Newspaper Page Text
a Gompliatice with it might relieve
vou from a difficulty in executing the
i istructions of your government, 1 con
sented to take a few days to consider of
it, and to reserve my definitive answir
until I should sec you again.
I never doubted, in my own mind, as
to the inexpediency and impropriety of
encouraging you to take an unauthoriz
ed step by an unofficial promise that it
should be well received.
Hut, in r matter of such delicacy, I
was desirous of either confirming or
correcting my own opinion by the opin
ions of others.
The result was, that in a third inter
view, which look place shortly after the
second, I had the honor to inform you,
that after the most mature deliberation
I found it impossible to yield to your
suggestion, and that it therefore remain
ed for you to frame your proposition
according to the instructions of your
government, or to your own unbiassed
discretion.
My own shale in these several con I
fei cnces, beyond w hat is implied in the
above statement, was very small.
I have, as you know, always rather
wished to refer die argumentative dis
cussion of the subject of the orders iu
council to the official correspondence,
which 1 have more than once been
( ought to expect you to open upon it, j
tliftn to engage with you in a verbal j
controversy, which, if confined to our- j
selves, would he useless; if afterwards
to be reduced into writing, for the pur
pose of being communicated to our re
spective governments, superfluous. 4
ltut to the representations which you {
lure repeatedly made against the or- j
ders in council of January and Novem- j
ber, as “ violating the rights of the Uni- ■
fed States, and affecting most dcslruc- j
lively their best interests, upon ground* !
wholly inadmissible both sh principle j
and in fact,” I have uniformly main- j
taint'd the “ unquestionable right” of
his majesty to *• resort to the iulitst
measures of retaliation, inconsequence
of the unparalleled aggression of the J
enemy, and to retort upon that enemy .
the evils of his own injustice —and j
have uniformly contended that, it |
“ third parties suffer from those mea- .
suits, the demand of reparation must !
be made to that power which first vio- j
lutes the established usnges of war, and (
the l ights of neutral states.”
I here was, indeed, one point upon 1
which I w«is particularly anxious to re
ceive precise information, and upon
which, from your candor and frankness,
1 was fortunate enough to obtain it.
The connecting together in your pro
posed overture the suspension of the j
embargo and the repeat of the orders in j
council (us well thos« of November ?.s
the preceding one of the 7th of January) i
might appear to imply that the embar
go bad been the immediate consequence
of those ordvrs: and I was therefore !
desirous to ascertain whether, in fact,
the orders in council of November had
been known to the government of the
United States previously to the message ;
of the president proposing the embargo,
so as to be a moving consideration to !
that message ? j
1 had the satisfaction to learn from i
you, air, that such was not the fact—
that ruMors, indeed, might have reach- i
cd America of sone measure of further
retaliation being in the contemplation
of the British government; that per-j
haps (as 1 understood you) some more
severe and sweeping measure might
have been expected; but that of the or
ders in council of the 11th of Novem
ber, as having been actually issued, j
there was no certain knowledge in j
America, or at least none in the pos- i
session of the American government, j
at the time of proposing the embargo.
Such, sir, is, according to the best of
my recollection, correctly the substance j
of what has passed helwien us at our ’
several interviews previous to the pre- 1
sentation of your official letter; and!
such 1 have represented to have been
the substance of what passed on those I
several occasions, in the report of our .
conferences which it has been my duty
to m ike to the king.
If in this recapitulation, there is any i
tiling mistaken, or any thing omitted, j
you will do me the justice to believe the j
error unintentional: and you may rely ,
on my readiness to.set it right. (
1 have the honor to be,
With the highest consideration, i
Sir, j
Your most ob’c, humble serv 1. j
(Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
Win. Pinkney , Jug. U?r. &c. & V.
Great Cumberland Place. Sefit. IS !
Sir—l have the honor to acknowledge !
the receipt of your answer to my official 1
note of the 23d of last month, relative
to the British ciders iu council of Ja-<
imaty aud November, 1807, together
will) a statement of “the substance of
'Vhat has passed between us at our se
veral interviews, previous to the pre
sentation of that note.”
I shall lose no time in transmitting
to my government copies of both these
papers, upon the last of which I will
lake the liberty, in the course of a few
days, to trouble you with some obser
vations.
I have the honor to be,
With the highest consideration,
Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed)
WILLIAM PINKNEY.
Ths right hon. George Canning, ifc.
* Loudon, October 11, 1808.
SIR,
I have the honor to transmit *n
closed, a copy of my reply to Mid Can
ning’s letter to me, of the 23d of Jsst
j month, accompanying his official answer
of tiie same date to my note of llit 23d j
of August.
I have the iionor to be,
With the highesttonsideratioa, ]
Sir,
Your obedient humble sr.rv’t, i
(Signed)
{ WILLIAM PINKNEY, j
; lien James Madison, fc7r.
I !
To Mb. Cashing.
Great Cumberland Place, Oct. 10, 1808. j
Sir—ls my reply to the letter which |
j you did me the honor to address n \t J
[ 0:1 ihe*23d of last month, should ,>c ,
greater length than the occasion miy 1
j be thought to require, you w i, I r.m I
• Sure, impute it toils real cause ; • n earn- \
| cst desire on my part, arising from a |
• feeling of sincere respect ior you, that j
, the statement which I am to give of •
i fuels demanded by'you to be important, i
should be full as well as accurate.
1 v ill not fatigue you, sir, with assur- {
antes that no person could be less dis- I
posed than I run, to find fault with the •
| object cl your letter, which appears to !
be to guard against all misrepresents- !
| tion* of “ what has passed in our late |
interviews, beyond what you find re- !
i corded in my note.” You hare told me, j
] that I have personally, no concern in
that object, and I did not require to lie j
I told that my government has as little. !
i I understand, indeed, that the circuni-j
stance which has suggested a peculiar j
motivfc for this prqsccdinjj, was one of
those newspapers misrepresentations
which every day produces where the
press is free ; which find no credit and
! beget no consequence, and for which it
; is greatly to be feared your expedient
will provide no remedy. Os my con
j duct when that circumstanc occurcd,
: in giving you unsolicited proofs that I 1
1 hud transmitted to Mr. Secretary Mndi-J
I son, a faithful report of our •oufercnces,
! mistaken by public rumour or private
: conjecture, it is not necessary for me
to speak, for you hare yourself done
] justice to it.
I The motive to which lam indebted
! for the honor of your letter, appears to
; have been instrumentalin producing an
i other effect equally unexceptionable.
| But you will allow me to say, that until
; the receipt of that letter, I had not been
apprised, by,the slightest intimation,
that it was in any degree owing to sucli
i a cause that you declined, on the part
of his majesty’s government, after two
conferences, in which I had been suffer
ed, if not encouraged, to unfold myself
individually as well as officially, at great
i length and with perfect frankness, to
j give an answer to my verbal overture,
i At our first interviewfon the 29th of
June) verbel communication was not
discountenanced but commended : for,
alter I had made myself understood, as
; to the purpose for which the interview
1 had been requested, you asked me if I
j thougbtof taking a more lormel course J
1 but immediately added that you pre
sumed I did not ; for that the course I !
[ adopted was well suited to the occasion.
My reply was in substance, that the free,
dom of conversation was better adapted
! to our subject, and more likely to con
j duct us to an advantageous conclusion,
than the constraint and formality of
j written intercourse, and that 1 had nat
intended to present a note. At the sec
j ond interview (on the 22dof July) it did
not occur to me that I had any reason
jto conclude, and certainly I did not
i conclude, that verbal communication
; had not continued to be acceptable as a
j preparatory course ; end it was not un
j til the third interview (on the 29th of
• July) thht it was rejected asinadmissi
j ble. But even then 1 was not told, and
1 had not the smallest surfficion, that this*
i rejection was to be ascribed, either whol
ly or partially to the motive which your
letter has since announced to me. That
• tills motive had, nevertheless, al! the
influence now imputed to it, I am en- i
tirdy confident, and I take notice of it
only because, as I have not mentioned
it to my government in my official ac
count of oar conferences, I can no oth
erwise justify the omission, either to it
or to you, than by shewing that I had
in truth no knowladge of the fact when
that account was transmitted.
I may taka occasion to set forth in the
present letter, the import of all that can
he material yf our several conversations,
according to my recollection of them ;
but there are some points to which 1
ought to pay a more particular alien*
lion, because you have thought themeu*
titled to it; althougl I should, myself,
perhaps, have been inclined to think
that they had lost much of their impor
tance by the presentation of my note,
and the receipt of your vviitten answer;
both of which arc perfectly intelligible,
upon these points at least, without the
aid of the r ■ Terences that preceded
them.
Yoi o . ve, that “the principal i
point < • .:ich the suggestion.*, bro’t |
for’.' -,- . > me in p iional conference, j
an •• ' f roii to have differed in some!
cW c <• , the proposal stated by me
, are two; the first, tint in
the proposal itself was not
M r- • a mo as an overture autl.of-
I ir.f-1 •/ ' government; the second,
■- utneiicia! consequences, likely 1
■ to result to this country f r orn the r.c- ,
i'ceptro. d of that proposal, were pursu
j ed” t rough more ample “ illustia
i tions. *
J With regard to the first of these sup-!
; posed differences, I feel persuaded, sir, j
J taut, upon farther recollection, it will,;
i occur to you that, at our fiu>t confer-1
j cnee, I told you explicitly that iht sub
j stance of what 1 t '.en suggested, that is
jto S3v, that, your order* being repeal
ied a* .o iis, s t Would suspend t»'c cm-
I bargo as to Great-Britain, was Lom mv
government ; but that the manner of
conducting e.u} illustrating, the subject,
upon nice!) 1 had no precise orders,
was my own. 1 even repeated to you
; the voids of toy i».f notions, as they
i were upon my rut .oi v ; and I did not
| understand, tntb:.r then or afterwards,
i that there was air- oubt as to their ex
| istence or their sufficiency, o v>ny de
\ sire to have a more exac t ?rui fntmal
j communication of them v ale the rc
| suit of our discussions was distant and
j uncertain. I sain, undoubtedly, that I
j had been directed to require the revo
cation of the British ore. rs in council;
hut I said *’so that, although the gay.
eminent of .he United States s ill sup
posed itself to be author iz (i to expect
their repeal upon the gi utul of right
as it existed from the nrat [a subject,
however, which I informed you I did
not wish at that time to agitate] I v.vs,
! notwithstanding, empowered tu give
; you the above mentioned assurances, ,
which would, as I presumed, hold out
inducements to Great-Britain, as well
on the score of policy as on that ol jus
tice, to fulfil that expectation. I sh&ulrf
scarcely have undertaken to offer such
assurances rs from myself, or upon my
own “ conviction” that the president
would act in conformity with them.
And I should still less [if that were
possible] have ventured to auk of you
that you would make them, in that
form, the subject ©f repeated conferen
ces, and even cf reference toothers, as j
placing the question cf a r: cal or con
tinuance of the orders in council upon
new grounds of prudence and equity.
(To ie concluded in our next.)
Latest From Europe.
NORFOLK, JAM ART 18.
We have been favored with London
papers,to the il*t November, received
by the British ship London, Capt. Em
ery. 4 9 days from Liverpool.
We have given as many of the de
tails which relate to live war in Spain, as
Iwe could. It will appear from both the j
French and Spanish accounts, that the ■
battle of Sornosa, on the 31st of Octo- j
her, had tet minuted in favor of the for- •
mar ; but as neither appear to attach !
importance to its result, if ihty he con- j
eluded that nothing important was gain- j
ed. But there appears to be a consider- -
able anxiety respecting a battle which
is supposed to have been lougi.t on the
6th or 7th of November, of which, ac
counts are so contradictory, that it is
impossible to arrive at any conclusion
from them, or indued to say with cer
tainty if there was any battle. The ve
ry quick passages of the last vessels
from Spain, render it probable that no
certain accounts had been received be
fore the London sailed, though she
brings, we understand, papeis to the
26 h of November. Verbal accounts'
say that the Spaniards had been ’
I successful.
t Beth parties are exerting every nerve
to press forward, their hues to the
*cenes of action. The British aimics
would assemble about the 14th cl No
vember. That from Portugal, and that
under Sir David Baird, the two about
40,000, were to rendezvous at Vallado
lid. A third division, chiefly cavalry,
had arrived ; 4.500 men and horses were
landed at Corunna on the Bth Novem
ber. The British have 5000 cavalry in
Spain, mounted on British horses. The
British airny in Portugal, 10,000,
embarking lor the North of Spain, oi'.l
another division of 10 000 are prepar
ing n> England, and would be embarked
early in December. A greet battle
must be fought near Bilbos, to decide
the iate of that city, as the French ap
pear to he unwilling to enter Spain,
leaving that port open to her enemies.
A number of partial actiofts ih the
different paits of Spain, are noticed in
our gazettes, but they are not import
ant, except to she*, that, on all these
j occasions, the Spanish troops behaved
| with the greatest bravery and discipline.
: The papers are trended with accountk
1 • t c!c t sc!-.srtnts from all pr/fs of Spain,
mat ching to join the armies on the iron- '
tiers, Bonaparte, it wiilbe noticed, hat),
arrived in Spain> and it is said he never
moves in vain.
j Tiie Court of Enquiry on Sir Hew
i Dahymple was progressing ; and from
: what we have read of its proceeding, we
think he will be acquitted. The im
portance of marching to the aid of the
Spaniards appears to have been a para
l mount consideration. Our embargo, or
indeed American affairs, are not notic
ed in any of the papers, except on onc^
! occasion, produced by the French ex-
J pose, of which notice is taken in ano
ther place.
Battle of Sornosa.
Private Communications /refit an Officer
of rank in the Spanish army .
VAi.Mi.SEDO, November 2.
At day-break yesterday morning, the
enemy, who had received very consi
derable reinforcements from Vittoria,
attacked the Galiician army, posted a
hout a league and a quarter in advance
'•[ Sornosa, in the following order :
The first regiment of the volunteers
of Catalonia,being part of the van guard,
occupied a hill to the right of the road
leading to Durango.
The third division, commanded by
Gen. Riquelmi, was stationed on the
heights to the right of Sornosa, to sup
port the van guard, and defend the right
flank ct our position.
The van guard, commanded by Gen.
Mandizwba), defended the road leading
to Durango.
Our centre was drawn up in line, on
an eminence to the left and rear of the
▼an gu^rd#
Our Itf'., commanded by Brigadier-
Geneiv! Eiguroa, possessed themselves V
of a liill to the left of the road. The
ht*se of the hill was joined to that occu
pied by the fourth division and reserve.
During the night of the SOth, the ene
my advanced his force in very large co
lumns, opposite to lht£ different points
which he meant to assail. The next
morning, at day break, the different co
lumns moved forward to the attack,
i their approach being concealed by « ve- .
i rv heavy thick fog, which in these parts *
.s prevalent in the morning.
1 lie fifst attack was made on cur
right. Two large columns advanced
with the intention of surprising that part
of our ~n ce. The enemy was opposed
in a must steady and gallant manner by
the 4th r< giment of tbc volunteus of
Catalonia. r \ his famous corps k- i i up ,
a tiemcr.dous and incessant fire o\ pla
toons, and fora considerable time kept
in check a force upwards of four times
its own number. Two battalions of
marines, and the tiradoree, or sharp
' shooters, of the third or fourth division
; reinforced the regiment of Catalonia }
however, being overpowered by nutn
i be-rs, they were obliged to retire on the
| third division ; ‘this enabled the enemy
|to place a column on'the right of the
j third division, while another column
j attacked in front. The enemy advanc
ed in force along the road, and attacked
the van guard which defended the road
unci valley leading to Durango. The
enemy was most gallantly and vigorous
ly opposed, and compelled to retreat to
a considerable distance,by the van guard
headed by general Mandizabal. The
enemy, however, having considerably
increased their numbers in this point,
advanced a second time, accompanied
by a howitzer and a four-pender, and
succeeded in gaining a sufficient advan
tage on tiie road, to enable him to bring
his gun to bear (within about three
! quarters of a gun-shot) on the centre
and ltft division.
