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during; a pre< tding war, by persons under the i
■swithoiT) oi Spain are sufficiently known to
all. These made it a duty to rcqui.% from that
government indemnification for our injured ci
ti7;'ns. A convention was accordingly enter
ed into between the Minister of the Unired
Sta;es at Madrid, and the Minister of that
government for foreign affairs, by which it
was agreed that spoliations committed by
Spanish subjects, and carried into ports of
Spain, should be paid for by that nation, and
that those committed by French subjects, and
carried into Spanish ports, should remain for
fur her discussion. Before this convention
was returned to Spain with our ratification,
the transfer of Louisiana by France to the
United States took place: An event as unex
pected as disagreeable to Spain. From that
moment she seemed to change her conduct
Hnd disp''s : tion towards us It was first man
ifested by her protest against the right of
•I' ranee to alienate Louisiana to us, which how
ever was soon ret acted and the right confirm
ed. Then high offence was manifested at the
act of Congress establishing a collection dis
trict on the M d>illc, although by an authentic
declaration immediately, it was expressly con
fined to our acknowledged limits; anti she
now refused to ratify the convention signed by
her town Minister under the eye of his sove
rcign, unless we would consent to alterations
ot its terms, which would have affected our
claims against her, for .spoliations by French
subjects carried into Spanish ports.
“ i o obtain justice as well as restore friend
ship, I thought a special mission advisable,
and accordingly appointed James Monroe,
minister extraordinary and plenipotentiaf to
repair to Madrid, and, in conjunction with
our minister resident there, to endeavour to
procure a ratification of the former convention
and to come to an, understanding with Spain,
as to the boundaries of Louisiana. It appear
ed at once that her policy was to reserve her
sell for events, and in the mean rime to keep
our differences in an undetermined state.—
1 his will be evident from the papers now com
municated to von. After ueailv five months
of fruitless endeavor to bring them to some
definite and satisfactory result, our ministers
ended the conference, without having been
able .to ob:a n indemnity for spoliations of any
description, or any satisfaction as to the boun
dary of Louisiana, other than a declaration
that we had no rights eastward of the Iber
ville, and that our line to the west was one
which would have left us but a string of land
on that bank of the Misstsippi. Our injured
citizens were thus left without any prospect
of retribution from the wrong doer, and as to
boundary, each party was to take its own
course. I hat which they have chosen to pur
sue will appear from the documents now com
municated. ‘They authorise the inference that
>t it their intention to advance on our possessions,
until they shall he repressed by an opposing force.
Considering that Congress alone is constitution
tf//v investe l with the power of changing our con- j
tlition from peace to war, I have thought it I
mv duty to await their authority for using !
iorce in any degree which could be avoided.
1 have barely instructed the officers stationed
in the neighborhood oi the aggressions to pro
tect our ciiizens from violence, to patrolc
within the borders actually delivered to us, and
not to go out of them, but when necessary to
repel an inroad, or to rescue a citizen or his
property : and the Spanish remaining at New- i
Orleans are n quired to depart without farther i
delay. It ought to he noted here that since j
the late change* in the affairs of Europe, !
Spain has ordered her cruizers and courts to '
respect our treaty with her.
“ I he conduct of France, and the part she :
may take in the misunderstandings between !
the United States and Spain, are too impor- .
tant to be unconsidered. She was prompt and
decided in her declarations, that our demands ;
on Spanish ports, were induced in the settle- !
meats between the United States and France. *
She took at once the ground that she had ac
quired no right from Spain and had meant to |
deliver us none eastward of the Iberville : her
silence as to the western boundarv leaving us j
to inferf her opinion might be against Spain !
in that quarter. AVhateverdirection she might j
mean to give to these differences, it does not
appear that she has contemplated their pro
ceeding to actual rupture, or that the date ot
our last advices from Paris, her government ;
had any suspicion of the hostile attitude Spain i
had taken here. On the contrary we have '
reason to believe rha she ( France J was dis- ,
posed to ellect a settlement on a plan aualo-1
gnus to what our ministers had
and so comprehensive as to remove as fat* as
possible the grounds of future collision and
controversy on the Eastern as well as the Wes
tern side of the Missisippi.
“1 lie present crisis in Europe is favorable
for pressing such a settlement and not a mo- '
ment should be lost in availing ourselves of it.
Should it pass unimproved, our situation will
then become much more difficult. Formal
war is not necessary, it is not probable that it
will follow ; hut the protection of our citizens,
the spi/it and honor of our country requires that
force should he interposed in a certain degree. It
* Coalition between Austria, Russia, and
Great Britain, it is presumed.
f Leaving Mr. Talley!rand “ to infer,” that
it would afford him a second glorious occasion
of dipping his hand into our pockets.
j Our ministers had proposed to surrender
our claims to compensation for the withholding
of the right of deposit at N. Orleans, and for
spoliations, Spanish as well as French, audio
establish the Colorado as to the western boun
dary of Louisiana. Although the Colorado is
a vast distance to the west of the existing limit
between the two nations, it was evident, from
the face of the dispatches, that our ministers,
•ir» agreeing to establish that river as the
‘boundary, had been obliged to exceed the au
thority of thrir instructions; (the United Stales
claiming to the Rio-Bravo.) This proposition
(the ultimatum on our part) was rejected by
the court of Madrid with disdain; and thus
ended the negociation. Vet, France, it seems,
was disposed to a settlement on “ analogous
terms ; although Mr. Talleyrand had, in the
.most dictatorial style, declared that our claims
’ .or* Spain, for French spoliations carried into
j?panjsh ports must bepbadioned.
! will probably contribute to advance the object
of peace.
11 But the course to be pursued will require !
tire command of means which it belongs to Con- ;
gress exclusively to yield or deny. To them I i
communicate every fact material for their r.i- t
formation, and the documents necessarv to en- |
al)le them to judge for themselves. 7o their '
ivisdtmi then l Look for the courge I am to pursue,
and will pursue with sincere zeal, that which they
shall approve."
1 he message with the documents accompa
nying it was referred to a secret committee,
consisting of Mr. John Randolph, Mr. Nichol
son, Mr. John C. Smith, Mr. Mumford, Mr.
Williams of (S. C.) Mr. Bidweli, and Mr.
Brown.
It may be proper to remark that this message,
although deemed by the cleric (as he stated to
the house) to be part of the secret journal,
which had been ordered to be printed, was ne
vertheless omitted : nor has the omission ever
been satisfactorily accounted for. The house
by a subsequent vote refused to make it public.
The chairman of the committee to whom the
confidential message was referred, immediate
ly waited on the President, and informed him
of the direction which had been given to it:—
expressing at the same time his willingness and
readiness to co-operate, as far as his principles
and judgment would permit, in such plans as
the executive might nave devised for the occa
sion. He then learned, not without some sur
prize, that an appropriation of two millions
was wanting to purchase Florida. He told
the President, without reserve, “ That he
could never agree to such a measure, because
the money had not been asked for in the mes
sage : that he could not consent to shift upon
his own shoulders or those of the house, the
proper responsibility of the executive; but that
even if the money had been explicitly demand
ed, he should have been averse to granting it :
because after the total failure of every attempt
at negociation such a step would ding-race us
forever: because France would never with
hold their ill offices, by her interposition,
ohe should extort money from us: because, if
G. Britain, with whom we had serious matters
of controversy, did not consider our supplying her
enemies with money 5 as a breach of our neutrality,
it must inspire her with contempt for any attitude
of resistance which we might assume towards her :
that it was equally to the interests of Spain and
of the United Stares, to accommodate the mat
ter by an exchange of territory ; (to this mode
es settlement the President seemed much op
posed) “ that the nations of Europe, like the
Barbary powers, would hereafter refuse to look
at the credentials of our ministers, without a
previous douceur," and much more to the same
purpose. I
The committee met on the 7th of December,
but came to no definite resolution One of its
members (Mr. Bidweli, of Massachusetts)
construed the message into a requisition for
money, for purposes of foreign intercourse and
; proposed a grant to that effect; but in this
I construction he was unsupported, and his pro
! position overruled. He himself when the subject
was agitated in the house, would not avow the
same construction of the message which he had
given to it in the select committee. On the 14rh
of December, the chairman of that committee
was obliged to go to Baltimore, from whence
he did not return until the 21st. During this
interval, the dispatches from Mr. Munroe. of
the 18th and 25th of October, were received by
government. Previous to the chairman’s de
j parture, having occasion to call on the Secreta
ry of State, he was told by that officer, that
; France would not permit Spain to adjust her
j differences with us :* that France wanted mo
ney, and that we must give it her or have a
j Spanish and French war. It was when he re
lated this circumstance to the house, that Mr.
Randolph said, “ His confidence in the Secre
tary of State had never been very high, but that
' now it was gone forever .” And on the same
1 occasion Mr. Nicholson (who had voted for j
the appropriation) exclaimed that he trusted in I
God the negociation would fail. Several other 1
republican members seemed shocked at this !
i disclosure, and expressed regtet at the vote j
! which they had given.
j Saturday the 21st of December, the |
chairman of the select committee returned
| from Baltimore. The committee were iinme
-1 tdatcly convened. As they were about toas
! semble, the chairman was called aside by the
l Secretary of the Treasury, with whom he re
tired, and who put into his hands a paper head
,ed “ Provision for the purchase of Florida.”
I As soon as he had cast his eyes on the title, the
chairman declared he would not vote a shilling.
.The sec’ry interrupted him, by observing with
1 his characteristic caution, that he did hot mean
to bn? understood as recommending the measure;
| but if the committee should deem it advisable,
j he had devised a plan for raising the neees
. sary supplies, as he had been requested (or j
directed) in that case to do. The chairman I
expressed himself disgusted with the whole of
this procedure, which he could not but consi
der as highly disingenious.
It is believed that the Louisiana treaty was
antedated to obviate this very difficulty. If |
money, why not warlike stores, or even fleets i
and armies ?
( 'To be Concluded in our next. J
WILMINGTON, (n. c.) Aug. 26.
W e have witnessed the most violent
and destructive storm of wind and rain
ever known here. On Thursday eve
ning last the gale commenced at N. E.
and increased by degrees until Friday
about 10 A. IV;. it then became a hurri
cane and blew with the utmost violence;
on Saturday at day light the wind be
gan to veer, and about 7 A. M. settled
at S. \V. and continued until 12 or 1
o’clock, when it seemed to abate, but
did not subside until between 5 and 6 in
the alternoon. jhe tide rose to a height
heretofore unknown ; the wharves are ;
much damaged ; the loss in dry goods, j
salt, sugar, rice, lumber, Bcc. is beyond !
conception and cannot be ascertained. !
When the wind shifted to S, \V. it <
seemed to threaten universal deslruc
j tion, the gable ends of three brick hou
; ses were washed or blown down ; ma
’ ny wooden buildings were considerably
! wrecked and some unfinished ones ea-
I tirely demolished. Mr. Isaac Baldwin
was killed by the falling of an old burnt
wall, and we hear that several negroes
have been killed and one drowned on
plantations in our vicinity. As far a>
we have been able to obtain informa
tion, the crops ot corn, peas, rice, Sec.
are almost entirely destroyed. The
fulling of trees and breaking up of bridg
es having suspended the communica
tion between the town and country, and.
the Stage not having arrived, we are
unable to give an account of the exten
sive and distressing losses inevitable
throughout the district, and we fear the
whole state.
The following vessels were driven
from their anchorage and fasts, and
have gone ashore; the Matilda with the
loss of her masts wnich -went by the
board the instant she struck :—Ship
Cape-Fear, Bernard ; brig Matilda,
Hunter ; brig Polly, owned by Mr.
Howell of Rhwle-Island ; brig Susan
nah of Charleston; brig Sally, of Troy ;
schooner Regulator. rvMlbopny ; schr.
Liberty, Randlct, of New-York ; and a
schooner belonging to New-River.
The brig Iliram, Church, of Hallo
well, from Berbice, with a cargo of Su
gar and Coffee bound home, is a shore
on t he beach near Deep-Inlet; and the
sch’r Two Sisters, of New-River, lies
on the beach near Bamn Inlet.
At Smithville the damages were se
vere. The wharves are completely des
troyed and cinrunies and iences blown
down. The ship commerce of New-
York, brig Ranger,and schooner Claris
sa and Eliza of Norwich, with outward
bound cargoes, are on shore. Two
Pettiauguars stove ; all the small craft,
and pleasure boats are at a vast distance
on the land. The Revenue Cutter
Governor Williams, of Xewbern, em
ployed on the survey of the coast, by
cu. Png her masts and slinging her guns
an i leaving them out to assist her an
chors, rode out the gale. No lives
were lost.
The gale commenced at Smithville
on thursday atN. E. and increased all
Friday—between 10 and 12 o’clock on
Friday night it shifted suddenly to S.
W. and blew a hurricane until 10
o’clock ;it then shifted to West. The
tide was higher than ever was known
since the year ’O2 or’63, when New-
Inletbroke: the sea was uncommonly
agitated.
The brig Polly of , forty days
from Jamaica, in ballast, with a pilot
on board, was seen at anchor off the Bar
on Thursday with her topmasts down.
Great apprehensions are entertained
for her safety.
THEfGALE.
GEORGETOWN, S. C. Aug. 30.
On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
j last, we were visited by one of the most
■ severe tornadoes within the recolkc
l tion of the oldest inhabitant. For vio
, lence and duration it surpassed the
J September storm of 1805. Fortunate
' ly for those residing on the islands and
in this town, the wind was in opposi
tion to the waves, arid prevented the
rising of the tide to so destructive a
height as we have experienced. The
wind began to rise about 11a.m. on
Thursday, and continued freshening
from the N. N. W. until 1 a. m. on
Friday, at which time it blew a perfect
gale, attended with an almost incessant
fall of rain, until Saturday, 3 a. m. when
shifting to N. W. and N. W. by W.
it encreased in fury, and spread cles
; truction far and wide. Houses, ship-
J trees, fences, gardens, and we are
sorry to say, lives were lost—every
thing that was exposed to its fury, suf
fered greatly. We have not yet been
able to obtain a full account of the des
; truction occasioned by it, but fear e\£-
ry day will furnish some melancholy
intelligence ot its devastating progress.
The following particulars are ail we
have collected at present.
The Light House on North-Island
overset from its foundation, and des
troyed.
A new store belonging to George
Heriot, Esq. blown down and totally
demolished.
A new dwelling house erecting by
Mr. Lizar Joseph, had the top taken off.
Some out-houses, the chief part of
the trees, and a number of fences blown
down, and all the gardens in town laid
waste.
Two wenches belonging to Mr. Cas
sels, killed, and some wounded by the
; falling of a house.
A prime negro fellow, of Mr. John
! Taylor's, sen. drowned in attempting
; to secure some lumber that had floated
: from shore.
*
Several negro house so
tion of Thomas Ilasell, I. ' lls hits
maw, destroyed, and part of re *
inp7 house and barn also, but pro Hf”
tially no lives were lost, although the*k
were five jiegroes in one of the houses
at the time it fell. Young Mr. Chris
topher Hasell was the principal suf
ferer, for, in retreating from the bam,
a hoard torn therefrom by the violence
of the wind, in its progress, strut k him
■ on the side of the head, but fortunately
glanrinpf,. only deprived him of sensa
• tion for a short time.
A barn and chair shed belonging to
'• John Simons. Esq. were blown down,
and in their fall destroyed the bodies of
a carriage and chair.
Ihe sloop Industry, "Williams, of
Philadelphia, was blown on shore high
and dry, but has since been got off.
i lie Pilot Boat is driven on shore,
and considerably injured.
Several other vessels, flats, boats, Bcc.
suffered in the gale.
1 It is conjectured by some gentlemen
1 who visited North-Island since the gale,
1 that a vessel has been lost in it, as the
■ beach was strewed with coffee, which
appeared to he new, and was supposed
■ could be used had it been wet with fresh
water only—likewise some pieces of a
wreck, a seaman’s clothes bag, and se
■ vcral coffee bags, generally sound.
The crops of cotton and corn are in
a great measure destroyed, and the loo
ses sustained by the rice planters a: e
incalculable.
I -
r actorage
! o
| COMMISSION BUSINESS.
rlllo subscribers.having entered in
to partnership, under the firm ot
BARRETT & SUB:,
in the above line of business, in this ci
ty, informs their friends and the public
in general, that they shall continue to
occupy the same stores, as heretofore
occupied by Thomas Barrett, where
! they are erecting, in addition, a large
! Cotton Warehouse, which will afford
them room to store 5000 Bales of
Cotton at one time, secure from the
weather.
Thomas Barrett ,
Benjamin Sims.
Augusta, August 30. eowtf. 6
Book Binding .
THE Subscriber informs his
friends and the pubiic, that lie has re
moved from the herai d Printing-Of
fice to the Office of the Columbian
ckntinel, where orders in the line of
his business will bethanklully received
and duly attended to.
William Butler.
July 19. 56
LOST,
ON Saturday the 19th instant, be
tween Mr. Willborns and Little
River, on the road leading from Augus
ta, to Washington, a Red
Morocco pocket book,
containing sundry letters, among them
one to Governor Milledge, and one to
George F. Randolph, likewise two notes
of hand, given by Chatten U. Scrog
gins to Claudius Magnan, with sundry
other papers—any person leaving the
same at Col. Willis’s in Washington,
or at this office, shall be generously
rewarded.
July 26. 1—
NOTICE.
ALL persons having any demands*
againstt he estate of Rebecca
Smith, late of Columbia county dec. are
requested to render them in within the
time allowed by law, and all persons
indebted to the same, to make imme
diate payment.
Thomas 11. Flint , Ex’r.
September 6, 1806. 7
NOTICE.
N INE months from the date hereof
application will be made to the
honorable the inferior court of Greene
county,for leave to sell one hundred and
fifty acres of land, be the same more
- or less, lying on Town creek, to be sold
for the benefit of the heirs and credit
ors of Elias Cozart, deceased.
Robert Wattson , Adnvr.
March 29, 1806. 40
BLANKS
i of every description executed at
this ofiice; with neatness and
dispatch,