Star. — London, England, 1810-06-28 00:00:00

copy _from ttements make in At to the in terican . con which I my and )urse Governments, .Aident Tern 'hid* from inti other itness the case, Iship your Ame- Iciness . of a icerely .son's and lifferrnce not as far soon AVM s experi. Tnited confe wAnt tctical smith , after .merican expect Igement, issed in iects, he their should reply this is, he eneral of it nnals fit to of the new dif- iorough ithing proceed 'tired by to be deco ef the an ex; part of arrange propo- con give the Or rejec- peake, and it propose a adjustment substitute . had {hould ..- - -- - iii.dmis . _ CORRESPONDENCE IFTWLEN MR. PINKNEY AND THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY. larrnAcf OF A LETTER FROM WM. PINKNEY, ESQ. TO 1 SMITH: 27th o f letters ESQ. SECRETARY OF STATE, DATED " piing London. March 91, isle. " On th November, the ofth e l t hM:. 14th,Brownelland 23 di y f ered o lowing I had a conference with the Marquis Welle ley, in the course of which I explained to him ful the grounds upon which I was instructed to reque Mr. Jackson's immediate recal, and upon which tl official-intercourse between that Minister and theAm rican Government had been suspended. " Lord Wellesley's reception of what I said to hi was frank and friendly ; and I left him with a persu sion that we should have no cause to be dissatisfil with the final course of his Government on the su jells of our conference. 4 , We agreed in opinion, that this interview coo only beintroductory to a more formal proceeding my part ; and it was accordingly settled between i ' that I should present an official letter, to the effi 1 of my verbal communication. , 4 'Having prepared such a letter, I carried it mys ' ' to Downing-street a few days afterwards, and accoi ',allied the delivery of it to Lord Wellesley, with sot 1 explanatory.observations, with which it is not, I p mune, necessary to trouble you. You will find a co of this letter inclosed, and will be able to collect fr( it the substance of thegreater part of the stateme and remarks which I thought it my duty to make the conversation above-mentioned. " A copy of the answer, received on the day of date, is inclosed." ,I* •I : (COPY.) ,- ^,' - • • " Great Barrington-place Jan. 2, 181( .4 my LORD -- In the course of the of ficial corresp dence, Which has lately taken place, between the i cretary of State of the United States, and Mr. Ja sot, his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Mini: Plenipotentiary at Washington, it has unfortunat happened that Mr. Jackson has made it necessary t 1 I should receive the commands of the President , request his recal, and that, in the mean time, the 1 tercourse between that Minister and the Ameri , Government should be suspended. . : " I am quite sure, my Lord, that I shall best c 1 suit your Lordship's wishes, and the respect whic owe to his Majesty's Government, by executing duty on this occasion with perfect simplicity I frankness. My instructions, too, point to that cot as required by the honour of the two Governme and is suited to the confidence which the Presic entertains in the disposition of his Majesty's Govi ment to view in its true light the subject to wt they relate. With such inducements to exclude fi this communication every thing which is not i mately connected with its purpose, and, on the of hand, to set forth with candour and explicitness facts and considerations which really belong to the c I should be unpardonable if I fatigued your Lords with unnecessary details, or affected any reserve. " It is known to your Lordship that Mr. Jack arrived in America, as the successor of Mr. Ersk while the disappointment produced by the disavo of the arrangement of the 19th of April was yet I cent, and while some other causes of dissatisfact which had been made to associate themselves s that disappointment, were in operation. But y 1 Lordship also knows that his reception by the A rican Government was marked by all that kinds and respect which were due to the Representative Sovereign with whom the United States were sincel desirous of maintaining the most friendly relation, ~ Whatever were the hopes which Mr. Jacks( mission had inspired, of satisfactory explanations . adjustments upon the prominent points of differe between the two countries, they certainly were much encouraged by the conferences, in which, as as he thought proper, he opened to Mr. Smith, si after his arrival, the nature and extent of his pow , and the views of his Government. After an exp ment, deemed by the Government of the Uni States to be sufficient, it appeared that these cot rences, necessarily liable to misconception and u of precision, were not likely to lead to any pract conclusion. ge Accordingly, on the 9th of October, Mr. Sn addressed a letter to Mr. Jackson, in which, a stating the course of proceeding which the Ameri Government had supposed itself entitlhd to ex) from him, with regard to the rejected arrangem and the Matters embraced by it, and after recap lating what Mr. Smith believed to have passel their recent interviews, relative to those subjects, intimated that it was thought expedient that t further discussions, on that particular occasion, she be in writing. " It is evident, my Lord, from Mr. Jackson's n of the 11th of the same month, that he received intimation (which, carefully restricted as it was ; seems to have been willing to understand in a gen sense) with considerable sensibility. He speaks i in that reply as being without example in the an of -diplomacy ; as a step against which it was fi enter his protest ; as a violation in his person of most essential rights of a public minister ; as a new ficulty thrown in the way of a restoration of a thoro good understanding between the two countries. "I need not remark to your Lordship, that notl of all this could with propriety be said of a pros ing, in itself entirely regular and usual, require( the state of the discussions to which only it was ti applied, and proposed in a manner perfectly d roes and unexceptionable. The Government of United States had expected•from Mr. Jackson an planation of the grounds of the refusal, on the pa his Government to abide by Mr. Erskine's anal ment, accompanied by a substitution of other pri sitions. " It had been collected from Mr. Jackson's ',mations that he had no power whatsoever to any such explanation ; or, in the business of the d2rs in Council, to offer any substitute for the ri ted • agreement ; or, in the affair of the Chesape to offer any substitute that could be accepted ; at had been inferred, from the same conversation, even if the American Government should prop( substitute for that part of the disavowed adjust' whichiregarded the Orders in Council, the subst could not be agreed to (if indeed Ms. Jackson power to do .zuote than discuss it) unless it gh 1. ; - ; deli -23d, fol- Illy west the .me— ►im ua led .ub- uld us, ,ffect ayself .com some pre- of its pan- Se ,ack- lister ttely that distinctly recognize conditions which had already been declared to be wholly inadmissible. To what valua ble end, my Lord, loose conversations, having in view either no definite result, or none 'that was at tainable, could, under such circumstances and upon such topics, be continued, it would not be easy to discovers and I think I may venture to assume that the subsequent written correspondence has completely shewn that they could not have been otherwise than fruitless, and that they were not too soon abandoned for that more formal course, to which from the be ginning, they could only be considered as preparatory. " After remonstrating against the wish of the American Government to give to the further discus sions a written form, Mr. Jackson disposes him self to conform to it ; and speaking in the same letter of the disavowal of the arrangement of April, he declares, that he was provided with instructions to explain the motives of it ; and he seems to intimate that explanation through him was unnecessary, not only because it had already been made through other channels, but because the Government of the United States had entered into an arrangement with a knowledge that it could only lead to the conse quences that actually followed.' In the conclusion of the fourth paragraph of the letter, he informs Mr. Smith that the dispatch of Mr.. Cann i ng to Mr. Er skine, which Mr. Smith had made the basis of an official correspondence with the latter Minister, and which had been read to the American. Minister in London,' was the only dispatch by which the condi tions were prescribed to Mr. Erskine for the conclu sion of an arrangement with the United States on the ' matter to which it related. 6 6 Mr. Smith's answer to this letter bears date the 19th of October ; and I beg your Lordship's permis sion to introduce from it the following quotation : The stress you have laid on what you have been pleased to state as the substitution of the terms finally agreed on (in the arrangement of April on the Or ders of Council) for the terms first proposed (by Mr. Erskine,) has excited no small degree of surprise.'— Certain it is, that your predecessor did present for my consideration the same conditions which now ap pear in the present document—that he was disposed to urge them more than the nature of two of them (both palpably inadmissible, and one more than merely inadmissible) could permit—and that, on find ing his first proposal unsuccessful, the more reason able terms, comprised in the arrangement respecting the Orders in Council, were adopted—and what is there in this to countenance the conclusion you have drawn in favour of the right of his Britannic Ma jesty to disavow the proceeding? Is any thing more common in public negotiations, than to begin with a higher demand, and, that failing, to descend to a lower ? To have, if not two sets of instruc tions, two, or more than two grades of propositions in the same set of instructions ; to begin with what is the most desirable, and to end with what is found to be admissible, in case the more desirable should not be attainable ? This must be obvious to every understanding, and is confirmed by universal expe rience. " Whet are the real and entire instructions given to your predecessor? is a question essentially between him and his Government. That he had, or at least that he believed he bad, sufficient authority to con clude the arrangement, his formal assurances during our discussions were such as to leave no room for doubt. His subsequent letter of the 15th June, re newing his assurance to me, that the terms of the agreement so happil. , concluded by the recent nego ciation, will be strictly fulfilled on the part of his Ma jesty,' is an evident indication of what his persuasion then was as to his instructions. And with a view to shew what his impressions have been ever since the disavowal, I must take the liberty of referring you to the annexed extracts (see C.) for his official letters of the 31st of July and of the 14tli of August. " The declaration, that the dispatch from Mr. Canning to Mr. Erskine of the 23d of January is the only dispatch, by which the conditions were prescribed Mr. Erskine for the conclusion of an arrangement on the matter to which it relates, is now for the first time made to this Government.—And I need hardly add, if that dispatch had been communicated at the time of the arrangement, or if it had been known that the propositions contained in it, and which were at first presented by Mr. Erskine, were the only ones on which he was authorised to make an arrangement, the ar rangement would not have been made. " I suppose, my Lord, that it was impossible to disclaim for the American Government in more pre cise and intelligible language than is found in this quotation, all knowledge of Mr. Erskine's instructions incompatible with a sincere, honourable, and justifia ble belief that he was, as he professed to be, fully au thorized to make the agreement in which he under took to pledge the taith of his Majesty's Govern ment Yet in Mr. Jackson's next letter, of the 23d of October, to Mr. Smith, he says—' I have there fore nn hesitation in informing you, that his Majesty was pleased to disavow the agreement concluded be tween you and Mr. Erskine, because it was.in viola tion of that gentleman's instructions, and altogether without authority to subscribe to the terms of it. These instructions I now understand by your letter, as well as from the obvious deductions which I took the liberty of making in mine of the 11th instant, were at the time in substance made known to you. No stronger illustration therefore can be given of the deviation from them which occurred, than by a reference to the terms of your agreement.' " Your Lordship will allow me to take for granted, that this passage cannot be misunderstood. Its direct and evident tendency is to fasten upon the Govern ment of the United States an imputation most injuri ous to its honour and veracity. The charge, that it had all along been substantially apprized, however it might affect to be ignorant, of the instructions which Mr. Erskine's arrangement was said to have violated, had before been insinuated; but it is here openly made, in reply, too, to a paper, in which the con trary is formally declared by the official organ of the American Government. " This harsh accusation, enhanced by the tone of the letter in which it appealed, was in all respects as extraordinary as it was offensive. It took the shape of an inference from facts and asseverations which necessarily led to the opposite concluslon.it at wa n, s preferred as an answer to a c laim o f expumip which Mr. Jackson professed not to be authorized by his Government to offer at all, but which he chose so to offer from himself as to convert explanation into insult. It was advanced got only without proof and against :kson .trine, rowal t re :don, with Tim- that , proof, but against all colour of p. sobabiliti. It could piper in question states, that Mr. Jackson had , conviction ready been once most grossly insulted by the ib• , scar cely have been advanced under any cony n a 1 h that it was necessary to the case which Mr. Jackson tants of Hampton, in the unprovoked language i was to maintain ; -for his Majesty's Government had abuse held by them to several Officers bearin g t h e disavowed. Mr. Erskine's. arrangement, according to King's uniform ; when these officers were themsel ves Mr. Jackson's own representation, without any refer- violently assaulted and put in imminent danger.' ence to the knowledge which this accusation imputed . 66 lam given to understand, my Lord, that the to the Government of the United States; and it need stilt here alluded to was for the first time brought not be stated that no allusion whatever Was made to under the notice of the American Government b• it by Mr. Secretary Canning, in those informal corn- this paper ; that it had, indeed, been am ong t h e munications to me, which Mr. Jackson has mention- mours of the day, that some unbecoming scene 1 ed. It was not, moreover, to have . been expected taken place, at Hampton or Norfolk, between so that, in the apparent state of Mr. JaCkassies . pdoser4 ' Officers belonging to the Africaine frigate and so and in the actual posture of his rtegociation; - he , of the inhabitants, and that it took its rise in the would seek, to irritate where he could. not arrange, ; discretion of the former ; that no attention to the and sharpen disappointment by studied and unprove- cumstance having been called for, and no inco ked indignity. 1 having been made, the truth of the case is unknown " The course which the Government of the United but that it was never supposed that Mr. Jackson' States adopted on this painful occasion. was such as at.. self, who was on board the frigate, had been once demonstrated a sincere respect for the public char; sonally insulted ; nor is it yet understood in what meter with which Mr. Jackson alai invested, and a du . e he supposes that he was so. lam authotisel to add, sense of its own dignity. • Mr. Jackson's conduct hit. that any complaint or representation on the subject left a feeble hope that further intercourse with him, I would instantly have received every proper attention. unproductive of good as - it must be, might still be re- I 44 1 he other communication (of which the sill:. concileable with the honour of the American Govern- `stance was soon afterwards published to the Arneri i ment. A fair opportunity was accordingly presented ' can people, in the form of a circular letter from Mr, to him of making it so, by Mr. Smith's letter of the Jackson to the British Consul in the United Stat er .) Ist of November, of which I beg leave to insert the seems to have been intended as a justification of his, concluding paragraph : conduct in that part of his correspondence, which had ' I abstain, Str, from making any particular ani- given umbrage to the American Government. This madversions on several irrelevant and improper allu- paper (bearing date the 13th of November)) is not sions in your letter, not at all comporting with the ' very explicit ; but it would appear to be calcul ate d to professed disposition to adjust in an amicable man- give rather a new form to the statements which N J , ner the differences unhappily subsisting between the Jackson had suffered the Government of the United two countries. But it would be improper to con- States to view in another light, until it had no choice dude the few observations to which I purposely limit but to act upon the obvious and natural interpretation myself, without adverting to your repetition of a lan- of them sanctioned by himself. guage, implying a knowledge on the part of this Go- 46 It was never objected to Mr. Jackson (as this vernment, that the instructions of your predecessor paper seems to suggest that he had stated, that the did not authorize the arrangement formed by him. three propo si t ions in r. Erskine's original instroc. After the explicit and peremptory asseveration, that Lions were submitted to Mr. Smith by that gentle. the Government had no such knowledge, and that man ;or that he had stated it as made known to hint with such knowledge no such arrangement would I by Mr. Canning, that the instruction to Mr. E n . have been entered into, the view which you again pre- kine, containing those three conditions, was the only sented of the subject, makes it my duty to apprize one from which his authority was derived for the con you, that such insinuations are inadmissible in the in- elusion of an arrangement on the matter to which it terconrse of a foreign Minister, with a Government related. that understands what it owes to itself.' " The objection was, that he had ascribed to the 44 Whatever was the sense in which Mr. Jackson American Government a knowledge that the propo. had used the expressioos to which the American' Go. sitions submitted to its consideration by Mr. Erskine vernment had taken exception, he was now aware of were indispensible conditions ; and that he did so, the sense in which they were understood ; and, con- I even after that knowledge had been distinctly dis. sequently. was called upon, if he was misapprehend- I claimed, and he had been made to perceive that a re• ed, to say so. His expressions conveyed an injurious petition of the allegation could not be suffered I meaning, supported, moreover, by the context ; and willingly leave your Lordship to judge, whether Mr. the notice taken of them had not exceeded the bounds Jackson's correspondence will bear any other con of just admonition. To hive explained away even an struction than that it in fact received ; and sslie. imaginary affront would' have been no degradation ; ther. supposing it to have been erroneously collot tied, but when al occasion was thus offered to qualify real his letter of the 4th of November should nut have and severe imputations upon the Government to corrected the mistake, instead of confirming and which he was accredited, •it could scarcely be other- establishing it. wise than a duty to take immediate advantage-of it. 44 As an expatiation, this paper was even worse than 44 Such, however, was not Mr. Jackson's opinion.. nothing.. It had not the appearance of an attempt He preferred answering the appeal, which had been Ito rectify misapprehension. It sought to put the made to him, by reiterating with aggravations the i American Government in the wrong, by assuming offensive insinuation. He says, in the last paragraph I that *hat had given so much umbrage ought not to of his letter of the 4th of November, to Mr. Smith— I have given any. It imported reproach rather than 6 You will find, that, in my correspondence with you, I explanation. I have carefully avoided drawing conclusions, that 64 It kept nut of sight the real offence, and, intro- did not necessarily follow from the premises advanced dating a new and sufficient one in its place, seemed by me ; and least of all should I think of uttering an to disclose no other wish than to withdraw from the insinuation, where I was unable to substantiate a fact. I Gnvernmeat of the United States the ground upon To facts, such as I have become acquainted with 1 which it had proceeded. Its apparent purpose, in 4 them, I have scrupulously adhered. In so doing I word, was to fix a charge of injustice upon the past, must continue, whenever the good faith of his Ma- I not to produce a beneficial effect upon the future. In iesty's Government is called in question, to vindicate 1 this view, and in this only, it was perfectly consistent its honour and dignity, in the manner that appears to : that it should announce Mr, Jackson's determination me best calculated for that purpose.' I to retire to New York. "To this, my Lord, there could be but onereply. 1 . " The time when this paper was presented will not Official intercourse with Mr. Jackson could no longer I have escaped your Lordship's observa::ons.. It fol. be productive of any effect,s that ,were not rather to i lowed the demand already mule; of a safertard for be avoided than desired ; and it was plainly impassi„ 1 '•Mr. Jackson, his family, and the gentlemen attached ble that it should continue. He was, therefore, in. to his mission ;' a demand which cannot tae regarded. • formed by Mr. Smith, in a letter of the Bth of No. especially if we look to the inducements to which vember, which recapitulated that inducement to this it was referred, as either conciliatory or respectful. unavoidable step, that no further communications It followed too, the letter of the 4th of November. would be received from him ; that the necessity of which, had explanation been intended, ought un. this determination would. without delay, be made doubtedly to have contained it, but which, in lieu known to his Government ; and that, in the mean of it, contained fresh matter of provocation. It time. a ready attention would be given to any corn- was itself followed by the publication of its own munication affecting the interests of the two nations' substance in another garb. On the very day of its through any other channel that might be substituted. date, when Mr. Jackson, if he meant it as an expla. " The President has been pleased to direct, that I nation, could not be justified in concluding that it should make known this necessity to his Majesty's would not be satisfactot y, it was moulded by him Government, and at the same time request that into the circular address to which I have before allu- Mt. Jackson be recalled. And lam particularly in- I ded ; and immediate steps appear to have been taken strutted to do this in a manner that will leave no Ito give to it in that sh spe, the utmost publicity. I doubt of the undiminished de.)ire of the United States have no wish, my Lord, to make any strong remarks to unite in all the means the best calculated to esta- upon. that proceeding. It will be admitted that it blish the relations of the two countries on the solid was a great irregularity; and that if Mr. Jackson had foundations of justice, of friendship, and of mutual been particularly anxious to close every avenue to re interest. I am further particularly instructed, my conciliation between the American Government and Lord, to make his Majesty's Government sensible, .himself, he could not have fallen upon a better ape that, in requiring the recal of Mr. Jackson, the Unit- client. ed States wish not to be understood as in any degree I " I have now only to add, my Lord, the expel,- obstructing communications which may lead to a i sions of my own most ardent wish, that out of the friendly accommodation ; but that, on the contrary, . incident which has produced this letter, an occasion ' they sincerely retain the desire, which they have con- ; may be made to arise, which, improved as h *VIM stautly professed, to facilitate so happy an event, and ! to be, and_ I trust.will be, by our respective Go that nothing will be more agreeable to them than to ! ments, may conduct them to cordial and t lasting find the Minister, who has rendered. himself so j ust l y friendship. Thus to endeavour to bring good oof obnoxious, replaced by another, who, with a different , evil, would be worthy of the rulers of two nations character, may carry with him all - the authorities and ' that are only in their natural position when they ale instructions requisite for the complete success of his engaged in offices of mutual kindness, and largc u l7 mission, or, if the attainment of this object through contributing to the prosperity and lumpiness of each my agency should be considered more expeditious, or other. otherwise preferable, that it will be a course entirely " I have the honour to be, with the highest cad, satisfactory to the United States. deration, my Lord , your Lordship's Molt-obedient 66 Theft instructions, which I lay before Lord- humble servant. (Signed) " WK.aml v• ikaie ship without disguise, require no comment. "The Most Noble the Marquis Wellesley. bi. See. 64 Before I conclude this letter, it may be proper " Foreign Ofire, Mardi 14,iont very shortly to advert to two communications, received ig Sot—The letter which I had the honour to !t -hy Mr. Secretary Stnith from Mr. Oakley, after the , ceive from you under date of 2d January, together correspondence with Mr. Jackson had ceased, I with the additional paragraph received on the Si " The first of these communications (of which I , January, has been laid before the King. am not able to ascertain the date) requested a do- 64 The several conferences which !lave held with cument, having the effect of a special passport or I you respecting the transactions to Which your lent safeguard, for Mr. Jackson and his family, un d •ng refers, have, I trust, satisfied you, that it is the sincese their further stay in the United States. This apple-- desire of his Majesty's Government, on the prase cation was regarded as somewhat s i ngu lar ; hut th e occasion, to avoid any discussion which mightobstrast document, of which the necessity was not perceived, the renewal of amicable intercourse between the two was. nevertheless furnished. The reasons assigned countries. for the application eicited some , surprise. I hare ~ The correspondence between Mr. Jackson wha troubled your Lordihip, in conversation, with a few . Mr. Smith has bee; submitted to his Maidtri O esi. remarks from lIT instructions, upon one of thoie deration. reason, which I wlll take the libettV to repeat.—Thy i 0 liie Weer, has commandettine Wapitis hic lal. e of the :Ives e in. ught it by e had some some ie C cit. luiry ; him. Per- t war •