U though they had formerly eipoused, with tKe rxample of the most power ful ROVCrnonent nF Knrnnp. nn n- ciplea of the armed (. oeutralitv, 1780, upon the basis of the memorable declaration of the Empress of all the Kusuas ; and although the principles of th.it derhra'ion have been incoroo rated into all their public trea ies, .'! cent in the intanceof the treatv of! 1794; yet the U. States, stUl faithful to the pacific & impartial poliqV, which 1 to thev profcBsetl, did not hesitate, even st the commencement nf thV Frenrh revolutionary war. to accept and allow ! ine exposition ot the law ot nations, a it was then maintained by G-eat-B i am and concqui ntly to xdni . upon a much contested p Jot, that the property of her enemy, in their ves sels, might be Uwfu ly captured a prize or war. it was, aIo, Jreely admitted, that 1 belligerent p wer had j a r ght with proper cautions, to enter and search American vessels for the goods ol an enemr, and for articles contraband) of war ; that if upon a search, such goods or articles were found, or if in the course of the search, persons in the military service of the enemy were discovered, a belligerent had a rght of transhipment and re moval ; that a belligerent bad a right in doubtful cases, to carry American vessels to a convenient station, for further examination ; and ttm a bel ligerent had a right to exclude Ame rican Vessels from ports and places under the blockade of an adequate naval force. These righri, thr Uw of nations might reasonably be deem ed to sanction ; nor has a fair; exercise of the powers necessary for the en joymtot of these rights, been at any time controverted or opposed by the American government. . But, that the claim of Great Britain was not to be satisfied by the most ample and explicit recognition of the law of war ; for' the law of wsr treats only of the relations of a belligerent to his ecemy, while the chim of G. Britain embraced, also, the re'ations between a sovereign and his subject u It was said, that every British subject was bound by a tie of allegiance to his sovereign, which no lapse of time, no change of place, no exigency of life, coutd possibly weaken, or dis solve. It wa said, that the British sovereign was eatitled at all period), aod 00 all occasions, to the services of his subjects. And it was said, that the British vessels of war upon the high seas, might lawfully and forci bly enter the merchant Tels of eve ry other nation (for the theory of these pretentions is n t limited to the case. of the United State4, although tmt case has been, aim at exclusively affected by their practi al operation) forthr purpose of discovering & im pressing British subjects r. The U. States presume-not to discuss the forms, or the principles of the govern ments established in other couotrte. Enjoying the' right ami blessing of sell-government, they leave, implicit ly, to every foreign nation, the choice of its social and political institutions. But, whatever may be the fortri, 01 the principle, of government, it is an universal axiom of public law, among sovereign and independent states, that every nation is bound so to use and enjoy iti own rights, as not to jn jure or destroy, the t ights of any other nation. Say then, that the tie of alle giance cannot be fevered, or relaxed; as respect the sovereign and the sub ject ; and say, that the sovereign is at all timet cot ided to the subject ; still there is nothing gained in Jup- See the correspondence of the jtxr 1792, eween Mr, JefFerson, Secreury of State; and the minuter of (treat .riuio.fc France; 2ee slao Mr Jeffenoo'B letter to he AmeVicaJi miouter at faii of the same jear,,requeU; icei he recall or Mr. Genet. - i f. See tlie tintui dc&Uraika 6l ths ZCXh Jaunt 1813.; port of the British claim, unless it can also, be txirlfi that the British sove reign has aright to seek and seize his subjects, while actually within the dominion, or under the special pro tection, of another overein state. This will not, surely, be denomina ted arocets of the law ',f nations, for the purnose of enforcing the rights of war ; ajid if it shall he tolerated as a process of the niunicipal law of G. Britain, for tlje purpose of enforcing the right of the soveriign to the ser vice of his subjects, there is 00 princi ple of discrimination, which can pre vent its beinp? employed in 'peace, or in war, with all the jtftendant abuses of force and fraud, to justify the sei zure of British subjects for crimes. c.r for debts ; and the seizure of Bri tish property for any causr that shall be arbitarily assigned. The intro duction .of these degrading novelties, into the miritime code of natiout, it has been the arduous task of the A- merican governmer t, In thetnset to oppose; and it rests witn all other overnmenti to decide, how far their honor and their interests must be e ventually implicated, by a tacit acqut. escence,in the uctessive usurpations of the British flag. If the right claim ed by Great Britain be, indeed, com-1 mon to all governments, the ocean will exhibit, in addition to its many other perils,' a scene of everlasting strife and contention : but' what other government has ever claimed or ex ercised the right ? . If the right shall be exclusively established a? a trophy of the naval superiority of .Great Bri tain, the ocean, w&ich has been some times emphatically denominated,v4the high-way of nations," will e identi fied, in the occupancy and use, with the dominion$ of the British crown ; and every otner nation must enjoy the liberty of 'passage, upon the pay ment of a tribute for the indulgence of a licence ; but what nation is pre pared for this sacrifice of its nonqr 81 its interests V ' And if, after all, the right he now asserted (as experience too plainly indicates) Jbr the purpose of imposing upon the United States, j to accommodate rhe British maritime policy, a new and odious limitation of the sovereignty and. independence, which were acquired by the glorious revolution of jl 776, it is not for the American government to calculate the duration of a war, that shall be waged, in resistance if the active attempts of Great Britain to accomplish! her pro ject 5 for, where is the American ci tizen, who would tolerate a dv' submission, to the vassalage of such a condition ? But the American government has seen with some surprize,1 the g!os which the prince regent of Great Bri tain, in hi deilaration of the 10th of lanurv, 18! 3. has condescended to bestow up ti the British claim of a right to ltipress m?n, onooaraortnc merchant vessels of other nations ; and the retort! which he has ventured tQ m ike, upon the conduct of the U. States relative to the controverted doctrines of exoatriation.' The A- merican government, like everyother civihzen governmeot, avows ine prin ciple, .md intfalges the practice of na- tural'zi-tr foreicners. In Great Bri tain; nnd through the continent of Eu rope, the laws I and regulations upon the subiect, are not materially dissi- milar, .when comoarea witn ine law and regulations of the United States. The effect, however, of $uch naturah sation, upon the connexion, which previously subsisted, between the na turalized penon, and the government of the countryjof his birth,hs been differently considered 'at different umes, and in different, 'places. Still, there are many reipecta, in which a diversity ot opinion does: nOt exist, and cannot arise. ! It is agreed,' W all hands.'that an act of naturalization is not a violation rof the law Df nations; and that, in particalari it is not tn it- self an offence against the government whose subject ts nxturalisecU tt is agreed, 'thai an act of uaturaUaatron creates; between the mrties, the reefJ procal oblightonfiot -allegiance and protection it Is agreed, hat 'i? hilo a naturalized citizen continues within the territory and jurisdiction of his adoptive government he cannot be pursued, or seized, or restrained, by his former sovereign It is agreed, that a naturalixed citisep, whatever may be thought of the claims of the sovereign 01 nis nauye country, crin not lawfully be withdrawn from the pbligationsof his contratt of'naturaU ization, by ttye force or seduction of a third no wer. And it is airfeedL l ' V ! . : t that no sovereign can lawfully inter 1 fere, to take from the service or emv "ployment of another sovereign, per sons who are not the subjects ot either 1 ol the sovereigns engaged in the transaction. Beyond the principlts of these recorded propositions,, what have the United Sitea done to justi fy the imputation of harboring Bri tish seamen and of exercising an as sumed right, to transfer the al!eian.'e o f B ri tish s u hj e c ts Vs The Up i ted States have, indeed, insisted upon the right of navigating the oqeanin per-ce and safety, protectingiail that is cover ed by their flag, as on a plate of equal and common' jlirisdiction to all na tions ; save where the law of war in terposes the exceptions of visitation, search and capture ; but, in doip this they have dovie no wrong. The ' III it ts believed) with the practice of all belligerent nations, not even except ing Great Britain herself, have, in deed, announced a determinatiocQ since the declaration (bf hostilities, to afford protection, as well to the natu. ralized, as to the native citizen, who, giving the strongest proofs of fidelity shou dhe taken in arms by thr enemy; and the British cabinet well know that this determination could have no influence upon those coun Is ottheilr sovereign, which preceded and produ. -ed the . war. it wasnot, then, to u harbor British sdamen,' nor to " transfer the allegiance of British subjects nor to cancel the jurisdic tion of their legitimate sovereign,. nr to vu!ic4te the pretensions that acts of naturalisation, and certificates of citizenship, werejas valid out of their own territory, as within ,itn that th United States have asserted the honor and the privilege of their flag, by the force 01; re a son and it arm . But it was to resist a sy stem atic scheme of maritime aggrandize ment, which, prescribing to every, other nation the limits of 4 territorial boundary, claimed for Great Britain the exclusive dominion-; of the seas "; aad which, spurning the settled prin ciples of the law of var, condemned the ships and mariners' of the, United States, to suffer, upon the high seas, add Virtu illy within the jurisdiction of their h'gv the most rigorous dis pensations of the British municipal code, inflicted by the coarse and 1U cen ioui hand of a British press gang; ifie injustice ot the British claim, and the cruelty of the! British practice hare tested, for a series of years, the pride and the patience. of the Ameri can government ; but, still, every ex periment was anxiously rriade, to W voia tne last resort ot nations, t tie claim of Great Britain, in its theory, was li cm ted to the right of seeking St impressing its own subjects on board of the merchant vessels of the United States, although' in fatal experience, it has been extended (as already a p. pears) to the seizure of the subjects 01 every oiner power; sailing under a oiuntary contract with the American merchant ; to the seiaure of the natu ralized citieens of the United States! sailing a1so,under vo untary'contracts; which- every foreigner, independent of any act of naturalization is at liber ty to form in every country, and even to the. seizure of the; native citizens! of the United States, sailing on board the ships of thcU own nation, tn the- prosecution of a lawful commerce--. The excuse for what has been uafeel- inclr termed partial mistakes; and occasional abuse? ; if hep therigb t pf m See the Briiuh declaraUoo ot tbe lOtix of Janas183 J- -' -'A V : '"' .k See these Dassat in the BiiUsh decla ration. xf the loth of Januarr. 1813. ' , 1 1 Seethe' Gctuh djaaralioa of ths iOthof January, li!3. ; r-- . , ' j uniteu states, in periect consistencynrever eturiea or rcjecwa - '.st.Mas'rJ--:-" ?-vi imnressmenr tyas nrsctiid towards Vessels of the lWejl StatesV is, in the; a Bimilarjtv ot j language aoo: mn&g, ners.'V" Biswas it,HoVicq.wt , " m b B 1 W ; . t - m ... r v - - i : - '. ' J. ( t T that the Uusstan,the Slwedehe DatieJ and the (German, thaf thpiFreochmanv . the Spaniardand..tbe. PaW nav, tharthe Afi ican-and tre "Asiaticy , between whom anilv the ponle of G. Britain there ekists no similarify of lanijuage, ' manners or coraplexioni had been equally with' the Americas ej, citizen and thev British suhject .the victims of the impress tyranny.k lt however, the excue be .ncere;if tho real object of the : impressment j fee merelv tb secure to Great Britain the naval services of her own i subJeStsi 8S not to man her fleets, in every practi e-ible ,mode of enlistment, by right;; or by wrong : andJf a jst snd gene rous government, prqfessiqgwimitual j friendship and respect, may be: pre- f sumed to prefer the accomplishment even ofalgitimatepurposcby means the least aicti4hd-injurious tr o " thersv hy hvft 4hc bverruresof ih United StatesV offering bther means, as effectual - as impressment, - for the purpose avowed, to the cbnidefatipa - nd acceptance of GrVat Bntato, been f. t 1 - . L Z 11 ; Tb. ."Lbs) ucca uncjeu, roai.uic uuiuei vi-iusu k. ; fH,.2.Tt to be protected by an AmeicanVes sel shouluj'be limited by he?rtonnagci that the British officers should be, ieti mitttrd,in!4Brjtish pons;! tont the vessel ia order to ascertain the; num ber of men onboard ; and that in case of an addition to her (Crew tnc British , subjects enlisted -should be liable ,10 impressment .1 It was offer ed ip the solemrfbrm of a law, that thef Amerrcanj seamen should be tc enstered i, that thcVvshould be . provtf ded pith certificates of citizenship and that the roll of the crew of every vessel should be, formally authentica ted. It was offered, that no refuge or protection should be given to de- serters; but, that on the .contrary ' they should be surrendered.0 It was again and again offered o concur in convention, which it was thoughtprac ticable to be formed, and which shcu d settle the ouestion o impressment, in a manner that would be Safe tot ;Erij? land, and satisfactory to the United States,?. It was qflered vrtit:echrf i party should prohibitjts citizens Br subjects from clandestinely' conceal v ing or carrying aiway,4frpni tKfrrl ; tories or colonies of 'thettiertfnjrj' seamen beldcging to the btherpsty M And, conclusively, it has been 6Here i r , and declared 6y law," that " after the termination of the present war, it' persons except citizens of Jdie Upi States : 3tid that no foreigner fho be admitted to'become a citizen Ire re after; who had pot Jot t fie continued termof five ; years, resided within the should not be" lawful to employ' 00 board of any of the" public or priviitc vessels of the United States,r any ; u n uca oiates, w ttqout oeing at any time, during the five years, objf of tl.e v territories of theUotted States.r ;v -It ts manifest then thatjsiiCkproyi'v.'.: iion might oe made: by law : itJtbkt",. s uch provision has bee6:wrafidly & J urgently .proposed t as wouldv 10 air future times, exclude from the mart time service of the f 0 nited 1 Sritei See the letter oMrPickeripr secrets ry iica iu ;.-nr; rving-, cntnitl:r SI London, of the 26th of October. 1795 ; and the letter of Mr. Marshatl, secretary of state, to Mr. Kihg, of the 20th of SeptSmber 1800 ; - A ;te the letter of Mr. lerTersoo. seeretairv of -uteta MV Piockney minister at Loo dbnj dited the Uth of fune. 1792.-iid Ih letter or Mr. Pickerioff. secretary offtaieV to; Mr. King, inhnater at isotidonJ ttated the 8lh pfurie, 1796 u '., . see tne act 01 Congress, passed 23tb 01 May l79l ' i ' " - H: : , -A Sec the kttf r of Mr. inekerio'l, teerrtary. maty 1115, uiiHiaLcr LtJUUAOUB patea uteBtn or June' 1799; f?- 1 Hth'f See the project of a treatv m theriti&leei. petveea r rcxexxng, tecrttary of state, : and Mr. Llaton, the British miaiater at Phi. V - - ' TP V V? See uie letier of Mr. King, ininijtersst f ' H'aU uonaon to tae secretary el state, dated tea t$th March, 1T72. '. ' ; r-' --.t,; : V s See the letter Mnf&n to the Uxxtk tary of stare, dated in July; ftJOX : :r -"i Seehe act of Con?reaa? jbaalod tS 4 - ft.iK 101a . . mm 1: f , r . 1 ivlhy r mi -'if fli: 111 -1 .: : if i 11 M .-; l; - r(V, if 4 ii : i . . ;-: 1. ; .V .5 J m .' i 4 k it 1! ' ' .1 ': I' : ; '- :l':' '''UK' u f ''St. .'. Mi 1 te&Kl -.V I; H ;4 , HP mm III: -v.- i J;. i ) f: WW 4t " - . " ' I ,
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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April 14, 1815, edition 1
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