The Georgia journal. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1809-1847, June 12, 1810, Image 1

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THE GEORGIA JOURNAL. Voi.. I. MILLEUGEVILLE, TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1810. No. 33- published by seaton gr anti, and, jwas fit to enter his protest ; ns a vio-jin this to countenance the conclusioi (printer to run state,) on JEF-Ilation in his person ol .lie most cs-you have drawn in favor ot the righ i llrson street, opposite the sential right of a public minister ; nslol his Britannic majesty to disavow north end of the state-house, a new difficulty thrown in the way oil the proceeding ? Is any thing more .three dollars pep. AN-pT. restoration ol a thorough good un-,common in public negotiations, than terms. num, one half to RE paid in AD-jderstanding between the two coun-jto begin with a higher demand, and, tnes * Ithat tailing, to descend to a lower : I need not remark to vonr Lord-have, it not two sets of instructi- fully received, axu publisiied s hip^ t hat nothing ol all this could ons Awo, or more than two grades of at THE CUSTOMARY prices. !with propriety lie said of a proceed- propositions in the same set of in- VANCE ADVERTISEMENTS WILL PE THANK- Great Cumberland Place, 2./ 'January, 1810. My Lord, In the course of the official cor-, ing, in itself entirely regular and usu- structions ; to begin with what is the al, required by the state of the dis- | nost desirable, and to end with what cussions to which only it was to be is found to be admissible, incase the applied, and proposed in a manner "lore desirable, should not be attain- perfectly decorous and unexcepiiona- • 1 his must be obvious to eve- , V , ,ble. The government of the United l T understanding, and is confirmed lately takenlc.'T t .° , • . , i,„ i „ respondence, which has mieiy uiKcnio. , . , , i,„ , . .ic . V c .states had expected front dr. |aek-, b > universal experience place between the secretary ol State . 1 . ... ‘ .... 1 ir • 1 r .r . i son an explanation ol the grounds ol “ What are the real and entirem- the relusal on the part of his govern-,structions given to vour predecessor, ment to abide by Mr. Erskinc’s ar-|is a question essentially between him. rangement, accompanied by \ sub-land his government. That he had, •niputed to the government ol the stitution ot other propositions. luor at east that he believed he had, United States ; and it need not be had been collected from Mr. Jack-sufficient authority to conclude the statud that 110 allusion whatever was arrangement, his formal assurances, to * c by .Mr. Secretary Can- and :iie United States, and Mr. Jack sou, iiis m ijestv’s envoy extraordina ry and minister plenipotentiary at Washington, it has unfortunately hap pened, that Mr. Jackson h;r, made it necessary that I should recciv * the commands of the President to r> qut>: his reeal, and that, m the mean time the intercourse between that minister and the American government should be suspended. acts and asseverations which neces sarily led to the opposite conclusion It was preferred as an answer to ; claim of explanation, which Mr. fackson professed not to be autho rised by bis government to oiler at ill, but which he those so to oiler from himself as to convert explana tion into insult. It was advanced, iot only without proof, and against proof, but against all color of proba bility. It could scarcely have been advanced under any conviction that it was necessary to the case which Mr. Jackson was to maintain ; for his Majesty’s government had disa vowed Mr. Erskine’s arrangement, according to M r. Jackson’s own repre sentation, without any reference to the knowledge which this accusation sol , cor.vers, ‘.ions, that he had no power whatsoever to give any such explanation ; or, in the business ol die orders in council, to offer anv iubstitutc for the rejected agreement; or, in the affair of the Chesapeake, I am nail s, nv, my Lord, that ’j:o offer any substitute that could be shall best consult your Lordship’ wishes and die respect which I owe to his Majesty’s government, by execu ting my duty on this occasion with perfect simplicity St frankness. My instructions, too, point to that course as required by the honor of the two governments, and as suited to the confidence which the President enter tains in the disposition of his Majes ty’s government to view in its true light the subject to which they relate. With such inducements to exclude from this communication every thing which is not intimately connected with its purpose, and on the other hand, to set forth with candor and explicitness the facts and considera tions which really belong to the case .ccepted ; and it had been inferred rom the same conversations, that, even if the American government should propose a substitute for th.i* part of the disavowed adjustinen. which regarded the orders in coun cil, the substitute could not be agreed to (if indeed Mr. Jackson had power to do more than discuss it) unless a should distiuclv recognize conditions which had already been declared to bt wholly inadmissible. To what valuable end, my Lord, loose con versations, having in view either no definite result, or none that was at tainable, could, under such circum stances and upon such topics, be con tinued, it would not lie easvto disco during our discussions were such as ver ; and I think I may venture to I should be unpardonable il l fatigued assume that the subseqent written your Lordship with unnescessury de-.correspondence has completely shew, lads, or affected my reserve. jthat they could not have been other It is known to your Lordship thatiwise than fruitless, and that they were Mr. Jackson arrived in America,,not too soon abandoned for that more us the successor of Mr. Erskinejlornul course, to which from the bc- while the disappointment producediginning they could only be consider in' the disavowal of the arrangement ed as pn ;r l alorv. ol the 19th ol April, was yet recent, Alter remonstrating against thelrangement, the arrangement would and while some othci causes of dis-wish of the American government!not have L-cen made.” satisfaction, which had been madej t0 give to the further discussions a I suppose, my Lord, that it was im- lo associate themselves with that dis-i wnUL . n form, Mr. Jackson dispose.! ( , 0bsi!jlc; lo disclaim for the Aineri- appouitmcnt, v (cr m op. in ion.||-ijniscli to conform to it; and, speak-i- an government, in more precise and But your Lordship also knows that, Ingin lhc same letter of the disavow- intelligible language than is found in Ins reception by the Ameiuan go- ;l l oi the arrangement ol April, he de- vernment was marked by all that| c i ai ts> ^} ia t he was not provided with to leave .'.o loom for doubt, fiis subsequent letter of the 1 Jth of June, renewing his assurance to me, “ that the terms of the agreement so hap pily concluded by the recent negoci- itiun will be strictly fulfilled on the part of his Majesty,*’ is an evident indication of what his persuasion hen was as to his instructions.-— And with a view to shew what his impressions have been even since the disavowal I must take the liber ty of referring you to the annexed cv tiucts (see C.) from his official let ters of the 31st of July and of the l-i-ili of August. “ The declaration, that the des patch from Mr. Canning to Mr. Erskine of the 23d of January is the only dispatch, by which the conditi ons were prescribed Mr. Erskine for the conclusion of an arrangement on the matter to which it relates, is now for the first time made to this go vernment. And I need hardly add that, if that dispatch had been com municated at the time ol the arrange ment, or if it had been known that the projiositions contained in it, and which were at first presented by Mr. Erskine, were the only ones on which he was authorised to make an ar- ning, in those informal communica- kindness and respect which Were due to the representative of a sove reign with whom the United States were sincerely desirous oi maintain ing the most friendly relations. Whatever were the hopes, whicl tractions to explain the motives of it; and he seems to intimate that ex planation through him was unneces sary, not only because it had already been made through other channels, t because the government oi the Mr. Jackson’s mission had inspired,Unifcd States had entered into the ar- of satisfactory explanations £; adjust-[«\iigenH.nt with a knowledge “ that .t could only lead lo the consequences that actually followed.” In the con clusion ol the fourth paragraph ol the letter he informes Mr. Smith, that the despatch of Mr. Canning ti. Mr. Er skine, “ which Mr. Smith had made the basis oi an official correspondence with the latter minister, and which had been read to the American minis ter in London,” was the only des patch, by which the conditions were prescribed to Mr. Erskine for the meijts upon the prominent points ol difference between the two countries, they certainly were not much en couraged by the conferences,in which us far as he thought proper, he open ed to Mr. Smith, soon after his arri- \ al, the nature S; extent of his pow ers and the views ol his government. After an experiment, deemed by the government of the U. States to be sufficient, it appeared that these con ferences, necessarily liable to mis conception and want ol precision \vure not likely to lead to any practi cal conclusion. Accordingly, on the 9th of Octo ber, Mr. Smith addressed a letter to Mr. Jackson, in which, after stating the course of proceeding which the American government had supposed itself entitled to expect lrorn him, with regard to the rejected arrange ment and the matters embraced^ b\ it, and after recapitulating what Mr. Smith believed to have passed in their recent interviews relative to those subjects, be intimated diat it was thought expedient that their iun til er discussions, on that particular occasion, should be in writing. T . . . i XT r present document—that lie was dis It is evident, my Lord, uom .ur. i this quotation, all knowledge of Mr Erskine’s instructions incompatible with a sincere, honorable and justilia- ->le belief that he was, as lie profes sed to be, fully authorised to make the agreement in which he undertook to pledge the faith of his Majesty’s go vernment. Yet in Mr. Jackson’s next Icllcr (of the 23d of October) to Mr. Smith, he says—“ I have therefore no hesitation in informal vou that his Majesty was pleased to disavow the agreement, conclud ed between you and Mr. Erskine, because it was in violation of that gen tleman's instructions, and altogether without authority to subscribe to the terms of it. These instructions I now understand by your letter, as well as from the obvious deductiuns which I took the liberty of making in mine of the 11th instant, were at the time conclusion of an arrangement with ; n su bstance made known to you.— the United States oil the matter to stronger illustration therefore which it related. Mr. Smith’s answer to this letter bears date the 19th of October; and 1 beg vour Lordship’s permission to introduce from it the following quo- ation :—“ The stress you have laid on what you have been pleased to state as the substitution ol the terms finally agreed oil” (in the arrange ment of April on the orders in coun can be given of the deviation from them which occurred than by a reference to the terms of your a- grei ment.” Your Lordship will allow me to take for granted that this passage cannot be misunderstood. Its di rect and evident teiidencey is to fas ten upon the government of the U- ited States an imputation most in- il) “ for the terms first proposed, j ur ious to its honour and veracity, (by Mr. Erskine) “ has excited no The charge, that it had all along been small degree of surprize. Certain substantially apprized, however it it is that your predecessor did ore- might affect to be ignorant, of the sent for my consideration the same instructions which Mr. Erskine’s ar- conditions which now appear in the rangement was said to have violated, _ , , l V ,i,„ 11,1, ,,f ih, posed to urge them more than the J;u kson s reply <• nature of two of them (both palpably same month, that lie received tins m-j ‘ . ... v uination (which, tarefully restricted mudnmbl >le, as it was, lie seems to have been wil ling to understand in a general sense) v, itii considerable sensibility, lie speaks oi it in that reply as being v. iihout example in the annals of dip lomacy : as a step against v.LL! nd one more than merely inadmissiabie) could permit —ami that on finding his first propo sal unsuccessful, the more reasona ble terms, comprised in the arrange ment respecting the orders in coun .j!, \. ere auo'.twi—And v.L»:iultcrt had before been insinuated ; but it is here openly made, in reply, too, to a paper, in which the contrary is for mally declared by the official organ if the American government. This harsh accusation, enhanced iy the tone of the letter in which it ■ppt art d, was in all respects as ex- laordiuary as it was offensive. It /v.l: the shane cf ar. iuLi'eace from tions to me which Mr. Jackson has mentioned. It was not moreover, to have been expected that in the ap parent state of Mr. Jackson’s pow ers, and in the actual posture of his uegociation, lie would seek to irri tate where he could not arrange, and sharpen disappointment by studied and unprovoked indignity. The course which the government of the United States adopted on this painiul oceasion, was such as at once demonstrated a sincere respect for the public character with which Mr. Jackson was invested, and a due sense of its own dignity. Mr. Jack son’s conduct had left a feeble hope that further intercourse with him, unproductive of good as it must be, might still be reconcileable with the honour of the American govern ment. A fair opportunity was ac cordingly presented to him of mak ing it so, by Mr. Smith’s letter of the 1st of November, of which I beg leave to insert the concluding para- raph:— “ I abstain, sir, from making any particular animadversions on several irrelevant and improper allusions in your letter, uot at all comporting with the professed disposition to ad just in an amicable manner the dif ferences unhappily subsisting be tween the two countries. But i, would be improper to conclude the few observations, to which I pur posely limit myself, without advert ing to your repetition of a language, implying a knowledge on the part of this government, that the instructi ons of jour predecessor did not au thorise the arrangement formed by him. Alter the explicit and peremp tory asseveration that this govern ment had no such knowledge, anti that with such knowledge no such arrangement would have been en tered into, the view, which you again presented of the subject, makes it my duty to apprize you, that such insinuations are inadmissible in the intercourse ol a foreign minister with a government that understands what it owes to itself.” Whatever was the sense, in which Mr. J+ickson had used the expres sions to which the American govern ment took exception, he was now a- ware of the sense in which they were understood ; and, consequently was called upon, if he had been misap prehended, to say so. Iiis expressi ons conveyed an injurious meaning, supported moreover by the context; and the notice taken oi them had not exceeded the bounds of just admoni tion. To have explained away even an imaginary affront, would have been no degradation ; but when an occasion was thus offered to qua- liiy real and severe imputations up on the government to which he was accredited, it could scarcely be other wise than a duty' to take immediate advantage ol it. Such however was not Mr. Jack son’s opinion. He prefered an swering the appeal, which had been made to him, by reiterating with a- gravations the offensive insinuation He says, in the last paragraph of his letter of the 4th of November to Mr Smith—“ You will find that, in my correspondence with you, I have carefully avoided drawing conclusi ms, that did not necessarily follow from the premises advanced by me ; >e and least of all should I think of ut- ih tet ing an insinuation where I was unable to substantiate a fact. To facts, such as I have become ac- juainted with them, I have scrupu lously adhered. In so doing Imust continue, whenever the good faith of Iiis majesty’s government is called in question, to vindicate its honor and dignity’, in the manner that appears to me Lest calculated for that pur pose.” To this, my Lord, there could be but one reply. Official intercourse with Mr. Jackson could no longer be productive of any effects that were not rather to be avoided than desired; and it was plainly impossible that it should continue. He was, therefore, informed by Mr. Smith, in a letter of the 8th November, which recapitu lated the inducements to this una voidable step, that no further com munications would be received from hint ;that the necessityof this determi nation would without delay be made known to his government; and that in the meantime, a ready attention would be given to any communicati on, affecting the interest of the two nations, through any other channel that might be substituted. The President has been pleased to direct that I should make known this necessity to his Majesty’s govern ment, and at the same time request that Mr. Jackson be recalled. And I am particularly instructed to do this in a manner that will leave no doubt of the undiminished desire of the United States to unite in all the means the best calculated to establish the relations of the two countries on the solid foundations of justice, of friendship, and of mutual interest. I am further particularly instructed, my Lord, to make his majcsty'’s go vernment sensible, that, in requiring the recall cf Mr. Jackson, the Unit ed States wish not to be understood as in any degree obstructing com munications which may lead to a friendly accommodation, but that, on the contrary, they sincerely retain the desire, which they have constant ly professed, to facilitate so happy un event, and that nothing will be more agreeable to them than to find the minister who ha3 rendered him self so justly obnoxious, replaced by another, who, with a different cha racter, may carry with him all the authorities and instructions requisite for the complete success of his missi on, or, if the attainment of this ob ject through my agency should be considered more expeditious, or o* therwise preferable, that it will be a •curse entirely satisfactory to the U. States. These instructions, which I lay before your Lordship without dis guise, require no comment. Before I conclude this letter it may be proper very shortly to advert to two communications, received by *• Mr. Secretary Smith from Mr. Oak ley after the correspondence with Mr. Jackson had ceased. The first of these communication* (of which I am not able to ascertain the date) requested a document, hav ing the effect of a special passport, or safeguard, for Mr. Jackson and his familv, during their stay in the U. S. This application was regard ed as somewhat singular, but the do cument, of which the necessity was not perceived, was nevertheless fur nished. The reasons assigned for the application excited some surprise. I have troubled your lordship, in con versation, with a few remarks, from my instructions, upon one of those reasons, which will take the liberty to repeat. The paper in question states that Mr. Jackson “had alrea dy been once most groosly insulted by the inhabitants of Hampton, in the unprovoked language of abuse held by them to several officers bearing the king’s uniform ; when those of ficers were themselves violently as saulted and put in imminent dan ger.” I am given to undestand, my Lord, chat the insult, here alluded to, was for the first time brought under the notice of the American government by this paper ; that it had, indeed, been among the rumors of the day that some unbecoming scene had aken place at Hampton or Norfolk, ictwcen some officers belonging to c Africakie frigate a::d icmc of