Virginia Argus

OUTRAGE.

As we have uniformly deprecated "doing evil that good may come"-we cannot but abhor a transgression of law on pretence of obtaining justice. The attack on the Chesapeake, or the murder of Pierce by the British, was not greatly superior in atrocity to the act, committed by a party of our troops in Upper Canada. The account is extracted from a Montreal paper of May 22.

Bennet deserves punishment; but, as we have never had spirit to drag British offenders to punishment for violating our laws, we fear it would look like pusillanimity, to give up one of our officers to the British.

'The good and royal federalists-how will they act? Having defended British for the outrage on the Chesapeake, on the plea of British deserters being on board, they cannot now condemn Bennet, without running into an inextricable dilemma. Luther Martin, alias the honest politician, alias Astolphus, having written a book in defence of the attack on the Chesapeake, laying the blame on our own government, must now defend Capt. Bennet; unless the sagacious gentleman should discover by dint of vast law-learning, that crime amounting to murder on land-is but justifiable homicide, or chance medley, on water. We are indeed curious to know how the great body of the Tory printers will act on this occasion. We say, promptly, that captain Whitby, admiral Berkeley, and captain Bennet, ought to swing gracefully together on the same gallows.

Whig.