"As recollection of his catholic majefty, that fuch acts of violence very generally happened in Spanish ports, where no measures were taken to prevent them. In allufion to the trial and decifion in our admiralty court, above mentioned, he obferved, that Spain and all Europe were acquainted with the long procefs which Sweden had carried on in London on the fubject of restoration, and that there could be no reafon to expect that peedier juftice would be done in a caufe which required reftitution to be made to an enemy. A note was likewife delivered to the Swedish king by the minifter of the Batavian republic, urging his majefty to take fpeedy fatisfaction for the affair of Barcelona. to you, fire," faid the Dutch envoy, Europe has its eyes on you, and expects, with impatience, the prompt fatisfaction which is due to you. If the English government, deaf to the, voice of honour, and to the reprefentations of your majefty, do not make, before the expiration of one year, the reparation which is demanded, the Batavian government will find itfelf reduced to the harsh neceffity of concerting with its allies the neceflary means for fecuring its ports from any violence fimilar to that which has been exercised against the Swedish flag." The note from which this is an extract, was published at Stockholm, November 30, 1800.-The world was not at a lofs to what fource to trace this extreme urgency and decifive tone of the Batavian republic, exemplary punishment on the officers who had dared to commit fo criminal an offence. The reprefentation that was made of that event by the Spaniards, founded, it was faid, on a report by the Spanish conful at Barcelona, was, "That, on the 4th of September, 1800, in the afternoon, two English fhips and a frigate forced captain Redbeard, of the Swedish brigantine, Hoffnung, after having examined his papers, and found them regular, to take on board English officers, and a confiderable number of failors, and to fuffer himfelf to be towed, in the evening, by feveral English boats, as far as the road of BarceJona, and under the cannon of the batteries. That the English having compelled the faid captain and his crew to be filent, by holding a pil tol to his breaft, took poffeffion of the rudder, and, by means of the faid brigantine and the boats which furrounded it, made an attack on two frigates under Spanish colours, which were there at anchor, and which having no realon to fulpect that a neutral and friendly vefel could conceal enemies on board, and thus ferve to favour a moft treacherous attack, were, in a manner, furprifed and forced to furren der." The Swedish miniftrv, in a letter tranfmitted to the minifter of his catholic majesty, and dated at Drollingholm, October 22, 1800, replied, in fubitance," That his Swedith majefty was forry that another inftance had occurred of an infult offered to a neutral flag; but he hoped that, in due time, remonfrance would have its effect, and juftice be obtained for fuch frequent outrages, both by the French and the English. Meanwhile, with the retort courteous, he called to the To the Batavian note, the chancellor of the Swedish court anfwer ed by another, in which he thanked the Batavian government, in the name of his mafter, for the part which the former had taken refpect ing the infult offered to the Swedi ig. With relpect to the term of a year, pointed out for the purpole doctaming a reparation from England, his majefty did not think himfelf by any means circumferibed in point of time. If unexpected obftacles fhould occur, to prevent the Temoval of the exifting difficulties, be thould not deem himfelf relponfile or any abufe of the Swedish fag, which the belligerent powers might choofe to employ by way of repritals against England, any more than he did for the abufe of it, which Great Britain had committed against Spain. Spain and all Europe was acquainted with the long process carried on by Sweden in London, on the subject of restorafien of captured hips, and there could be no reason to expect that fpedier juftice would be done in a case which required reparation to be made to an enemy. It would be much to be lamented, fhould the injuftice of a third power be able to break connexions, which feveral direct difcuffions, during the war, had not altered. Unfortunate events of this nature had frequently taken place, and fome, as if they were pecuhar to the Spanish ports." king of Sweden would demand of the court of London juftice for Spain; but without anfwering for the confequence of this Ture."-Though the king of Sweden, with great dignity, repelled the idea of being dictated to by the Spaniards and Hollanders, the event foon proved that he did not ftand in need of their excitements to affert what he conceived to be due to his flag on any inviting opportu The mea nity; and fuch an opportunity, he at the fame time know, would by and by be prefented by fimilar fentiments, pallions, and defigns, that had been growing up in different quarters, out of fimilar fituations and circumftances, for years, and were now haftening to maturity. The question concerning the liberty of the tea, like other questions in the law of nature and nations, has often been debated at great length, not only on political, but moral, grounds, as if the rulers of this world were to be reftrained by any other contiderations, than thole of expediency, policy, and intereft. The contempt of office, which lovereign ftares difcover in their terririal transactions with each other, is univerfaily confidered as inveterate, and pat all remedy. Yet from the earnestnefs with which, not only civilians and other moraifs, but politicians and flatefmen, enter into elaborate difcuffions on the question of mare liberum et mare claufum,† it would fcem that they full entertain hopes of perfuading, by moral and theological arguments, fovereign ftates, and princes, to facrifice their interests to a lenfe of duty. No politician thinks it worth while to oppofe ethics, or religion hertelf, to the partitioning plans of France, Pruffia, Auftria, and Ruffia. If murmurs againft violence and ufurpation are heard for a time, they foon lubfide into a tacit acknowledgement of a right acquired by poffeffion. Yet, attempts are conftantly made, to convince the world, that it is immoral, in any great naval power, not to relinquith the advantages the In juftification of this retort courteous, a particular and ftriking inftance is mentioned. Ser State Papers, last volume. The navigation of the ocean perięcy free, or reftricted by certain limitations. derives derives from her maritime fuperiority in favour of her enemies. At land, rights are obtained by conqueft; ufurpations are legalized by time; property grows out of pol 'feffion. Rivers, lakes, mountains, deferts, and other natural boundaries, define and afcertain, in the imaginations of men, a right of dominion in thofe who are able to bear rule in the enclofed regions. Because the main ocean is not interfected by natural barriers, and dotted with forts; but, like the air we breathe, one continuous expanfe; it is imagined, that the law of force and occupancy, which does every thing on land, fhould do nothing at fea. But the law of major ris, if it be tolerated in the one cafe, ought to be equally tolerated in the other. The only difference is, that the fortified places,-fortified whether by nature or art, that confer continental dominion, are of a fixed, whereas the fleets and navies of a great and preponderating maritime ftate, are of a moveable, nature. In the prefent ftate of the world, which is in truth little better than a ftate of war, the conduct of governments cannot be fquared, in every inftance, by metaphyfical accuracy: great indulgence muft be, and indeed is, given to meafures of fiate, in the mutual tranfactions of nations. Nor are there many among thefe that adinit of lo fair an apo logy, as the right of visiting and fearching the veffels of neutral powers claimed and maintained by the English. It is however our bufinefs to view this fubject, not morally, but biftorically. The right of examining and fei zing neutral veffels, hoftile to the interefts of any maritime power, under certain equitable modifications, has been maintained by authors of different nations, Italian, Spanish, Portuguze, French, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, and English. That right was generally acknowledged from the earliest times of a regulated commerce in Europe, and exercifed too by every maritime power, when it fuited its intereft to do fo. Authors there were, indeed, who maintained the unlimited freedom of the feas; when the states to which they belonged, and under whofe aufpicies they wrote, dreaded fome fuperior maritime power, and fought to enjoy, under fhade of laws, what they could not command by their own ftrength. An inftance of this we have had recently, in an elaborate treatise, by a Danish profeffor, in the fummer of 1800; written under the authothority of the Danish government, and publifhed at Copenhagen, with a view to prepare the way for a revival of the armed neutrality. general, what was to be expected, in fact, took place. The weaker maritime powers contended for mare liberum: the stronger for mare claufum. * the In As England claimed, what the had always exerciled, a right of vilitation and fearch, fo Spain, France, Holland, and other maritime ftates, conflantly claimed the fame right, whenever their interest required it; and they poffefled power fafficient to enforce it. In a word, the rights claimed by England, in regard to neutral vellels, had been juftified by the practice of Doctor Segal, profeffor of laws in the university, and affeffor of the fupreme court of judicature, Copenhagen. Europe, Europe, for centuries. They had been long recognifed by the compon acquiefcence of all nations, when they were attacked by the doctrines of the famous armed neutrality of 1750: for an account of which, we refer our readers to our volume for that year * Not many months had paffed after the date of the maritime law promulgated by Ruffia, before Sweden, Denmark, and Pruifia, bound themfelves, by treaty, not only to adopt her laws, as obligatory on themselves, but to affift in impofing them, by force, on all other powers, and, particularly, on this country. Ten years did not elapfe, before the authors of that new ftem, which had been framed to latt for ages, were themfeles, the fitft to violate it. In 1793, the emprefs of Ruffia propofed, and adually concluded a treaty with Great Britain, for co-operating in the late war with France. She exprefsly engaged to unite with his Britannic majefty "all her efforts to prevent other powers, not implicated in this war, from giving any protection whatfoever, directly or indirectly, in confequence of their neutrality, to the commerce or property of the French, on the fea, or in the ports of France; and, in execution of this treaty, the tent a fleet into the Baltic, and North Seas, with exprefs orders to her admiral, to fearch all Danith merchant fhips failing under convoy. Thus, the emprefs of Ruffia, when at war with France, felt the justice, as well as the expediency, of reforting to the ancient fyftem of public law. The fame fyftem was adopted by her fucceffor, with redoubled ardour. So lately as the year 1799, the Ruffian emperor, Paul threate ed the Danes with immediate hoftilities, on account of their partiality to France, of which he ftated one symptom to be, their fupplying affifiance and protection to the trade of France, under the neutral colours of the Danish flag; and if the emperor did not carry thefe threats into execution, with as much intemperate hase, as he did his menaces in other inflances, it was owing folely to the amicable interference of Great Britain, which Denmark repeatedly acknowledged. An article, fimilar to that in the Rullian convention in 1793, was agreed to between Great Britain and Pruffia, another party, as already obferved, to the armed neutrality of 1780. The fame was likewife agreed to by Spain, and engagements of fimilar import were entered into by Auftria, as well as by Portugal and Naples. Denmark exprefsly renounced the principles of the league of 1780, both by her own ed cts, and by a formal treaty. The reicript, published at Copenhagen, at the commencement of the prefent war, for pointing out to the Danish merchants the nature and limits of their neutral trade, inflead of being founded on thofe princi ples, was in direct contradiction to them The Danish, were there exprefly commanded not to attempt to carry in neutral hips, any property of the belligerent nations. In the year 1794, a convention was figned between the courts of Sweden and Denmark, for the mutual prefervation of their neutral commerce, during a war, in which almost every country in * Being the XXIId. of the Annual Register. Europe Europe was then actually engaged. This treaty, being duly ratified, was by them communicated to the Britif government. In the fecond article, they declared their adherence to their respective treaties with all the different powers at war, without exception. And by the third, they bound themselves to each other, and to all Europe, that, in all matters not expreffed in their exifting treaties, they would not pretend to any other advantages than thofe which were founded on the univerfal law of nations, fuch as it was recognised, and refpected, up to that moment, by all the powers, and all the fovereigns of Europe. But the principles of the neutral confederacy of 1780, and a lurking ill-will to this country, engendered by commercial envy, and wounded pride, ftill rankled in the councils of both Sweden and Denmark. The difficulties which gathered more and more around Great Britain, forfaken by her allies, one after another, or what is infinitely worse, obliged to forfake them, roufed all thofe principles of indignation and refentment, with which thefe and other powers had been long actuated. The hoftile difpofitions of Sweden we have already feen exemplified in acts of affiftance to our enemy. Similar difpofitions were betrayed by fimilar acts, on the part of Denmark, between which power and Sweden there would appear to have been a fecret understanding, if not a formal concert, СНАР, |