716 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



merchant vessels belonging to in- 

 dividuals may pass by inheritance to 

 persons wlio never exposed them- 

 selves to be made prisoners of war. 

 In all her conquests France has 

 considered sacred private property 

 deposited in the warehouses of the 

 vanquished state, and such have 

 had the complete disposal of mat- 

 ters of trade; and at this moment 

 convoys by land of merchandize, 

 and especially cottons, are passing 

 through the French army and Aus- 

 tria, to proceed to the destina- 

 tion commerce directs. If France 

 had seized the monopoly of the 

 seas, she would have accumulated 

 in her territory all the products of 

 the earth, and she would have ob- 

 tained unnieasurable wealth. 



*' Undoubtedly, if England had 

 the dominion of land which she has 

 acquired on the ocean, her acqui- 

 sitions would have been equally 

 enormous. She would, as in the 

 time of barbarism, have sold the 

 conquered, and distributed them as 

 slaves throughout her land. The 

 avarice of trade would have ab- 

 sorbed every thing, and the go- 

 vernment of an enlightened na- 

 tion which has brought the arts 

 of civilization to perfection, would 

 have given the earliest instances of 

 the return of the savage ages. That 

 government is fully impressed with 

 the injustice of its naval code. But 

 what has that government to do 

 with justice, which only inquires 

 for profit ? 



" When France shall have esta- 

 blished hernaval power, which, with 

 the extent of her coasts and her po- 

 pulationwillbe soon accomplished, 

 then will the emperor reduce these 

 principles to practice, and apply his 

 mandate to render it universal. The 

 right, orrather usurpation, of block- 

 ading rivers «nd coasts by procla- 



mation is palpably contrary to rea- 

 son and equity. Arightcannotpos- 

 sibly spring from thewill of an inter- 

 ested party, but must always be 

 founded on the natural relations of 

 things. A place is not properly block- 

 aded unless it be besieged by land 

 and water. It is blockaded to pre- 

 vent the introduction of assistance, 

 by which the surrender of the place 

 might be protracted ; and then we 

 have only the right to prevent neu- 

 tral ships from entering the port, 

 when the place is thus circum- 

 stanced, and the possession of it is 

 matter of doubt between the be- 

 siegers and besieged. On this is 

 grounded the right to prevent 

 neutrals from entering the place. 



" The sovereignty and independ- 

 ence of its flag, like the sovereignty 

 and independence of its territory, is 

 the property of every neutral. A 

 state may transfer itself to another 

 state ; it may destroy the archives 

 of its independence, and pass from 

 prince to prince, but the right of 

 sovereignty is indivisible and un- 

 alienable ; no one can renounce it. 



" England has placed France in a 

 state of blockade. The emperor 

 has, in his decree of Berlin, declar- 

 ed the British islands in a state of 

 blockade. The first of these regula- 

 tions forbid neutral vessels to pro- 

 ceed to France ; the second prohi» 

 bited their entering English har- 

 bours. 



" England Ims, by her orders of 

 council of the 11th of November, 

 1807, levied an impost on neutral 

 ships, and obliged them to enter 

 its ports before they sail to France. 

 By the decree of the 17th of De- 

 cember of the same year, the em- 

 peror has decreed, that all such 

 ships be denationalized which had 

 entered English ports, or submitted 

 to be searched. 



« In 



1 



