The Virginia Gazette

LONDON. April 6.

The OPINION of the Committee of the HOUSE of COMMONS of England.

'Tis the Opinion of this Committee, That it is the natural and undoubted Right of the British Subjects to sail with their Ships on any Part of the Seas of America, to and from any Part of His Majesty's Dominions; and that the seizing and confiscating such Ships as are not sailing and trafficking in the Ports and Havens which have Fortifications, Castles, Magazines, or Warehouses, or in any other Places possessed by the King of Spain, is contrary to Equity and Justice, and in a manifest Violation of the Treaty subsisting between the Two Crowns.

2dly, That it is the indisputable Right of the Subjects of Great-Britain to carry in their Ships all sorts of Goods, Merchandize, or Effects, from one Part of His Majesty's Dominions to any other Part of His Dominions; and that no Goods, Merchandize, or Effects so carry'd, are, by the Law of Nations, or any other Treaty between the Two Crowns, to be deem'd or taken as contraband Goods, and that the searching such Ships on the open Seas, under Pretence of finding contraband Goods, is highly injurious to the Trade of this Kingdom, a Violation of the Law of Nations, and an Infraction of the Treaty subsisting between the Two Crowns.

3dly, That the Subjects of Great-Britain did hold and possess Lands in the Province of Yucatan, in America, antecedent to the Treaty of 1670, which Treaty confirmed the Right to each contracting Party of such Lands or Places as either did at that Time hold or possess; and that the Subjects of Great-Britain have at all Times claimed a Right of cutting Logwood in the Bay of Campeachy, and enjoyed the same without Interruption, during the Reign of Charles the Second, of Spain, which Right seems rather particularly secured to us by the Manner in which the first Article of the Treaty of Commerce at Utrecht confirms the Treaty of 1670, with these remarkable Words, "Without Prejudice to any Liberty or Power, which the Subjects of Great Britain enjoyed, either through Right, Sufferance, or Indulgence."

4thly, That the attacking a Fleet of English Ships gathering Salt in the Island of Tortugas, then under a Convoy of one of his Majesty's Ships of War, by Two Men of War belonging to the King of Spain, firing on the Convoy, and taking Four of the said Ships, was a notorious Infraction of the Convention signed at Madrid the 14th of Sept. 1715, and a high Insult on the Honour due to the Flag of Great-Britain.

5thly, That it appears to this Committee, That for many Years last past, the Liberty of Navigation in the American Seas has been unjustly disturbed by the Spaniards, under Pretence of searching for and finding illicit Trade, the British Ships have been unlawfully seized on the open Seas, plundered and confiscated, the Sailors robb'd, inhumanly tortured, imprisoned, and made Slaves, to the grievous Loss of the Merchants, the Obstruction of Commerce, and the Dishonour of the Nation.

6thly, That it appears, notwithstanding the repeated Application of Parliament, the Treaty of Seville, and the Assurances, so frequently given to the Merchants, of procuring Reparation for their Losses and ill Usage; and notwithstanding the Expectation of the Nation, of receiving just and ample Satisfaction for the Cruelties exercised on its Subjects, and the Insult offered itself, nothing has in so many Years been obtained from the Court of Spain, effectually to satisfy the Losses, repair the Injuries, or retrieve the Honour of the Nation, tho' the said Treaty of Seville, so advantageous to Spain, has been punctually observed on the Part of Great Britain.