The Republican ; and Savannah evening ledger. (Savannah, Ga.) 1807-1816, July 21, 1807, Image 2

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NEW-YOP.K, July 3. GENERAL MEETING. jit a general meeting of the citizen* of New- York, had in the / iark, on Thursday, July 2d, 1807 —the hon. lit IVirr CttSfON was unanimously called to the chair , and general Jacob Mom Tom, was unanimously appointed secretary oj the tree mg. Having received*, with the most lively in dignation, authentic information, that on the 32d ultimo, an attack, unwarrantable by the known usag.es of nations, and in viola ion o( our national rights, was made oil the capes ol V ii ginia, on the Ui ited Mates’ frigate Chesa peake, commodore Barron, by his Britannic Majesty's armed ship the Leopard, captain Jiuniphlies—The citizens of New-Vork, as sembled in general meeting, deem it to be their duty to express their opinions on inis fiesli outrage offered to their national sove reignty by the Yiaw ot Ci eat-Briiain. Hesolvt and, That it is, and has been, the poli cy of our government, ant! the wish, Because ai is the inteiest of oui citizens to Ire at peace with all the world. Resolved, I hat although we cherish pc.ee with the greatest set urity, yet that we hold ourselves ready, at the call of our government, to resist all iof.imt— “*4 h,y ~1 vioja..onpf-iu -afona l honor Resolved, I hat we consider the dastardly and unprovoked attack made on the United States’ armed ship, the Chesapeake, by his Britannic majesty’s ship, the Leopard, to he a violation of our national rights, as atrocious as it is unprecedented. Resolved , That we are determined to main tain the lights and dignity of ou” country with our live:, and fortunes, and that we will sup port our government in whatever measures it iiihv deem necessary to adopt, m the present crisis of affairs. Resolved, That whatever difl’c ences of opi nion may exist among us on our merely local concerns, yet that we love our country and will cordially unite in resisting the attempts of any nation to invade our tights, or tarnish our na tional honor. Resolved, That the offending ships at Hamp ton roads have wantonly viola l ed the laws of, and forfeited their title to national hospitality. Resolved, T hat we highly approve the spi rited and patriotic conduct of our fellow-citi zens at Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton. Resolved , That wo deeply lament the death of those of our fellow-citizens who fell, and sin cerely sympathise with those who were woun ded on hoard the Chesapeake. DE WITT CLINTON, Chairman. Jacob Morton, Secretary. PHILADELPHIA, July 2. We experienced great satisfaction in attest ing to the order, dignity, and manliness of the proceedings of yesterday’s town-meeting. The Cnucomso r>f niizens was unexampled in this city. A respectful attention to the proceedings ol the chair, was every where observed. Rich ard Rush, lisq. and Walter Franklin, Esq. each addressed the assemblies in a feeling and ani mated manner; which was succeeded bv enthu siastic bursts of applause. Ihe meeting tlier dispersed in the most orderly manner. The re mainder ot the evening was marked by the satin laudable spirit of patriotism and order. It is indeed by such a demeanor, that the national sen timent will be made to How harmoniously in one channel. feeling of the citizens of the first congressional district ot Pennsylvania. On Wednesday afternoon, July Ist, the citi zens of the first congressional disiiict of Penn sylvania, composed of the citv and county of Philadelphia, and county of Delaware, met, pursuant to notice, in the state-house yatd in the city of Philadelphia. No time or occa sion has ever here witnessed such a concourse of people. Mathew Lawler, Fsq. was called to the chair, and Joseph Hopkittg, Esq. appointed sec retary. Dr. Michael Leib opened the business of the meeting, and after some appropriate observa tions offered the following resolutions, which were tin nimously adopted. Resolved , That the conduct of Great-Britain towards the United Stated, has been too often marked bv hostility, injustice and oppression ; and that the outrage committed by the Leop ard, one of her ships of war, under the express oulers of one of her admirals, upon the Chesa peake, a frigate belonging to the United States, i-, in act of *„ct, uounumate violence and wror.g, an l of so barbarous and murderous a character tn.it it would debase and degrade any nation and much more so a nation of freemen to sub mit to it. Resolved , That we will support the adminis tration of the general government in all and every measure which may be adopted by them, to avenge the wrongs our country has suffered from Great-Britain, and to compel the most rigid retribution ; and, that to attain a full measure of justice from her, we pledge out selva's to make any sacrifices and to encounter any hazards. Res.deed. That the sentiments of thts meet ing Im* made known to the President of the U died States, as the spontanious etiusions of cu beenien, on an occasion, when silence and indifference would betray a want of patriotism, it not a treasonable disposition towards the best interest of our country, and the sacted t ight of this nation. 1 he following resolution was then offered nd adopted unanimously. Resolv'd, That until the general govem- Bptnt shall have adopted &uch.mcu>uicsasiuay he suggested^) 1 their spirit and wisdom, we will discountenarice all intercourse with any of the vessels of war, belonging to Great-Britain ; ant that we will withhold front them all supplies or assistance which may be necessary to thc-it aid and snbsistance. Charles Biddle- esq. then proposed the fol lowing resolution, which was adopted unani mously. Resolved unanimously, That the citizens of Not folk and Hampton, and its vicinity, deserve the thatiks anti applause of their fellow-citizens thfought the union for their gallant, manly and patriotic conduct at the pi csent momentous crises. The meeting then agreed to appoint a com mittee. of correspondence, for the purpose of holding a communication w th our fellow-citi zens in other parts of t he United Stdtcs, relative to objects of this meeting. The following gen tlemen wete appointed : Matthew Lawler, Charles Biddle, Paul Cox, David Lenox. Thomas Forrest, Richard Dale, Wallet Franklin, George Clvnter, M. Leib. Thus I.eiper, Francis Gurney, James Engle, Joseph Ilopkinson. George fiat tram, l'dwrrd I ilghtnan, William Linnard, Michael Btjght. A vote of thanks was passed to the chair man secretary —and the meeting adjourned in perfect oi<t e r. Ordered, that proceedings of this mee ting hr published in ,\| the papers of the city. MA I THE W Law I T.R, Chairman. ’ Joseph Hofkjnson, Sec'ry . NORFOLK, July 8. Our last noticed the correspondence between Captain Douglas and the Mayor of our Bo rough. We are enabled to present our readers with the following report made to the mayor, together with the second leuerof captain Dou glas. Norfolk, July 5, 1807. Sir—ln pursuance of your request, 1 this day went down to the British squadron lying in Hampton toads, lor the purpose of deliver ing the letter with which I was charged to cap tain Douglas ; on arriving along-side his ship, the Bellona, I was invited on board, received by captain Douglas himself at the gang-way, and conducted to his cabin, where 1 found as sembled all the captains of the squadion. 1 immediately informed him that you had yes, terday received a letter from him, the answer to which 1 had been requested to deliver, and placed it in his hands. He lead the letter ve ry attentively, and then handed it to captain Hardy, from whom it passed to the other cap tains in succession. W hen they had all pe rused it, captain Douglas observed to nte, J presume sir, you are acquainted with the con tents of this Icier I toal him I was perfect ly so. He then stated that his letter must have been misapprehended, that it contained no ex pression of menace which lie recollected- and that it certainly was not Itis intention to use langna e which could be construed to convey such ieleas : he referred to captain Hardy, say ing, that lie had shewn him the teller previous ly to its being sent, and had requested his opi nion as to ns sentiments ; captain f lardy con curred w ith captain Douglas in the opinion and objects of the communication. 1 then remar ked to them the particular expressions in the letter, which 1 considered as the language of threat, and adverted to the circumstance of the words “ immediately annulled,” being under scored. He said that this underscoring must have been done by bis clerk, without his direc tion, and had escaped Itis observation ; but again as tired me upon Itis holier, that if any expression in the letter wore the appearance ol a threat, it was not intended to be so under stood. Captain Douglas next adverted to the con clusion of the letter, in which the alternative of pe.ice or war is left to himself—He said upon this subject, that he hud no orders to commit any act ol hostility, and that there was no man ftom whose intention or wishes such an object was more remote. That he was anxious to preserve the relations of amity, which had ex isted between the two governments, and that no art of his should lend to interrupt their har mony, unless he was ordered by bis superiors to perform such acts, in which case, as an offi cer, he must do his duty. He repeated, how ever, that he had at present no such orders, nor did he expect to receive such. lie stated that he had it in charge generally, to guard his flag, and those under its protection front insult or as sault of any kind, and that this in all situations he must unquestionably do. But that any fur ther measure he was not at present authorized, nor was it his intention to take. I here stated to him the many insulting menaces, which had been communicated in Norfolk, as coming from hi-n. He positively denied ever having utter ed any such—declared if they had been used by any ol bis officers, that thev were unautho rised, and disapproved of by liiin, remarking at the same time, that lie hoped all who knew him, would do him ‘he justice to believe, that he was not in the habit of using the language of threat—He here too again referred to all the officers to say, it they had ever heard him at any time, even while speaking confidentially to them, utter such expressions, and they uni ted in declaring that they had not. A desultory conversation then took place be tween captain Douglas, the other captains, and myself, which continued nearly an hour, in the course > f which many remarks were made, which had no reference to the subject of your letter, or w ere in any way connected with it ; these, sir. I have already communited to your self. and to all my fallow-citizens, with whom i I have conversed upon this subject ; but as they are not connected with the subject of 1 your letter. I presume it would be unnecessary again to detail them here. In the course of • this conversation, I described to them as well as 1 was able the sentiments w hich universally prevailed through the country at this time, the cause from whence it proceeded, and the ef rects it would produce, provided any effort on their part should be made to oppose the pub lic resolves, as to intercourse or supplies. I explicitly declared that we had as yet received no authority from our government to proceed to acts of aggression, but that we wete autho rised, and were prepated for detente- and for the protection of ourselves and our property ; >o prove which I placed in the hands of captain Douglas, an extract from the letter of governor Cabell, to brigadier general Mathews, which I had made for ihat purpose : I concluded by warning him again not to send any of his offi cers or people on shoie, for that if he did, the arm of the civil authority, 1 did not believe, would be able to protect them from the ven geance of an enraged people ; that this might lead to consequences which might possibly be yet averted, and if he w as sincere in the senti ments he had exptessed, he would he anxious to prevent such results. Captain Douglas, and all the captains declared, that they were aware of the present state of the public feelings, and depleted the circumstance which had excited it ; tkat they did not intend to expose any of their people to the resentment of ours, which they could conceive was highly inflamed ; that as to supplies they did not want any at present, but when they dii, they should not attempi tu procure them in any way which would excite the opposition of the citizens of this country. Upon the subject of intercom se, he did not expect to hold any w ith the people of this coun try, nor was there any occasion for it. He on ly wished to be permitted freely to communi cate with the accredited officers of his govern ment here, who had been formally received and recognized by our executive, and whose functions he presumed none but the govern ment had the right to put down. As to the particular manner in which this communica tion might be carried on, it was a matter quite in ifferent to him. He had no objection to that being regulated by ou selves, in anyway which is judged proper, and that he would certainly puisne the mode which might be suggested as most agree file to us, provided the channel ot communication was kept free and open. To this I stated, that I had no authority horn any person to enter into any engagement with him, but that as an individual 1 would state, that the letters he had forwarded under cover to you had been safely delivered, and that therefore, 1 ptesumed any other dispatches of a like kind would be treated in the same way ; but upon tins subject, 1 could only refer him to you and your associates for information. He then stated that he would to-day write an an swer to your letter, which lie should fotward as before, and I left his ship, captain Douglas a gain repeating The substance of what I have already stated. From the moment I approached the Bellona, to that on which 1 left her, my treatment from captain Douglas and all his officers, was mar ked by as much attention, politeness, unci res pect as any gentleman ever received from others My particular friend, Mr. James l’aylor, juu. accompanied nte on board the British ship, for reasons that will at once sug gest themselves to you, when you remember the delicate and entbanassing situation in wnich 1 might be placed, lie remained on board the whole time with me, and was a witness to eve ry thing which passed. 1 have read to hint this communication sir, in order to ascertain if my recollection was correct, and he accords with me in every statement here made. 1 have forwarded a copy of this letter to the governor of Virginia, and to the federal execu tive, believing that at this time it is the duly of every citizen to keep his government wen in fouued ol every thing which may be useiui. 1 am respectfully, sir, Your most obedient servant, L. YV. TAZEWELL. To Richard E. Lee, esq. mayor ot the borough ot Norfolk. His Majesty's ship Bellona , Hampton Roads July 6, 1807. Sir—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt ol your letter ol the 4Ui inst. in answer to mine of the preceding day, requesting that the British consul might be restored to its powers. As every circums'ance relative to ‘.he above communication was so tolly discussed in pre sence of the gentlemen deputed by the magis tracy of Norfolk, as bearers of dipatches, 1 have only in addition to remark, that as far as i am individually concerned, every exertion shall be used that can, consistent vith the honor and dig nity of the British flag, tend to an amicable ter mination. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient humble servant, J. E. DOUGLAS. Richard E Lee, Esq. Mayor of the borough of Norfolk, Vtr. A letter from a gentleman in Richmond to his friend here, states, that the express which was sent off on Saturday last, in consequence of commodore Douglas’s first letter, arrived there on Sunday evening, upon which the Rich mond Cavalry and Artillery received orders to march for this place immediately. From another source, we understand that 1000 militia were ordered to repair for this place. July 10. On Wednesday evening two of the British ships (the Triumph and the Melampus) jest Hampton roads, and went down to the capes ; the Bellona and the Leopard remain as before. We have not understood that the proclama tion of the president has been officially commu nicated to the commander of the British ships, altfiovgh we belie"? that fie is informed of it, but nvst probably waits an official notification be fore he departs, if he means to depart. This notifiation will probably be given this day. It it very evident from subsequent events, that oantmodote Douglas reprents the letter which he addressed to the mayor; he may have lirther and more serious cause of regret on this subject. YVe were never more dis apponted in the result ot any affair, than we were :n the present case. Ihe spit ited, and at the same ‘inte discreet answer returned by the mayor, placed the British comntadder in a situation the most awkward that can be suppo sed. He and and not appear to be sensible at first of the high and responsible ground which he was about to assume. To blockade a port of a neutral and friendly power, and to detain its v essels going out and coming in, would be no less an act of hostility, than if a force had been landed, and a fort or post tetained. Neutrals submit w ith much reluctance to the exclusion of their commerce to belligerent ports by block ade ; force and not right too often settles the question, ‘l'he British commander from his acknowledgment to Mr. Tazewell had no or ders to commit acts of hostility, but in defence of his flag; he therefore could not execute what he menaced in his letter of the thiid, without doing what he w'us not authoiized ; he did not appear when he wrote to recollect the act was an act of liuauiUy. Sensible now { his* error, he wishes to give an explanation to his letter, which it is not susceptible of. No one can mistake its meaning, and it was in this way we were mistaken, for when we read his letter, we concluded that hostili ies were to fol low. The limitation of hostility prescribed in the letter, had no weight with ns, tor when hos tility begins, it is not for one party to deter mine its limits. It however is evident, from the result, that commodore Douglas has conducted himself upon this occasion without any credit to him self, or honor to his country. To threaten with a view to intimidate, does not furnish the evi dence of understanding or coin age. If this affair concerned the future fate and reputation of captain Douglas only, we should not perhaps, have noticed it in this way ; but there is some reparation to be made for the insult, and for the consequences which have folk wed. The ex ecutive of the state, considered from the letter of commodore Douglas, that hostilities would commence immediately, and accordingly, or dered a military force to repair to this place and Hampton. The public expense, the in convenience to citizens, many of them engaged in important and useful avocations, brought upwards of 100 miles fmm their places of resi dence, and the particular injury done to this place in various ways, all demand reparation. It is some consolation to reflect, that the con duct of our magistracy upon this occasion, has been marked with so n.uch prudence and firm ness. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANKFORT, (on the Oder) May l. The passage of the French troops, to join the grand army, continues without interruption. Towards the latter end of last week, the de pots of the regiments of which it is composed, and the greater p.rts ot the conscripts for 1807. have passed the Oder. All the troops, which are in motion, have received orders, by ex press sent from the Imperial head-quarters to hasten their march as fast as possible. This day the regiment of French hussars of Cham beraut, went through this city. MUNICH, May 10. Hopes of peace are still entertained , but many people are persuaded, that the cabinet of Petersburgh is not seriously disposed for peace, and will try the fate of another battle, in which, it is more than probable, that its forces will be vanquished. If this should take place, Russia w ill at once lose the rest of her old ]- uropean troops and the remnant of her military tepu tation. f FR ANKFORT, May 14. Letters from Hamburg mention, that the Eng lish have sent a cutter direct to Petersburg, with ■ fresh subsidies, to avoid another sequestration on the part of the king of Sweeten The mis understanding between the monarch and the emperor Alexander, is constantly raising to an higher pitch. All the news, received from the places in the occupa.ion of the belligerent armies, do not de stroy the hope of negotiations being still cur ried on ; but the latest intelligence seems ra ther to confirm the possibility of mutual ap proaches, which may fix the general tranquili ty of Europe. It is thought that the check sustained by the English before Constantinople, will deter the cabinet of St. James’s fiom all enterprizes on the continent, and render it sensible of the necessity of peace, both for it self and its allies. BERLIN, May I. The following article is from an authentic source :— According to recent accounts, Russia endeavors to add daily reinforcements to her army, and the king of Prussia also employs the rest of his troops to re-conquer his lost kingdom. It is said, that England will send a fleet to the Baltic, and make a descent on some point of the continent, which is still kept secret. Swedish troops and veescls are like wise to be in readienss for a debarkation. But the genius of Napoleon knows the move ments of his enemies, and the heroism of the conquerer at Austerlitz and Jena, guarantees the successful result of the war which Russia is visibly desirous of prolonging,