Newspaper Page Text
VOL, 1.
PRINTED WEEKLY,
BY HODGE V M k DONNELL.
CONDITIONS.
tat. ‘ The Annual Subscription will be
TH&BR dollars, half in advance.
3M. Subscribers living oufof the State will
pay the whole subscription upon the deli
very of the first number.
41. No Subscriptions will be received for
less than one yyar; and no paper shall be
discontinued until arrearages are paid.
4tii. Advertisements will be inserted at the
customary rates.
ry Letterk addressed to the Edi
tors must be post paid.
—U——i»; : mtm ■ ”
Tub following gentlemen are re -
Quested and authorized to receive Sub
scriptions and give receipts for this
pajter y viz
iVatkinsville , Dr. Wm. Wright Sc
Mr. Joseph Moss.
Jackson county , Capt. Boyle*
Lexington—\'ht Post Master. x
Greene County , Mr. Wyley Gres
ham, P. M. Gveenesboro* y Mr; Grant,
P. M. GrantsvilDy and the* Post
Master, Powehon.
Wilkes county— Mr. James Wing
field, P. M. Washington, and Mr.
Jiobert Grier.
Raysvillc— Mr. John Barnett v
Columbia Court-House— P. Master.
Hancock —Mr. Abercrombie, P.
M. and Joseph Bryan, Esq. ,
Elbert on— -Mr. Writ. Woods.
Petersburgh—Nr. Alex. Pope.
Augusta— Mr. Fraser, P. M. and
Major F- Phinizy.
Morgan —Mr. Cunningham, P. M.
Dr. Shorter.
Putnam— -Brice Gaither, Esq.
Mtfledgevtlle—T life Post Master.
Madison county— Mr. Long, >P. M.
And William Hodge, Esq.
Franklin— The Post Master and
the Bev. Messrs. Thomas Newton
And Sampson Lane.
Washington county— General Irwin.
Warren— .'Hie Post Master.
Lincoln—The Post Master.
Savannah— Samuel Bat nett, Esq.
Af/Wway—John E. Fraser, Esq.
St. dry’s—M ajor Clark, P. M.
Abbeville, S. C.—^ Mri Closes W.
Dobbins.,
Without intending any disparage-
Ktjent to the useful and valuable pa
pers printed :n Augusta, ,rMilledge
ville and elsewhere in this State, we
will take the liberty to mention the
following considerations as in some
degree recommending this to public
pationage, and especially in the up
counties. 4
It will be larger and will Conse
quently contain not only a variety,
t»iit a considerable quantity of mat
ter-selected with care.
It will be published at the Seat of
the University of this Stale, and
will derive from that circumstance
Wo me general interest and import
ance.
T It will be published on Thursday
Hn every week Soon ‘after the arrival
of the Northern and Southern Mails
at this place, and #/ill contain a
condensed summary Os the latest
and most interesting news from the
North and South.
From a direct communication
thro’ Greenville, S. C. & Buncombe ;
to Tennessee this paper will proba
bly derive the earliest intelligence
from Tennessee, iyentucky, Ohio &
other Northern and Western States
and Territories. >
It will contain besides the com
mon subjects ol a newspaper, some
moral, religious and scientific mat
ter, which will be carefully selected
And made as far as possible subser
vient to the prattice of Christianity
And to the pursuits of common life.
The more effectually to attain this
object, we here beg leave respectful
ly to invite and solicit gentlemen of
Science, who are friends to man
kind, and who would meliorate the
condition of humap life, to favor us
with their aid. Pieces on the vari
ous subjects alluded to, whether ori
ginal or-well selected, will be thank
fully received —subject however to
the correction and modification of
Abe Editors. Nothing Sectarian will
jse admitted. Not only the man of
/letters, buuthe plain practical philo
sopher, the ingenious farmer and
mechanic may be useful * here.—
From them will be gladly received
tod attentively noticed any useful
discoveries and improvments i*» a-
or the mtchanical arts.
Tt is not intended that this paper
snail be made the vehicle ofprlvate
or personal sent rility and abuse. ;
- _ Gentlemen holding Subscrip
tior\': papers for the Gazette , ertf re s
pectfUly requested to transmit to the
Editors immediately the hames cf sub
scribers. •
THEi^STUCnON™^
Eo the Senate and House of Represen
taiives of theU. States .
now transmit to Congress,Copies
of the instructions to the) Plenipoten
tiaries of the U. States, charged with
negotiating a peace with Great Bri
tain» as referred to in my message
of the 10th inst. ’ 5
jAMES MADISON.
Washington , Oct. 1 3th 1814.
Mr, Monroe to the Plenipotentiaries
oj the United States , for treating of
peace with Great Britain , dated,
Department of Slate, April 15, 1814.
Gentlemen,
( Continued.) )
The remark contained in the de*
claration of the prince regent, that
in impressing British seamen from
American vessels, Great Britain ex*
ercised no right which she was not
willing to acknowledge as appertain
ing equally to the government of the
United States with respect to Ameri
can seamen in British merchant
ships, proves poly that the British
government is conscious of the injus
tice of the claim, and desirous''of
giving to it such aid as may be deri
ved from a plausible argument. The
semblance of equality, however, in
this proposition which strikes at
first view, disappears on a fair exam
ination. It is unfair, first, because
it is impossible for the United States
to take advantage of it. Impressment
is not an American practice but ut
terly repugnant to our constitution
and laws. In offering to reciprocate
it, nothing was offered, as the British
government well knew. It is unfair,
secondly, because if impressment
was allowable, a reciprocation of the
practice would be no equivalent to
the United States. The exercise of
a right in common, at sda, by two
nations, each over the vessels of the
other, the one powerful and the oth
er comparatively weak, would be, to
put the latter completely at the mer
cy of the former. Great Britain,
with her Vast navy, would soon be
the only party which made impress
ment. The United States would he
compelled to abstain from it, and ei
ther to submit so the British rule
with all the abuses incident to power
Or to. resist if. But should the Unik
ted States be permitted so make im
pressment from British Vessels, the
effect Would be unequal.
G. Britain has perhaps, thirty ships
of war at sea to one of the United
States, and would profit of the ar
rangement in that proportion. Be
sides, impressment is a practice in
cident tp war,- in Which view like
wise, the inequality is not less glar
ing, she being at least thirty years
at war to one of the U. States. O
ther considerations prove that the
British government made this ac
knowledgement merely as a pretext
to justify its practice of Impressment,
without intending that the right or
practice should ever be reciprocated.
\V hat would be the effect of its ad
option by American ships of war
with British merchant vessels ? An
Aiperican officer boards a British
merchant vessel, and claims, as Am
erican citizens, whom he pleases,
flow many British,seamen would dis
claim a title which would take them
to the United States, and secure
them there all the ad vantages of citi
zenship ? The rule of evidence, as
the ground of impressment iu every
instance, must likewise be recipro
cated between the two governments/
she acknowledgement of the men
would surely be a better proof of
their national character than the de
cision 61 a British officer who boarded
an American vessel, however impar
tial he might and strong iis power
of discrimination.-when opposed by
the voluntary and solemn declaration
oi the party. In this way we might
draw from the British service the
greater part, if not all their seamen.
I might further*ask, why was this
jycknovvledgmerit made at this late
period, for the first time only, after
the declaration of war, aqd when on
that account it could produce no ef
fect ? In the various discussions ot
subject, m many of which it ha*
i V ** + /*■ . ‘ \ ‘Jr?- , - ■•-)’* V
ATHENS , THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1814.
been demanded whether British
government wouki tolerajßrsueh a
practice from American ships of war
no such intimation was ever given.
If Great Britain had Found the
employment of her seamen in our
service injurious! to her, and been
disposed to respect our rights, the
regular course of proceeding would
have been for her government to
have complained to the government
of the United States of the injury, Sc
to. have proposed ’a remedy* Had
this been done, and no reasonable
remedy been adopted, sound in prin
ciple and reciprocal in its operation,
the British government might have
had some cause of complaint, and
some plea for taking the remedy in
to its own hands* Such a procedure
would, at least, have given to its
claim of impressment the greatest
plausibility. v We know that such
complaint was never made, except
in defence of the practice ofinapress
inent* and that in the mean time the
practice has gone on, and grown in
to an usage, which, wLth allots abu
ses, had resistance beeh longer de
layed, might have become a law.
The origin and progress of this usur
pation afford strdrig illustrations of
the British policy« The practice fit
the claim began together, soon after
the close of our revolutionary war,
and were applicable to deserters on
ly. They extended next to all Brit
ish seamen ; —then to all British sub
jects, including, as in the case of
emigrants from Ireland, persons who *
would not have been subject to inir
pressment in British ports, not being
seafaring * men and, finally, to
Swedes, Danes, and others, known to
be not British subjects, and by their
protections appearing to be natural
ized citizens of the United States.
Other views m*y be taken of the
subject to shew the unlawfulness and
absurdity of the British claim. If
British cruisers have a right to take
British seamen from our vessels,
without regarding the abuse insepa
rable from the practice, they may
take from them on the same prin
ciple, and with much greater reason
every species of property to which
the British government has any kind
of claim.—Allegiance cannot give to
a sovereign a better right to take his
subjects than ownership to take his
property. There wo’d be no limit to
this pretension or its consequences..
All property forfeited by exportation,
contrary to laws of Great Britain, ev-,
ery article to which her sovereignty,
jurisdiction or ownership would ex
tend in British vessels, would be lia
ble to seizure of the Ignited
States. The laws of England will
be executory in them. Instead of
being a part of the American they,
would become a part of the British
territory.
It might naturally be expected
that Great Britain would have given
by her conduct, some support to her
pretensions ,• that if she had not dis
claimed altogether the principle of
she would -at least
have excluded from her service fo
reignseamen. Her conduct, howe
ver lias been altogether, at Variance
with her prec.epts f She has giveh
great facility to naturalization in all
instances where it could advance her
interest, Sc peculiar encouragement
to .tiiat of foreign seamen. She na
turalizes by special act of Parlia
ment. She naturalizes all-who re
side a certain term of years in Brit
ish colonies, all those who are %m
of British subjects in foreign do
minions, and all- seamen who have
served a certain short term in the
service, and would doubtless pro
tect all such as British subjects, if
required by them so to do. Her
governors of neighboring Provinces
are at tfiis time-compelling emi
grants thither from the U. States
to bear arms against the U. States.
The mediation offered by Russia
presents ,to- G. Britain, as well as
with the United States a fair oppor
tunity of accommodating this contro
versy with honor. The interposition
of so distinguished a power, friendly,
to both parties, could not be declin
ed by either, On just ground, especi
ally by G. Britain, between whom
and Russia there exists at this time a
very interesting relation* When
the British ministers are made ac
quainted at St. Petersburg with the
conditions on which you are author
ised to adjust this difference, it seems
as if it wottUT be impossible for G.
Britain to decline them* Should
she do it, suli adhering to her former
pretensions .her motive could r.cd
have been misunderstood* lhe
cause of the United States would
thenceforward become the common
cause of nations* A concession by
them would operate to the disadvan
tage of every other power, i hey
wo’d all find in the conduct of G. Bri
tain an unequivocal determination to
destroy the -rights of other flags,
and to usurp the absolute dominion
of the ocean. It is presumed that
the British government will bud
it neither for the ’honor nor in
terest of Great Britain to push
> things to that extretdity, but will
have; accepted this mediation, and
have sent a minister or ministers
to St. Petersburg with full pow
ers to adjust th£ controversy on tair
and just conditions.
Should improper impressions have
been taken of the probable conse
quences of the war, you will have
ample means to remove them. It
certain that from its pfosecutiou G.
Britain can promise herself no u<\-
vantage, while she exposes herselt to
great expenses, and 10 the danger oi
still greater Josses. The people
of the United States accustomed
to the indulgence of a long peace,
roused by the causes and progress
of the war, are rapidly acquiring
military habits and becoming a mili
tary people. Our knowledge in na-(
val tactics has encreased as has our
maritime strength. The gallantry
and Success of our Tittle navy have
formed an epoch in naval history.
The laurels these men have
gained, not for themseivec alone but
for their country, from an enemy
pre-eminent in n&val exploits, lor a
ges past, are among .the proudest
boasts of their grateful and affec
tionate fellow citizens. Our manu
factures have taken an astonishing
growth. In short, in every circum
stance, in which the war is felt, its
pressure tends evidently to unite our
people* to draw out our resources* to
invigorate our means, and to make
us more truly an Independent nation,
and, as far as necessary, a maritime
power. ‘
If the British government accepts
jthe mediation of Russia, with a sin
cere desire to good intelligence be
tween the two countries, it may be
presumed that a fair opportunity will
be afforded for the arrangement of
matiy other important interests, with
advantage to both parties. The ad
justment Os the controversy relating
to impressment onlyi though very
important, would leave muen Unfin
ished. Almost every neutral right
has been violated, and its violation
persisted in to the moment that war
was declared. Th® President sin
cerely desires, and it is doubtless lor
the interest of Great Britain, to pre
vent the like in future. T inter
position of the Emperor of Russia to
promote an accommodation of these
differences i3 deemed particularly
auspicious.
A strong hope isi,-therefore, enter
tained, that lull powers will be giv
en to the British commissioners, to
arrange all these grounds ot contro
versy in a satisfactory manner. In
entering on this interesting part-ot
your duty, the first object which will
Claim y,onr attention will be that ol
blockade. The violation of our neu
tral rights by illegal blockades, carri
ed on to hh enormous extent by Or
ders in Council, was a principal capse
of the war. These orders, however,
and with them the blockade of May’
1806, and, as is understood all other
illegal blockades, have been repeal
ed, so that, that c&qse of the war has
been removed. All that is now ex
pected is, that the British govern
ment will unite in a more precise
definition of blockade, and in this no
difficulty is anticipated ; for having
declared that tio blockade will *be le
gal which is not supported by an ad
equate force, there appears iv be, ac
cording to tiie just interpretation of
these terms, no difference of opinion
on the subject. /jL
The British government bis re
cently, in two formal acts, given de
finitons of blockade, either ui which
would be satisfactory. The first is
to be seen in a communication from
Mr. Merry to this department bear
ing date on the 12:h of April, 1804.
The following are the circumstances
attending it. Commodore Hood, the
commander of a British squadron in
the West Indies, in 1803, having de
clared the islands of Martinique and
Gaudaloupe -in a state of blockade,
»without applying'aa/adequate force
to mairit;dn it, the secretary of st;« «t
iqmonstrutdd aga’nst the iilegAl i,•
of the mua h re nun i stru ned
« as i.tUi scommission•
t rs’ of Jjmgian h wh.j
replied, scnl •’
not to cojJpHgflHK^ade <Ft :n.,c
islands as in .rosp *ct,
of might I. *
actually in vest©?T atm then not to
capture vessels, bound fo’such ports
unless ‘ they* shall pyetknislv hav",
been warned not to enter them
The second definition is to be Idor and
in a convention Great Hr ♦ -
ain 8t Russia, In June 1801, 4th sec.
3d art. which declares, “ that in or
der to determine whatVh .racteri/.i •»
a blockaded'port, tiu: denominaticn
is given only to a port vyhera the-;;
is by the-vilisposition of the pov,i ;*
which attacks it, with ships stationa
ry dr sufficiently near, an e*idt £
r danger in entering.V The preside t
is willing for you to adopt either c
these defmitious, but prefers the (iHt,
as much more precise and determin.
ate ; and wftett it is s het
it was mad £ the criterion by so for
mal an act, between the two govern
ments, it Cannot be presumed, rn.it
the British government will object
to the renewal of it. Nothing is
more natural after the ■'.'difference:*
which‘have taken placode!: we bn the
two cd tntrics, on this and other sub*
jecis, and the tie pa Uu re fro in this
criterion hy <3 real Britauit fur veil*
sons which are admitted by her no
longer to esist,; than that they should
on ilie restoration ota good under
stahding, recur to it -again, Sutvh a*
recurrence would he the more satis-
Gctory to the president, as it would
afford a proof of a disposition in uio
British government, to
compromise a, difference, but to re
establish sincere friendship between
the two nations.
An jnterferaoce with our com-,
mcrce between enemies colonies and ‘
their parent country was among the
violation ibfioutf r,mitral rights, com
mitted by G. Britain in her present
war wiili France.—lt took place in
1805, did extensive injury and pro
duced universal excitement. In sc
suring us against a repetition of it,
you wiil attend to an article of thd‘
convention - between Russia and
Great Britain entered into on ths
day of 180l r to Ui^
llth article of the project of a trea
ty with Great Britain that was sign
ed by Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney*
‘■ on the 31st December, 180 G, and to
the instructions from this department
relating to the article of VOth Mu/
UO7. The capture by Great Britain
of almost all the islands of her ene
mies, diminishes the importance of
Imy iegulatioh on tins subject; hut
as (hey may be restored by a treaty
of peace, it merits particular atten
tion. It being understood, however,
that unless such a trade can be ob
tained in a proper ex.tent and wivhy
out a relinquisnuient of the priuci
ple contended for by the U. states,
it will be best that the treaty be si
lent* on the Subject. « j’
- A disposition has been, shewn by
the British government to inhibit a
trade to neutrals even to a power
at peace with G. Britain and her en
emy, as for instance China 8c France.
The absurdity of, tliis paetensipri
may prevent its beipg hereafter
advanced, it will not, be
unworthy of your attention. ’ •
By an order of the British govei*n
mem in UKM, British cruize is, were
authorised^to take neutral vessels la
den with innocent articles, their
return from an enemyVpoi t, on the
pretence that they-had carried tb*
such port contraband of war. This
order is directly repugnant to the
Jaw of nations, as the circumstance’
of havi-.g contraband goods on board,
bound to an enemy’s port, is the only
legal ground of seizure. The claim
was relinquished by the British g< v
eminent in the 9th article in the
project above recited, you will en
deavor in like manner to prpvidb a
gaiust it. Uis the practice of Brit
ish cruizers to compel the comm»c t - 1
ders ol neutral vessels which thvy
meet at sea, either to board them
m person with their papers, or to
send their papers .on board iu
Uieir boats by an officer* The in
justice and irregularity of tins pro
cedure need not, be mentioned.
You will endeavor to suppress it
,m the manner proposed in the third
ai tide of sx project communicated
to Mr. Monroe *iit London in his
instructions of tie .jib J nuary
1804. You Will Cnda tyr
.vo.
