The National Register. — London, England, 1813-01-17 00:00:00

JAN. 17 Great Britain, whilst the ships of war and merchant ships of the enemy were received into the harbours of America. . The American Government, assuming the repeal of the French Decrees to be absolute and effectual, most unittqly required Great Britain, in conformity to her declarations, to reveke her Orders in Council. The British Government denied that the repeal, which was announced in the letter of the French Minister for Foreign Af fairs, was such as ought to satisfy Great Britain; and in order to ascertain the true character of the measure adopted by France, the Government of the United States was called Linen ta produce the Instrument, by which the alleged repeal et' the French Decrees had been effected. If !hex Decrees were really revoked, such an in st rument must exist, and no satiefectory reason could be given for withholding it. At length, on the 9.lst of Mae, 1812, and not before, the American Minister in London did pr duce a copy, or at least what purported to be a copy of such an ina:rument. It professed to bear date the 28th of April, 1811, long subsequent to the dispatch of the French Minister of Foreign AO:airs of the sth of August, 1810, or even the day named therein, viz. the Ist No— vember following, when the oreratien of the French Decrees was to cease. This inst cement expressly declared that these French Decrees were repeated in consequence of the American Legislature having, by their Act of the Ise et March, Pell, provitted, that British ships and merchandise &Mould he excluded from the ports and harbours of the United States. By this intrumeat, the only document periduced by America as a repeal of the French Decrees, it apnears beyond a possiudity of doubt or cavil, teat the alleged repeal of the French Decrees was conditional, as Great Britan hat asserted, and not absolute or final, es had been maintained by America : that they were not repealed at tile time they Isere stated to be repealed by the American Govern meot : that they were net repealed in conformity with a proposition, simultaneously made to both Belligerents, but that in consequence of a previous Act on the part of the American Government, they were. repealed .n fivotir of one Belligerent, to the prejudice of the ether : that the American Government having adopted measures re• strictive upon the commerce of both Belligerents, in consequence of Edicts issued by both, rescinded these measures, aa they affected that Po..vei whieh was the aggressor, whilst they put them in full ooeration aniline the put.:aggrieved, althouith the Edicts of both P . owars coatinued in force; and, lastly, that they excluded the ship of war beloneing to one Belligerent, whilst they admitted into tf.eir parts anal herocura the ships of war belonging to tee other, in vielation of oi.e of the plainest and most essential duties of a Neutral ' Ne:ien. Althoueh the Instrument thus produced was by no means that general and unqualified revocation of the Berlin and Milan Decrees which Great Britain had continually demanded, and hot a 101 l right to claim ; and although this Instrument, under all the circunn etances of its appearance at that neenent, for the fir s t time, was open to the strongest suspicions of in; authmticity ; yet as the Mi nister of the UM e I State; ;reduced it, as purporting to be a copy of the Instrument of revocation, the Government of Great Britain, desirous of reverting, it' possible, to the ancient an i accustomed principles of Maritime War, de , ermined upon revoking condition ally the Orders in Council. Accordingly, m the month of lime last, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to deLeare in Council, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, that the Orders in Council should he revoked, as far as respected the ships and property of the United Stete o firma the Ist of ia uguat f 'Bowing. This revocation was to continue ie name, provided the Government of the United States should, within a time to he limited, repeal their Restrictive Laws ai;ainst British commerce. His Majesty's Mini ster in America was exeresly ordered to declare to the Government of the United States, " that this measure had been adopted by " the Prince Regent, in the earnest wish and tope, either that the " Government ef France, by further relaxations of its system, " might render perseverance on the part of Great Britaie in retalia " tory measures uniceesaary," or it' this hope shenial prove delusive, " that his Majesty's Government might be enabled, in the absence " of ali irritating, and restrietiae regule!iens on either side, to enter " with the Government of the. United States into amicable exple " :renown for the purpoae of ascertaining whether, it the necessity " of retaliatory measures should untOrtunately continue to operate, '' the particular maasures t, he acted upon by Great Britain could 61 be rendered more acceptable ta the American Government, than " those hitherto pursed." In order to provide for the contingency of a Declaration of War on the part of the Unitee States, previous to the arrival in America of the said Order :,f Re7ocetien. Instructions were s-nt to his Ma jesty'a Minister Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States (the execution of which lnatructiens, in consequence of the disconti nuance of Mr. Foster's functions, were at a subsequent period en trusted to Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren), directing hint to pro pose a cessation of hostilities, should they have commenced ; I and s i trusted 10 ttllllll ral Olt s r/mu &Jul saaa. •. 'tie pr') 1 81)::.til (II au all ,Liaz.n.“, •••••• pose a cessation of hostilities , should they have commenced; and turther olfer simultincous repeal of the Orders in Cutnc.l on strictive iwnistires 0 0 both side', subsec t ociitly made by the Comming lin g the one side, and of the Restrictive Laws on British ships and coin- of his Nl:rjesty's naval forces 00 the cua,t. Wo- re reedy- rneree on the other. • ed in the same hostile spirit by the Go: of the Un::ecl States. They were also respectively empowered to acquaint the American The sthpension of the practice of iinpr'3nient wus insisted op, ate GoYernment, in reply to any inquiries with respect to the b:ockade ccoesig);ldence whicy pa=se,i Sul thot i edSion, as a jeC THE NATIONAL. REGISTER; _) of Mal, 1806, whilst the British Government mu eei ere t• maintain its legality, 64 that in point of tact this particular O i - ickarte " had been discontinued fir a length of time, having been in in " the general retaliatory blockade of the enemy's ports. under the " Orders in Council, and that his Majesty's Government had no " intention of recurring to this, or to any other of .he blockades " of the enemy's ports, founded upon the ordinary and accustomed " principles of Maritime Law, which were in force preview; to the " Orders in Council, without a new notice to Neutral Powers in " the usual form." The American Government, before they received intimation of the course adopted by the British Government, had, in tact, pro. ceeded to thext Nine measure of declaring war, and issuing " Letters of Marque," notwithstanding . they were previously in possession of the report of the French Minister for Foreign Affitirs, of the 12th of March, 1812, promulgating anew the Berlin and Milan Decrees, as fundamental laws of the French empire, uneer the false and extrava gant pretext, that the mans' rout principles therein contained were to be found in the treaty of Utsetchr, and were therefore hineing upon all States. From the penalties of this code no nation was to be ex. empt, which did not accept it, not Gnlv as the :tile of its ewe con duct, out as a law, the observance of which it was also required to enforce upon Great Britain. Ina Manifesto, accompanying their Dee:aration of Hostilities, in addition to the former complaints against the Orders in Council, a lon,; list of grievances was brought forward; some trivial in them selves, others which had been mutually adjusted, but none of them such as were ever before alleged by the American Government to be grounds for aver. As if to throw additional obstacles in the way of peace, the Ame rican Congress at the sanie time passed a law, prohibiting all ietere course with Great Britain, of such a tenour, as deptiyee the Exe cutive Government, according to the President's own construction of thrt Act, of all power at restoring the relations of friendly inter course between the two States, far, at least, as concerned their commercial intercourse, until Congress should re-assemble. The President of the 'Jotted States has, it is true, since proposed to Great Britain an Armistice; not, however, on the admission, that the cause of war hitherto relied on was removed •, !nit on condition,' mat Great Britain, as a preliminary step, should do away a cause of war, now brought forward as such for the first time; namely, that she should abandon the cuercis: et her undoubted right of search, to take from American merchant vasacls iiritish seamen, the antral horn subjects of Iris Nlajeaty ; and this concession was required riper, a mere assurance that laws wetild be enacted by the Legislature of the Uei:ed States, to pretest such seamen from entering into their service ; but independent of flte objection to an exclusive reliance on a foreign State, for the cons-rvatien of so vital an interest, no ex plmut,on WAS, or could he etre - act! by the ageut who was charged with this overture, either as to the main principles moon which such laws were te be fiunded, or ,as to the provisions which it was pra poaeel they should contain. This proposition having been objected to, a second proposal was made, again oil'eting en Armistice, provided the British Graver- neer. would secretly stipulate to renounce the eX7:reise of this teaht in a treaty of Peace• An immsdiaie and formal aban'onment of its exercise, as preliminare to a cessation of hostilities, was not ee mraeltd ; but his Koval Highness the Prince Regeat was required, in the. name and on behalf of his Majesty, secre'4 to ahoodun what the former overture had proposed to him puldiLly to concede. This must otiOesive proposition was also rejected, being accom panied, as the former had bean, by other demands of the rimer. excep tionable nature, area es,iee.ir.ily ref indemnity for rdi American sessels detained and cendemeee under tile Orders 11/ Ceuncd, or under what. were termed illegal blockades—e compliance with which demands. exclusive of all ether objectiens, wolid have ammulteri to an abso lute surrender or the riots ea which these Orders and blockaees were founded. Had the American Geeeiteeent teen sincere in representing, the O.'. dews in Coeecil, as the only 'subject ut defereeee between (fleet Br :edit and the United S!etes calculated to lend to hostilities, it might have Iseen expected, so so ,11 ns the revecation at theae Orders had been i•theially mede known to them, that they weekd have spoitieneeusla ree.sded their " letters amenities," and aninilested a disposition intrucdietela to ie.ti.le the relations of tic ace Intl anti b, tee en toe two Poe ci s. But the con ieet of the Govanenent ref the Uulted States by nu means cerrespended with such reasonable expectation!. The Order in Canewil of the laid of J one beme connimeiean in Americe, the Geverimene et the Ceired States saw nothieg in the re peat of the Orders in Calmed, wh.ch should of itself rcatore peace, en. less Great Britain were prepared, ill the first instance, suhstaltially to he right of impressing her own !..eanit.ll, Whell tOuill onboard American merchant ships. The proposal of an armistice, and of a simultaneous repeal of the re• strictly(' measures set both sides, sub•ekiecutle made by tile Connuenoieg