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