Columbian centinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 18??-????, February 18, 1809, Image 2

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be mistaken by your enemy. If this , might indeed, ue'so, you will perhaps permit me to s«y that, highly as we may be disposed tp prize the firm atti tude slid vast means of your country at this eventful moment, it would possibly suggest to some minds a reluctant doubt on the subject of yeur observa tion, ‘ that the strength and power of Great-Britain are not lor herself only, but for the world.’ 1 might also have been le i to inti- \ matt: ttfat my proposal could apparent ly lose nothing by admitting that, “by some unfortunate concurrence ofv cir cumstances, without any hostile inten tion, the American embargo did come in aid of the “ before mentioned “ block ade of the European continent, precise ly st the Very moment when if Unit j blockade could have succeeded at all, j this interposition of the American gov ernment would most effectually have; Coutr.huted to its success.” Yet, 1 should ! probably have thought myself bound to j remind you that, whatever may be the : truth of this speculation, the same cm-j bargo withheld our tonnage and «.ur t x ports from that communication with the colonies of your enemies, and with the European continent, which you had as s'fled your right'to prevent; which, as a direct communication (with the continent) you Inul in fact prohibited; j Which, even through British ports, or in o’her qualified forms, you had professed ; to tolerate, not as that which could he j claimed, hut as an indulgence that could ! at iny time Ik withdrawn ; which,as u i traffic for the United States to engage in, y>u had at least discouraged, not ; only by checks und difficulties in (lie way of its prosecution, but by in an if. at-; ing your intentions to mould it into ail j the shapes which the belligerent, fiscal,! Ot* other peculiar policy of Great Britain ; might require, mid to subject it to the exclusiv jurisdiction of her municipal j code, armed with sjl the perogxtives of ! that univers d law to which nations are j accustomed to look for the rights of neu-' tral commerce. In giving an account of our second conference you say, “ that, though not stating myself to be authorized by my government formally to offer the sus pension of the embargo, ns an immedi ate consequence of the repeal of the or ders in council) yet 1 did profess mv readincss;to take upon myself to make that offer, provided that you would give me beforehand nn unofficial assurance that, coupled -with that offer, so made the clem ml of the repeal of the orders ; would be favorably received ; that you of course declined to give any such pre vious assurance, but as 1 appeared to at tach great importance to this sugges tion, ntid you were led to think that u compliance with it might relieve me from a difficulty in executing the in structions of my government, you con sented to take a few days to consider of it, und to reserve your definitive answer until you should see me again.”—You then observe that you “Clever doubted in your owr Jiiiind us to the inexpediency und impropriety of encouraging me to takruh unauthorized step, by an unoffi cial promise that it should lie well re ceived.” lam sure you did not, sir; but 1 must take the liberty to say, that I nm i qually sure that I never thought of asking you to give me encourage ment to take an unauthorized step of any kind. I am, indeed, truly mortifi ed that my conduct has appeared to you in that light, and 1 should not he readily consoled if I did not reflect that, in con descending to listen, even fora moment, to wlmt, must have struct you as an ir regularity, as vain, und nugatory in its purpose at reprehensible in its princi ple, you must at least have given me credit for good intentions, and for a strong desire, sincerely felt,although er roneously obeyed, that our countries should find themselves in that relative position, which suits the interests and tends to the happiness of both. When 1 professed a readiness to make rnv proposal in writing, it was, as you stale, provisionally ; but I did not intimate that I was acting without au thority, nor did I comprehend that such was, as I now know it to have been, your impression. The provisional na ture of my offer arose out of circum stances, and was afterwards pressed up on conviction that, if it was meant to adopt the views of the president, noth ing more could be necessary. 1 under- Wood you to be desirous of ascertaining, whether I was empowered and disposed, with s view to a final arrangement, to present wiut l had suggested, iu a writ ten form, us «n overture originating with my government. 1 said, of course, that, e very tiling being first matured, u note should be presented ; but that I would, with your permission, take a little time to consider of the manner and terms. 1 did not at that time sup- pose that we were conversing about a written proposal which was to be made only to be rejected, or even for the pur pose of deliberation ; and, consequent ly, in professing my willingness to make it as soon as we were prepared for it, I presumed that 1 had done ull that you desired. And I was confirm- j cd in this opinion, not only by yourj saying nothing, as I supposed, to the j contra p y, but by your requesting me, j | as I was about to leave the room, to employ myself, before the next inter view, upon such a note as wc hud been talking of, and then retracting that re quest, by observing, that I would doubt less first desire to know what were your ideas and intentions upon the subject of it; with which I was given to undt-r --| stand I should be made acquainted at i another confermcc. j At the third interview, alter speaking ; of a transaction upon the lakes, of which j your traders complained, and of ano ‘ tiier occurrence in the hay of Paasatna ! quody, you observed, that you had tho’t j long and anxiously upon what I had suggested to you ; that the subj et. had at first struck you as Wring muni more simple ,than upon careful examination it hud been found to be ; that, in the actual state of the world, it behoved both you ami me to move in this affair j with every possible degree of circum -1 speclion ; that, without some explicit ; proposal on my part in writing, upon i which the British government could de ! liberate and act, nothing could be done; ; and, finally, that you must leave me to i consult my own discretion whether 1 ! would make nnc.li it proposal. ft appeared to me that, if this deter ; ruination should be persisted in, my ; j overture was not likely to be successful; i ' til id 1 urged, accordingly, the propriety j j of going on in a course which would j lead us to a better issue. TlTat course : ! was, that wc should understand one auo- j : ther as to our respective views; and | ; that a concise note, which I had in fact 1 prepared since the Ust inerting, should i then he presented and acted upon— You informed me, that my wish in this, particular could not be acceded to; that, j if I presented a note, you mu it be left | at perfect liberty to decide upon what it proposed ; that you could not give j me even an intimation ol the probable ' consequences of if ; and, in word, that you would neither invite nor discourage , such a proceeding. You added, that there were some points belonging to the subject, which it would be proper, to ; discuss in writing, one of which was the connection between our embargo and your orders of November, suppos ed to be implied by my proposal. 1 re marked that, with an actual result in view, and with a wish to arrive at that result*without dth-y, it could rot be ad visable to entangle out scivco in a writ ten correspondence, undefined as to its scope and duration, upon topics on which wc were not likely to agree; and that if 1 were to frame my note with a ! knowledge that it was to provoke argu | ment, instead of leading, at this crisis, to a salutary change in the state of the world, you must be conscious that I too must argue. And where would this end? To what wholesome consequence would it conduct us ? At the close of the interview, I observed, that as the footing, upon which the subject was now placed, made delay of no imper-: tance, I should take time to prepare | such farther proceeding as the occasion required. 4 On the 26th of August I liad the ho nor to sec you again, and, alter enter ing more at large than 1 had before be lieved to be proper, into a consideration of the effect of my proposal on the c quity of adhering to y.m v orders in council, and after reading to yvu parts of my instruction*, 1 delivered an offp cia! note., in which the proposal was made in the form required, t Something was said, at this inter view, of the affair of the Chesapeake • and the president’s proclamation, which > it is not I presume necessary to repeal, j It will be sufficient to state, that you ■ asked me what was to be done with i these subjects? and that my reply was, , that they had no connection with the • present; but that I could say with con • iidencc, that aiy government had every • disposition .to attend to them, with a i view to such an adjustment as would be • honorable to both parlies. I did not suppose that it was expected (for you , did not intimate* such an expectation) , that renewed negotiation upon these > points should, as w ell as the repeal, up on terms, of your orders in council, be invited by a formal overture from the , government of America. 1 will not trouble you with many ob servations more. You state in your letter that ‘ there was one point upon which you were par icularly anxious to receive precise in- formation, and upon which, from tny ! candor and frankness, you were fortu- 1 1 nate enough to obtain it.’ This was, ! ‘ whether m fact the orders in council j of November had been known to the j 1 government of the United States previ- j i | ousjy to the message of the president i' proposing the embargo, so as to be a ' moving consideration to that message.’ j I quote this passage, principally, that I j' nmy recall to your recollection, that i tny suggestions, upon the subject of it,; were not made officially, or as being • authorized or furnished by any commu nication from my government, or in an swer to enquiries on your part. They were very briefly made, near the close, as I thick, of our third interview, in consequence of your mtimation.(inten ded, perhaps, to amount to an enquiry) dial my proposal implied that the em bargo had been produced by the orders of November; to which you added that this could not be admitted, and (as I comprehended what you said) that it even required to be made the subject of some notice or discussion in writing, . as intimately connected with my propo sal, if it should be brought forward in that shape. And 1 understood you to assign this as one of the reasons why a written overture was indispensable. In replying to that intimation, and the re marks which followed it, I professed to speak, as I did in fact speak, from ge neral information only, and disclaimed, as it was my duty to do, all authority to say more upon the nature and origin ot the embargo, than 1 had some time before communicated to you, in obedi ' ence to the orders of the president.'— 'l'iit purpose of my observations was, chiefly, to shew that there was no in- ! ducement for embarking in formal du- I ' ttsstons upgn this point; and.l assured ! you that it was not in my power, either as respected instructions from my gov : ernm; nl or knowledge of facts, to do so. | My opinion was, and I spoke actotd > irigly, that i; was one el those questions which might be left completely at rest without the least injury to the wisdom | i or the justice of our conclusions upon i the great object oi our conferences.— j There could be no objection, however, to my giving you, on this head, such . conjectural inlormuti n as I was able. 1 On the contrary, by fully disclosing to you my own materials for forming an 1 opinion upon it, you would be enabled more distinctly to see, that I could take no part in any discuss on, which you might propose to apply to it. And I could not but be assured that any anxi ety you might feel, to obtain a know ledge of the facts in question, sprung from considerations which had every chum to my respect; for I know that vour vntnd was far abova the reach oi prejudices, which would ascribe the American embargo to participation in the councils or views of your adversa ry, or of any foreign power whatsoever. My suggestions were to the follow ing effect: that I believed that no copy of your orders of November had arriv ed in the United State, at the date of the president’s message ; that a recent change in the conduct of France to our prejudice dicl appear to be known ; tint intelligence had been received, and a be lief entertained, of your intention to ad opt some further measure, as a mea sure of retaliation against France, by i which our commerce and our rights I would be affected ; that there was rea son to conclude that you had actually ad opted such a measure; that (as I collect ed from American newspapers) this had appeared from private letters, and the newspapers of this country, received in the United States some days before the message of the president, and probibly known to the government; that, in a word, various information concured to shew that our trade was likely to be as sailed by the combined efforts of both the belligerent parties; and that the em bargo was a measure of wise and peace ful precaution, adopted under this view of reasonably anticipated peril. You observe, in another part of your letter, “ that you have always rather wished to refer the argumentative dis cussion of the subject of the orders in j council to the official correspondence, j which you have more than once been i taught to expect me to open upon it.” ; If 1 should object to any part of this statement, it would be to the words : j more than once.” Your wish has always appeared to be such as you now repre- I i present it, and you had reason to expect : | that I would commence a w-ritten dis • cussion of the orders of November, soon : after their publication. I had told \ou : that I should do so, and you had said > that there could be no objection to it. ■ j But you were afterwards apprized that, ' upon reflection, 1 had determined to : ! leave the subject where it was, until I - i should know the pleasure of my govern -! ment. The orders had been officially com municated, not to me, but to Mr. Madi son, through the British minister at Washington. It seemed, therefore, to be proper (unless my instructions should make it otherwise) that the view, which the government of the United States took of them, should find its way to you through the same channtl; Sc ac cordingly, the letters of Mr. Madison, to which I have referred in my note of tin* 23d of August, did open at great lengths discussion which I could have no inducement to shun, although I did not continue to think myself authorized to commence it. It only remains to add that your share in our several conversations was, what you represent it to have been, not con siderable ; and that your manner, al though reserved, was, as it always is, perfectly friendly. I need not say that if in this letter, written under the influence of sincere concern, that the proposal I had the honor to lay before you has been unsuc cessful, any thing is to be found which you could wish to be otherwise than it is, I shall be the first to regret that I have not been able to do justice to my own feelings and intentions. 1 have the honor to be, With the highest consideration, •V ' Sir, Your most ob’t. humble serv’c, WILLIAM PINKNEY. Notice. T'HE subscriber having removed to A Savannah, offers his services to the' public in the FACTORAGE AND Commission Line, and hopes by strict attention, to render satisfaction to those who may favor him with their business Jtimes Beggs. October 15 65 ON Monday last, the Rich mond Academy, was opt tied under the direction of the Rev. A. Rouge, as Rec tor, and the Rev. J. Holcombe, us first English Teacher. A Writing Master is expected, we understand, in a short time. The rates of Tuition are the same as heretofore—the hours of in strictmn at this season are from half past eight to twelve, and from half past two to six. January 7 Notice. A lP persons having demands a gainst the estate of Clemsy Morse, late of this city, deceaeri, are requested to present them legally authenticated, and those indebted to said estate, will make payment t# Ann Morse, Jldrri'x. or Robert Johnson, Adirtr. Augusta, IGtb July, 1808. 62 Notice. NINE months from the date hereof, appPeation will be made to the honorable the inferior court of the coun ty ol Lincoln for leave to sell the whole of the real estate of John Bentley, dec. for the benefit of all concerned. John Oir, _ ? Admr's. W in. Muncnef, 5 September I©. Notice. NINE months from the date hereof application will be made to the honorable the inferior court for Lincoln county, for leave to sell Three Tracts of Land, viz :—One tract containing three hundred acres, lying on Savan nah rivet , adjoining lands «f VV. Cook, heirs of Jemison, Grillage and Winn, with a good dwelling house and out houses, and about twenty acres of fresh cleared land. ALSO, —An Island containing about seventy five acres, in Savannah river, with about thirty acres of cleared land. ALSO, —Ten acres of land with good improvements, adjoining Lamar’s ferry. The above land being part of the real estate of Basil Lamar, sen*;’. 1 1 dec. for the benefit of the heirs and 1 creditors. ’ Peter Lamar, Adnvr. J)c bonis non. July 16. 180*. 52