The Republican ; and Savannah evening ledger. (Savannah, Ga.) 1807-1816, March 28, 1807, Image 2

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Mil. HALL)WIN. I loni tl. National lattlhgsr.C“r. Our last number announced the death of Ahuaii'.m Baldwin, .Senator item Geor gia. Ine annals of our country have rarclv bei'.i adorned with a character more vein ruble ora Inc more u ltd than hi';. War brings its animation, and creates hs own heroes; it often rears them up to fame v itiics ii ale assis tance from native genius ns from study, or from moral and poii u.a! virtue. Jt is in times el peace that r.n illustrious name is hardest earned, and most difficult to be secured, especially among enlightened re public;!!)', where an equality of right unci rank leaves nothing to the caprice of chance ; where < very action is weighed in its proper balance, and every man compared not oniy v.itli his neighbor but with himscil ; his motives being ics.cd by the uniform tendency oi lii.s mea sures. Mr. Baldwin was bom in Connecticut in Novcmbi r 17.i1, and received Ids education very eai s at the university ut Ncvv-ilavcn. Hi was one of the best classical and mathema tical scholars of the age in which he has lived, lie was employed as o:te of the professors in this eolle ,e during the grcatci part of tin: Ame rican war—,t the close of which, he began tile jir.cticc of law, and went to establish himself in the state ol Georgia. He arrived at Savan nah in tlie beginning of 1784 ; he was imme diately admitted a counsellor at the Georgia bar, and in thiee months afterwards he was c lceted a member of the state legislature. Du tiig the first session of that body after liiseloc-* lion, he performed a service for the people of that state, for which their posterity vviilJdcss Jiis memory. Indeed, it lie had done nothing for them since, this action alone, wwitld have immortalized him there. Ho originated the plan of the I'niver .ity of Georgia, drew up the charter, and with infinite labor and patience, in vatujui-.liing all sorts of prejudices and re moving every obstruction, lie persuaded the assembly to adopt it. This instrument endow .l ili university with forty thousand acres of excellent land, required it to establish one cen tra! scat for the higher branches of education, and a secondary i allege in every county in the state ; till dependent on the principal semi nary. These lands were then uncultivated ; the f.tato itself was new. It is only within the last sis rears tliat the rents of the univer: ity lands have enabled the trustees to erect the build ings and organise the institution ; and it is al readv in a flourishing condition. Its principal teat is at Athens, on the Oconee river. It is now under the direction of Josiuh Meigs, its first President ; a man equally eminent for mathematical and chemical science, anil legal and classical erudition. John .liillci'ge, late governor of the state, and now Senator in Congress, early associated Is labors v.itli those of his f:icrnl Baldwin in bringing forward-this establishment. And we understand th it the present trustees have erec ted, within the walls of the first colleges a mar ble monument to Baldw in, as founder of the in..dilution, and to Milicdgc his associate. This ii not the only instance in which we find their names connected by monumental acts of” public authority. MiHcdgcville is the shire town of Baldwin county ; and is now de clared the seat of the state government. Mr. Baldwin had not been two years in 8 Georgia when lie was elected member of 1 Congress. This was in 1785, to take hisse.it in 1786. From that time till the day of his death, he vvrs, without a moment’s interims* sion, a member ol Congress from that state, c ither as delegate under the old constitution, until the year 1789, representative under the new until the year 1799, and Senator from that time till Ills death. And the term for which lie was last elected had still four years to run from the Hli of .March, 1807, the day of his decease. There has probably been no other instance of such a long and uninterrupted series ofcon f: ictii'e and service among the members of the American Congn >s. And, what is more remarkable,on the first day that he was contin- I tv) !iis house, in his last illness, only eight and o s b,-tore Ids death, he told Ins friends, that and irng his twenty-two years of public service, tii.it day, according to his best recollection, was t ■ r first that lie had been absent from las pub lic duties. Mr. Baldwin was a member of the conven tio that ’.rained the present constitution of the United States. This he always considered as the greatest service that he ever performed lor his ■country ; and his estimate is doubtless just. 1! ’ was an active member ol’that most illustrious and meritorious body. Their de liberal ms were in secret; but we have good u’liliouty for saying, that some of the essential <■ ei , i-f the iiiv.iluaNc, and we hope ever lasting co npact. which they presented to their , out: v.e ve their origin and insertion to Abra ham Baldwin. His i.ia-w r of conducting public business is too veil known to his fellow labourers, and to the gtv.it ti vs of his contemporaries, to re 71111 r any Ulus'.) at Von in tiki hasty biographi r.,l sketch. Hr m.iv have wanted ambition io make himself brilliant. but he never wanted in lustre to render himself useful. His ora tory was simple, forcible, convincing, llis jruxiro of never asserting any flung but whr.t |n* lw.lie.vrd to lw true, could not fail to be II efol in i arryin'c conviction to others. P.i tirni *>f contradiction, and tolerant to the wild r .t rvjjitiia-js, hr could he as indulgent to the errors of judgment in oilier men, r.s if he b 4 ‘tend th.c most in need of such indulgence for ] himself. Dm ing the violent agitation of parties which have disturbed the repose of public men in this country, for the last ten years, he lias al- Wavslx en moderate, but firm ; relaxing no thing in his 1 t-publican principles, but retain ing r.ll passible charity for his former friends who may have abandoned their’s. He has lived without repiouch,and has probably died without an enemy. The state of society would lie rendered much better than it is, if the private lives of virtuous men, could Ire as well known, as their public lives ; that they might be kept clearly in view, as objects of imitation. We arc creatures of habit; and our habits arc foi med as much by repeating after others as after ourselves. Men, therefore, mistake a plain moral prin ciple, when they suppose it meritorious to conceal their good actions from the eye of the world. On the contrary, it is apart of their duty, to let such actions be known ; that they may extend their benefits by a sort of repro duction, and be multiplied by imitation. Mr. Baldwin’s private life was full of benefi cent and charitable deeds, w hich he was too studious to conceal from public notice. Hav ing never been married, he had no family of his own ; and his constant habits of economy and temperance, left him the means of assist ing many young men in their education and their establishment in business. It would per haps be improper for us to mention particular cases beyond his father’s family ; but in that there was an ample field for his benevolence. Six orphans, his half brothers and sisters, were left to his care, by the father’s death, in the year 1787 ; and the estate that was to support them proved insolvent. lie paid the debts of the estate, quit-claimed his proportion to these children, and educated them all, in a great measure, at his own expence. The five, out of the six, who arc still living, are well established in life ; and owe every thing to his paternal affection. His last illness was so short, and his death so unexpected, that none of his relatives, ex cept his brother-in-law, were able to he present at his funeral. But it seemed as if the public in general were his near relatives. We have rarely witnessed more general and genuine marks of regret, at the loss of any of the great benefactors of our country; particularly among the members from Geor gia. In that state, his loss will be most deep ly felt, though it must be very sensibly perceiv ed in the councils of the union. Though his funeral was two days after Con gress dissolved, many members stayed ex pressly tn attend it. The procession was five miles, from Capitol-llill to Rock-Creek church, formed by the Vice-President of the U. S. a number of the Senators and Representatives and the heads of departments. Chief mourn ers, Joel Barlow, brother-in-law of the deceased, governor Milicdgc, his colleague of the Isenute. and Mr. Early, representative from Georgia. His remains were deposited hv the side of lii.s old friend, Gen. Jackson, his former colleague, whom he had followed to the grave just one year before. The two chaplains of congress attended, and the funeral service was perform ed by Mr. Sayre. BRITISH TREATY. Mr. S. White, Senator from Delaware, has authorised the printer of the Baltimore Federal g Gazette, to publish the following communicu i t'loll on this interesting subject. The state -1 mint ol Mr. \Y liite, is also confirmed by Mr. Bayard: “ He (Mr. White) did not mean to express any opinion of his own, in relation to the Treaty, as he had no knowledge of its contents, or whe ther its “ conditions” were” hard”or otherwise,’ except such as had been communicated to him, with many others, the day before, by doctor Mitchiil ol the senate, and other gentlemen, who had received their information personally from Mr. JeHcrson, with permission to men tion it generally, and which was substantially as follow s :—That the treaty would not ren der a call ol the senate necessary, during the recess, as he (th - president) had determined to send it back to England, without submittim it to the Senate. The chief reasons he assign’ ed were, first, that it contained no stipulation on the subject of the impressment of seamen and, -’dly, that annexed to, and accompanying it. was a note, which went to declare, that if the United Sta’o s ratified the treaty, it was undei> stood they were to unite with England in re sisting the decree of the French emperor, lative to neutral commerce ; or that, notwitn statuling the treaty, his majesty was at liberty to pursue such measures of retaliation, on that subject, as he should deem fit and proper.” CO MMERCI ALLY IMPORTANT. Extract of a letter from a gentleman at Rotter dam, dated January 12, 1807, to his corres pondent in AVw- York. ** The late royal non-intercourse law with England kail given rise to serious doubts, whe ther or not vessels coming from .America, but having touched at England, would be admitted into our ports. Now we have received the assu rance, and 1 have the pleasure to inform you, that ships coming from your country, and w hich, either for orders, or on account of stress of weather, or for want of water, have been obliged to run into an English port, will be ad mitted as heretofore ; provided that hv their papers tt appears that they have neither land | ed or taken in, in England, any part of their I cargo ; and the required certificates of the I Dutch or French consuls must not be forgot.” SPEECH OF LORE HOWICK, IN TnK BRITISH HOCSK OF COMMONS. JAN. 5, CN I Hli NrIGOCiATiON WITH FRANCE. (Concluded from oar lali.j At the time when his majesty’s declaration was issued, it was bis most anxious and earnest w ish that it should be foundetion facts ; but now v.e are to sit clown again to that declaration.— Af er the objections that had been made, & the investigation that had taken place, he oict no, know how he could state the truth more com pletely than in the way it was stated in that declaration, namely that the otter of the basis of actual possession was made by the enemy, in which offer the negotiation originated.— When lord Yarmouth got toParis, he met with some unexpected obstacles. M. D’Oubti; arrived soon after. The hope which the Frcnch government entertained of inducing him to conclude a treaty between Russia and France, and the circumstances which related to Sicily, induced them to retract from their proposition. The actual signature of the treaty by M. D’Ou bril rendered these obsticles of still more mag nitude. Lord Yarmouth was then placed in a very difficult situation. lie saw no prospect of terminating the ncgociation in peace, but by producing his powers. lie did produce them. .No man could doubt the sincere desire which that noble lord felt of serving his country ; but at the same time lie must be allowed to say, that this act was contrary to his instructions, and to the intentions of government. The next step taken by his majesty’s ministers was to send lord Lauderdale to Paris. The firs: thing lie did, in conformity to his instructions, was to present a note, distinctly requiring an acknowledgement of the basis of actual pos session ; and his orders were, should that not be acknowledged, to quit Paris. The answer was, if Great-Britain did not feel disposed to surren der .certain points, France would reject the basis—if not, she would adopt it. A most wonderful curious circumstance was attached to this answer. Some word had been erased by the stroke of a pen, and the word aclofitc sub stituted. AVtiat the erased word had been, it was impossible to discover but as it occupied a longer sjnicc than the word written in its room, it might probably have been reconnait. Lord Lauderdale again insisted on a direct and for mal admission of the principles on which alone lie could treat, and tliis being withheld, lie de manded his passport. Things continued thus until the end of August. Anew conference was required by the French negotiators, which proved more unsatisfactory, and lord Lauder dale declared he must quit Paris. The intel ligence, however, of the non-ratification of the Russian treaty changed the tone of tfee French; but still their terms were short of those ex pected. Thus the negotiation went on to tin end of September, when lord Lauderdale de manded his passports in a more .peremptory way, and they were granted. If his majesty’s ministers could lx; accused of any neglect or omission in this transaction, he should feel the accusation most painfully ; but still it would be deprived of much of its bitterness by the asser tion, which even the opponents of government have been compelled to make—that the cause of the country was clear ; that the country was in the right. A learned gent'em an opposite had characterised the ncgociation as an instance of artifice on the one side, practising on credu lity on the other. He insinuated, thac his ma jesty’s ministers had been dupes- This was an assertion more easily made than proved. How dupes? Were they dupes during the first period ol the ncgociation? From the first offer made by M. Talleyrand, to the 20th of April, was there any credulity shewn in that period? In the continued refusal of Mr. l'cx to listen to any terms of negotiation in which Russia was not included, was there any thing to shew that he was for one moment duped ? Nor was there any tiling in the transactions from the 20th of April to .he 30th of August, which deserved this insinuation. “ But,” tlie learned gentle man might say, “after the 30th of August, the offers of the French were false and insincere, and ought not to have been listened to.” And yet, if his majesty’s ministers had at that time entertained the opinion, of the truth ol which experience had convinced the learned gentle man, how could they have acted otherwise ? If au enemy offers terms of peace, and exhibits a conciliatory disposition, the minister who would subject himself to the reproaches of all Europe, and, what was of more consequence, Fa those of his own country—he would fail in his duty. AA hen France first manifested a conciliatory temper, it was impossible to adopt any course > but to endeavor to ascertain the sincerity of that <fcanitestcition. No delay had taken place in ts attempt but what arose from a few days indisposition of lord Lauderdale, and from the evasions and almost refusal of the French <*o- O vernment to grant him passports. It had been said, that the protraction of the ncgociation had prevented the British govern mem from giving the necessary aid to Prussia. .No opportunity of doing so would have been Inst, had not Prus sia, by the fatuity of her own councils, rendered it impossible to assist her. The good faith of the country had been most completely upheld by our refusal to negotiate without Russia ; and when Russia had sent her minister to Pa ris. we negotiated separately in form, but in substance in concert. On the signature of M. D’Oubril’s treaty, Great-Britain became releas ed from its engagements; but when that treaty was disclaimed l>y Russia, the two courts wcr< replaced on their former footing, and lord Lau derdale had instructions to conclude.!:* treaty in which the interest of Russia was not scrupu lously attended to. Did the gentleman oppo si'e feel dissatisfied with the terms proposed by the British government ? The terms were, the statd of actual possession; that is, that *ve should keep every tiling tn..t we then hcid. ex cept something equivalent to it should be ine i to us in exchange. This was a basis pauiou larly applicable to the siiuatici of both count! its. France was powerful on tlie continent—l irt-ai- B: itain at sea. .Neither nation had the pros pect of making any considerable impression on the other. It was a principle of equality to hold Sicily for our allies; to maintain good faith with Naples; to recover Hanover winch, as it was unjustiv seized, it would have been dishonorable to abar.de..l ; to maintain the intc giity of Sweden anil Portugal. These were general prop; sid.i.ni, from which we never ma terially receded, it must be recollected, that the value of concessions for peace increased, when that peace appeared to be precarious. . There never was, at any peiiod of the negoti ation, the power of obtaining terms such as could have been acceded to. Previous to lord Yarmouth’s arrival from France, no particular terms had been specified—then came the terms of the uti Jiosxidcii .. But from this the French government immediately receded, both with respect to Sicily and other objects. .Nothing, however, was distinctly stated until after the signature of D’Oubril’s treaty. At that time, lord Yarmouth stated, that Hanover, the Cape, Mr-ha,and India, remained pure and untouched. Soon, however, this rejection of the basis ope rated with a vengeance. The French negoci ator declared that his master would not surren der l-’ondicheriy, Surinam, Tobago, Goree, Bcrbicc Essequibo, Sic. Malta too was to bo subject to the payment of certain pensions, kc. ; the British garrison to be Emitted in force. Besides, the tenure of M. Ita would have be come quite insecure from the loss of Sicitlr, on which that island depends for its provisions. For Hanover, it was proposed by the French to take the principality of Iloya. The Capo was to become a free port; that is, England was to pay the cxpcnccs of t'nc establishment, and other nations to derive the advantages of it.—- Independently therefore of the violation of fai-h, these were terms which Great-Britain could not accept. She could not agree to abandon Russia and Sicily. The equivalent for Sicily was to be given to Sicily. The king of Siciiy was to have been dethroned, and Great-Britain to provide for his subsistence. Could any man with a heart, and with feeling truly English, say that these were terms to v. hich his majes- ministers could have listened? On the 4th Sept, after the information of the non-raliii* cation of die Russian treaty had reached Paris, a great change took place, and they were de posed to go much further. They were willing to give up Hanover without deduction, Malta without restriction; the absolute sovereignty of the Cape to Britain, Pondicherry, Chondeina gore, Tobago, Sic. These were better teims, hut they were far from the original basis.—. Yet such as they were, they were to he at tire price of abandoning Russia and Sicilv. Ilad they, however, been infinitely more advanta geous, at such upi ice they ought not to have been purchased—and at what time too were they offered ? Not until the French emperor had left Paris, to take the command of his ar mies, then on their march against Prussia His (lord Ho wick’s) opinion of the Russian connexion was, that ii a hope remained of re trieving the affairs of Europe, it rested on an intimate understanding between Great-Britain k Russia. By every tie,both ofgood faith and of interest, v.e were bound strictly to adhere to our engagements with that power; and with regard to Sicily, when it was recollected how the king of Sicily had been brought into the pre sent war, it was evident that ivc were bound to defend it for him, unless he could obtain some fair equivalent. With regard 10 Dalmatia, considering it even us a Russian object, hud Russia no right to expect any thing from France ut the conclusion of a peace, in return for her acknowiedegment of the imperial title; for her consent to the occupation of Naples and of Holland? She had a right to demand the evacuation of Dalmatia ; besides, Russia was in possession of tlie strong fortress of Cattaio, on the borders ol Dalmatia, from which France, with all her power, could not dispel her. But Dalmatia was not alone a Russian object—it was a British object, lxt the situation of Dal matia be considered—it was not in contact with France—it was an advanced position which af forded the French means of communication, with the discontented bashaws of Turkey, and subsequently of attacking India. It also, by- Hanking Hungary, became dangerous to the German powers. It was U position more for midable even in peace th nip. war—and in eve ry point of view it was important to Russia—- it was important to England—it was import tail to E.uropc that Dalmatia should main in possession of the French. Some might contend that the British government ought not to have rejected the terms offered, because it would be diificuit to procure better. To that he would answer, that they were re jected becaitiw it would have been dishonora ble to have accepted them. Insufficient as they were, they become more so, when it was. considered that they v.\re not offered until Bonaparte lmd left Paris; and therefore that thi-v had not produced the effect without which a peace on our part was scarcely desitablc, of diffusing peace over Europe. For, he won id ask, would our acceptance of the offered ion it, have stopped the operations of the French rp - riles ? Could atiy assurance of Talleyrand’s, on .that head, have been set:.,?, c'ovy ? The. principal inducement held out to M. D’Oubril, to sign his precipitate treaty, was, that t'qe : changes in Germany might I e prevented. Ih t ’ his signature was scarcely dry before tl-.e Rhe nish confederacy took place. There \ver*x two results to be expected from the war be - France and Prussia. Either that Prm. , sia would be successful, or that, she v< uid U,