n fact, the catalogue of grievances suffered by the people of the
United States at the hand of Great Britain had increased, new
difficulties having grown out of the belligerent position of Europe at
the time we are considering. France, as we have seen, by a decree of her
National Convention, had placed the shipping of neutrals during the
pending war on the same footing as that of her own; and, in consequence,
a rich commerce had presented itself to American merchantmen, of which
they took advantage. Great Britain paid no attention to this decree, but
claimed for its cruisers the right to seize French property, even on
board American vessels. The British also refused to recognise as neutral
the trade between France and her West India colonies, carried on in
American bottoms, which the pressure of war had created.

The British government had also instructed their cruisers to seize and
bring in all vessels employed in carrying breadstuffs to French ports,
even though vessel and cargo should be neutral property; claiming the
right, contrary to modern usage, of preventing, by all means in her
power, supplies being carried to her enemy, her statesmen having
conceived the idea of destroying the French Revolution by starvation.
Such vessels and cargoes were, however, to be paid for on proof being
presented of their neutral character, and bonds being given to land in
countries at peace with Great Britain. It is proper to state, that, at
about the time in question, the French government--under the pressure of
circumstances, and driven to it, they said, "by their implacable and
ferocious enemies"--authorized the same system of seizure, with promises
to pay. The British _did_ pay, the French did _not_, and on that score
the Americans more highly respected the former than the latter.

A more serious ground of complaint against Great Britain was the
authority given to the commanders of British ships of war to make up any
deficiency in their crews, by pressing into their service British-born
seamen, wherever found, not within the immediate jurisdiction of any
foreign state. Under this authority, many American merchant-vessels were
crippled, while in mid-ocean, by British seamen being taken from them.
Nor were British seamen alone taken. It was sometimes difficult to
distinguish an Englishman from an American; and as the commanders of
vessels-of-war were not very strict in their scrutiny, native-born
Americans were frequently dragged o