The Rhode-Island Republican — Newport, R.I., 1810-01-31 00:00:00, page 2

Thase At the idea of being “ chained
¥ the Imperisl Qux™ feel no relustance to, * taking
deprecate a war Fngland as -3:...,
d Atinous, “w .wum
aniter against the Fronsh Btandard . .
- YR T (Troe 2o}
j ~ [Concluded.] ,
This letter is more atfrontive thun the
Airst, for it reinsists on the same offensive in
sinuation after the ground of it had been ex
pressly denied by our governiment, which
~ was in effect telling our government that
their assertion wus not credited. Here our
mm»mm was compelled to notice the af
ont, or to renounce forever all preteusions
- %0 a sepse of dignity or character. Suill,
howevérymoderation characterized their mode
.of preceeding. They did pot requige Mr.
Jackson to retract, or to explain the fact, but
merely to refriin from a pepetition of this
~insult io future, « But.it would be improp
er (says Mr. Smith, in ‘noticing this subject
in bis letter of the 15t of Novembe ,{w con
clude the few obsgi'vations to ﬁhfl; I pur
posely limit myself, withoat adverting to
mr repetition of a language implying a
knowled;ze on the part of this government
that the lastructions of your predecessor did
ot authorize the arrangement formed by
- him. After the peremptory and explicit as
* severation that this government had ro such
~ knowledge, and that with such knowiedge
no sugh arrangement would have béen enter
ed into, the view which you have again pre
sented of the subject, makes it my duty to
apprize you that such insinuations are inad
‘missible in the intercourse of a foreign min
istef ‘with ‘a “government that understands
what it owes to ftself.”” This notice of the
affront, snd precautions to protect itself under
the circumstances of the case dp‘,v“ 0:: least
that the goyerament could perhaps its
dignity lﬁ'"lr«l more. It imposed no re.
straint upon Mr. Jackson, but that of abstain
-1&; from a repetition of this particular jpsuic.
We come now. to Mr. Jackson’s last letter,
dated the 4th of November, the climax of
his insolent correspondence. In this he
out Hereds Herod. What before was .insin.
uation now becomes assertion, now. becomes
a fact, to which he avows his unalterable de
terminatipn to adiere on all future occasions.
“ You will find (he says) thetin my corres
pouderice with you, I have carefully -avoided
drawing conclusions that did not necessarily
follow from premises advanced by-Ihey arid
least of all'should I think of uttering an in
sinuation, wicre | was unable to substantiate ;
a fact.” " Can any one reud this and say that
our government had «nisynderstond Jackson,
ds the insinultion complained of ! @ Leust
of all should I think of uttering an insinua
tian, whore | Was unable to substantiate a
fact.” How can this be undeistood ether
wise than as saying, that in muking the insin
uation I wus warranted by the fact ? Jtis a
f.ctthat you knew the arrangement “as un
- authorized——a fact that I am abié& to substan
tiste. The letter proceeds” «To facts, such’
#s | have become acquuinted with them, I
have scrupulously adhered, and jn so doing I -
must continue, whenever the good faith of
his Majesty’s government is called in ques
tion (0 vindicate its honour and dignity in the
manner that appears to me best calculated
for that purpose.” :
Mr. Smith had informed him that he must
nol rz:n the insinuation. Juckson answers
in effect, the ihsiuuation is a fact, and I
must adhere to facts whenever the good faith
of his Majesty's roment is called in ques
tion. You qucw his good faith in not a
biding the acrangemeni—l vindicated his
hanour and dignity by questioning your good
fuith—by imputing to gou as | wus warranted
by tiue fugt, & knowledge at the time, that the
srrapgement was unauthorized, and in this
course | shall Keneverc. The short amount
of the whole; is this : Our governmen: suy,
Siry after“we have assured you that we had
not the knowledge you impute to ws, you must
not renew the’ imputation. Mr. Jyckson
says, deny it as you will, it is true notwith
standing, and 1 will penew the imputation
whenever | think proper. Is not: this the
weaning of Jackson ¢ . Can any other con
struction be fairly put upon iy ?:_ng-uuge !
I wauld appeal to any cundid intelljgent. man
of any party who would pledge hisseputation
ue%n the answer. Jackson by this letter had
Teft the Presidefit nd bther alteriftivehe |
fofeed upon him u rupture qfﬂm, 'j.m-u'pom
dence. Jackson was thérefore notified, - that
no further intercourse tArough 4im would be
had wuth his government—that this resolu
tion, and the reasons. for takiag' it, wouid be |
transmitted to"the King his Master—and
that in the mean time nl?othor channels of |
intercourse would remain unaffected. '
That this proceeding of the American
z:"lﬂ““‘_ which .Ctn'fet its own vindica
tion, should rejuire to be vindicated to A.
mericans, is nolmcm tvidence of the
Apravalonga of parcy over the affection |
due ouf common country. |
Reflections on the Proceedings of our Go
vernment, with Fackson, the British
Minister. 5
mzm -’ =
A a mn point, he
weepet® 18 absurd unreasonable
:ahnog bear cxuminu:.q. : o
R (7o be. continued. ]
Political Pisgcellany.
For the RerusrLicAN.
FRANKLIN.
Mvr. Smith to My. Jackeon, Nov, 1, 1809, . -
“ It would be imrmpcr to conclude the few
observations to which I purpogely limit my~
self, without advoningkto your repetition of
a language implying a knowledge on the prt
‘of this government thut the instructions of
your predecessor did not authorize the ar
rangement formed by him. Afer the ex
pllc?t'nnd peremptory asseveration that this
government had no such knowledge, and that
with such a knowledge no such arrangement
would have been entered i::‘o ::M view z’h;h
you have again present the subject,
Mothydmyt:’;ml:om that such
insinuations are inad \,
« When [ ink that the agreement
mlubd:lih.x"prhu, had been fram
- e _ ‘wWas i
%uﬂumhqzm o
S T e EUI!M,W.\ A
2y
“ T have no hesitation in informing you,
that hi: Majesty was pleased to disavow the
arrangement concluded between you und Mr.
Erskine, because it was concluded in viola
lation of that gentleman’s instructions. These
instructions were at that time made known
to you."” _ Yk ok '
Mr. Smith to Mr. Jackson, Oct. 191 h, 1809.
“ The declaration that the despatch from
Mr. Canning to Mr. Erskine of the 23d of
Januury is the only despatch by which the
conditions were prescribed to Mr. Erskine
for the conclusion of an arrangement on the
matter to which it relutes, is now for the first
time, made to this government. .
“ I need hardly add, that if the despatch had
been communicated at the time of the ar
rangement, or if it had been konown that the
propositions contained in it and which were
at first presented by Mr, Erskine, were the.
only enes on which he was av #"ilzed to make
an arrangement, the arrangement would not
have been made.”
You tell us,Mr. Potter,that you see noinsult:
Shall we infer from this, that you' consicler an
indirect lie an insult, or shall we not ! Ifa
lie in your eyes be not considered an insult,
you should have subjoined a note, in which
would be given your opinion on this subject ;
we might then be able to understand you.
But presuming that a majority of civilized
men consider lies of some weight, I will, in
three or four quotations from the printed doc
uments shew that a lie was given by Jacksen
to the Executive and to Mr. Smith. [ will
make the quotations without comment.
more essential to a Representative in Con
gress. Your ignorance on this subjéet, hus
surprized all who have read your speech, or
been acquainted with your character. Your
acquaantunce have with no hesitation declar
ed, that if there be uny one subject upon
which Mr. Potter’s talents will appear con
spicuous, it must be that of land speculation.
For yoursclf you say, Mr. Potiery that you
cannot see any insult that is offered to our
government. - Happily for the American peo- |
ple, they have the privilege of seeing, of read- ,
ing, and reflecting, as weil.as Mr. Pouter.
Mr, Potter is a professionai man, and gentle
men of the bar have the iie. palmed upon
them very often, without considering it an in
sult, .go wonder then that one solitury lie,
in they eyes of Mr. Potter, should not appear
an insuft... .- - "
-« We find (says Mr. Potter) all the heads
_of department, although not altogether, yet
separutely, and about the same time, in con
versation with the British minister on the
same subject, and holding neurly the same
language——and what was the result of all this?.
It appears that Mr. Erskine communicated
what he honestly understood to be the mean
“ing and intention of our administration w My,
Canning, who then transmitted him the des
patch of the 23d of Junuary, containing those
three propusitions ‘which be had supposed
would: be acceptable here, and would form
the basis of a treaty. This, siv, is the man
ner ifi which the difficulty originaied, and it
would have been well for the parties in this
conversation, as well as for this country, if
this conversation had been reduced to writ
ing.” Mr. Potter has cleurly shewn the
manner in which all our difficuities originat
ed ; they arose from conversations between
the heuds of departments and the British jin
ister. Amidst the zeal and enthusiusm ‘with
which he has advocated the ciui of i ougland,
he hus not been sufficiently ‘careful .in con
forming to the language of her winister It
was long a matter of contention with Mr,
Smith and Juckson, whethey written cominu
nications should be substituted in the pi.ce of
verbal ones. You make no hesitation in de
claring your preference -for written oues.
The federal purty throughout the coatinent
have denounced Mr. Saiith for preferring
written ones. You, sir, belong (0 the icderal
phalanx ; you are reduced to the piiiful sher
native of either renouncing the sentimen:
which you have herc uvowed, or of rendering
yourself liable of beiny denounced vy your
party. The argument which you have driwn
from the sale of land, [ shall not notice ; this
cornu argunmentuin ol yours has been uiready
canvassed. You have shewn yourself to be as
ignorant of the rules which guide men in
common conveyances as of other matters
Notice of My, Potter’s Speechyin the Houae of
Repireseniatives of the United States, on the
. Subject of Mr. Giles' Resolution, i
My, Jackson to Mr, Smith, 23d Oct. 1809,
TOR TRE REPDE-ISLAND REPUBLICAN.
J..‘ 3¢ /
¢ .“" o,
° .." ..
-
® —————
No. VIL.. .
~1. SIR jo
--IN the first moments of that perturbation,
.| from which the most accomplished diplomat
ist cannot at all times be exempt, and into
which even a person of your experiencggmay
‘be excused fo{efallmg, on the o\l::dcn’ 6’(:::11--
4 rence of a crisis-$0 unexpected and embarrass
| ing a 8 your late discomfiture, you were jndis
‘crest enough to allege the constitutional lib
-erty of the press in this countiy, as a charge
ugznst the executive' government, which
ywur complaint implies that department might
correct. You slmuld have recollected that
when an Ambassadour is most disconcerted,
he ought to appear the least disturbed ; that
-by‘the law of the land the executive cannot
interfere with the press, and that when the
first Consul of France, with those annuls you
have such special reason for being familiar,
laid a similar grievance before the British
Ministry, he was told that the courts of jus
| tice were the only merns ‘known to the law
for punishing such offences, that Peltier was
convicted by a jury and sentenced by my
Lord Ellenborough, not by Mr. Addington,
of the King. These things you should have
known ; for they would have saved you the
mortification, which every miun, and particu
lurly the Envoy Extraerdinary and Plenipo--
tentiary from a Mighty Kingdom, ought to
feel, when he so far forgets himself and his
station, as to be betrayed inte undignified und
unavailing querulonsness. - & &
It is too true that the press in this country
is deplornbly licentious : and though you
were egregiously incorrect when you made
this circumstance a ground of official com
pl.int to the executive, yet all temperate A
mericans must deprecate the scandalous ca
lumnies, that are dailv poured forth ‘upon
your nation, mission and person. But it is
not the freedoms the press has taken with
your nume, that have mude it odious in A
werica, That you may not return impressed
with a belief, in which it 1s 10 be lamented
you cume amongst us, that party is-the.only
index to opinion in the United States, or that ‘
certain violent newspapers are the organs of
-the sentiments of the great body of sober
and reflecting people, take the liberty of ad
dressing you in the language that is almost
universally held, relative to this controversy,
by those native and genuine Americans, who,
with a natural and decided preference for the
'English nation, are at the same time alive to’
to the rights of their own ; and always and
alike indignunt at all foreign aggressions
- Whatever. It may perhaps, notwithstanding
- your, patriotick zeal, somewhat assuage your
disappointinent, to know that by this respec- |
~ table class, your .instructions are more blam- |
ed than your conduct ; and it ie highly proj
er that you should be apprised of the inde
- pendent and hohouiable motives which gov
ern them in this juncture. :
Your nomination created some suspicion
and much clamour. .Peremptorily retusing
to ratify the terms proposcd by one minister,
~efter they had been acceptéd and effectuated
on our part, recalling .and . disgracing ‘that
- minister, and appointing another who had
been used to treat with fleets at his heels,
were not indications of a very friendly dispo
sition on the part of England. Notwiihstand
ing these omens, the muss of the American
nation prepared to accredit you as one of the
most distingwished members of _the corps
which, in the States of Europe, is as regular
ly truined, formed and distributed as armies
und navies—uware that you were yet reeking
from the discharge of a most detestable duty
at Copenhagen, but hoping that your employ
ment on several such exigencies, wus rather
the course of your vocation than optional, and
that the fame of such achievements preced
ing you here, would have the effect rather to
soften than aggravate your tone~-and with an
honest confidence trusting that you were se
lected for your superiour talents and veteran
skill, and coming to negcoiate, if not to con
clude an accommodation. The Americans
are a‘simple, peace-loving people, little ver
sed in diplomatick sephistry. Peace and
plain dealing are emphatically their policy,
inasmuch as one is the source, the other the
only safeguard of their prosperity. Whatev-,
~er therefore was declared by a few \mimrr,-
tant individuals of the insolence and bad faith
upon which your embassy-was grounded, the
government, with a large majority of the
country, were disposed to-recetve you with
hospitality, and anxiously desivous that your
terms might be tolerably decent. With such
terms and such a tone there was a temper to’
be satisfied : and it is notorious that the be
lief was very general of your having entered
upon discussions, which promised an arrange
ment. After indulging a few weeks in these
flattering expectations, it was understood
with amasement and regret and indignauon,
that you. came three thousand miles, with
maguificent appointment, without suthority to
adjust any one point in dispute, and with or
ders to couch your communications in the
most imperious and offensive style of the new
;imdogy of diplomatick correspondence.
ou came as you have mmlfd:ocl.ed- to
our mcmt, expressly to nothing :
and : doing that nothing you assumed a tone
of contempt and defiunce. Under such cir
cumstances you should not be suprised that
it is the sense of nine-tenths of the Am=~ii.
can people, that as your mission was mean
to be futile and your language unbeeomin,
.. & -
FYROM THE PRILADPELPEIA GAZLTTE.
The #ttention ol(w readfis 10 &{oddrul to the
- (A Federa! Pupes.. )
Minister, Jackson, will be rewarded by its perusal.
We insert it hrthm rEASONS : bjuu-c it is
; written in a style y ‘nferiour to JuwNiys, it
comains sound rewson and wanly American senti
ments, and it comes from a Federal Papcr.‘ On
thesc grounds we checrfully recommend it.
: [N Y. Colum.)
T 0 FRANCIS JAMES JACKSON, ESQ.
Ex-Ambésendowr from IHis Britannick Majesty to the
United States of JAmerica. |
.- Youf predécessour, Mr. Merry, an atrabi
larous and maladreit old man, to whom. it
-was said Mr. Jefferson had been upgracious
(at least, Mistress Merry said so) was receiv
- ed in Philidelphia with a hospitality intended
to compensate for the rudeness he complain
ed of ut Washington. Mr. Lisién was .a
gredt fuvourite, and Mr. Erskine wus always
-‘welcomed with a kindness much mere than
mevely polite. You are the first British Min
ister from whom the hospitalities of Philae
delphia huve been withheld, and you are,
personally, the best entitled to them. . Yom
must, therefore, ascribe the comparptive de
solution ffom seciety in which you are suffer
ed 1o live in this metropolis, nowsWhg
the eleganics of your retimue, to that. feel
of unyniméus indighation sgmnst your -l:
ployers, which the disclosure of your corres
pondence “has. roused. Though yow came
fortified with letters of introduction, and al)
. the atgractions ealculated to make your ¢oms
pany desirable, yet you cannot but upg,laul
this repuisive nationality, howevsr disagreess
ble you may find its effects. We know how
to seperate Mr. Jackson from his instructions
—but his representative ‘has cast so deep a
shade over his private character, that Ameri
cuns of all parties not caring to draw the dis~
tinction, are reluctant to dispense those civil
ities, which but for the part which it has been.
his cue to act, they would have been proud
and forward to shew. b . (4
After lingering here a little longer, in a
situation unworthy your rank and accomplish- .
ments, you will return to "England, with the
sorry matisfaction of having performed an
odious service in the letter of your command.
Unless you go fo Algiers, Ispahan, or Tomg
buctou, there is now no friendly power left,in
whose cupital a comspicuous residence muy
snatch you froin .compurative insignificance
in the environs of Loudon. But at all events
‘you -will have the satisfaction to find Mr.
.George Cunning, who, with no stronger
claims than a petty genius and the consisten- .
cy of faction, attempted to hold the reins
which: Pitt could" hardly ‘manage.-<~You will .
find him once more in his proper place not
at the privy council board, but at the desk of
the AnptisJacobin, writing, perhups, an addi
tionul-canto to the luve of the ﬁ'iu?k‘. Xog ..
niuy wsgure him that his mission i fu‘l‘ﬂpg‘} ‘
—sand that though his artillery fuiled of ite efs
fects on his enemies, it mswérﬁ übd.r%’t‘hc‘
Aitection at least . purpose of dii
N'L few t’tmuilih:z. friecnds. While Mr,
‘Sthith*s share of the transaction was managed
with tidniness und perspicuity, you in the full
spirlt of your instructions, were superb, con
temptuous, conlused, insulting and - belliger
ent. “The blunder you committed, with res.
pect to the oral communications, and the pet
‘ulance you gave into when you complained of
the newspapers and demunded your passpor ts,
‘'were, to be sure, departures from the lofty
line of your orders. But this may be pardone
ed in consideration of your excellence upun
the whole. You ccri-Lnly effected your re
jection in a shorier time than any other diyle
matist could have attsined that prismary ob
ject. But you must tell that sophomore in
politicks to whom you ‘owe the honour of -
your embassy, that dictation, however it m.y
hecome ' his haug is not adapted to
ronciliste u free nl::’ht’:av- people. who
nad the hardiness to send you home, in dis
.‘:u ‘l'Wpllz w“(.)b:)' }&w COMINis-
the governper consulted their dignity, end
the dignity of a mution, wOO iong putient of
outrage, when it derunged you' fiom your
lunctions, «nd discarded you its presence.
~ But while such is the sense, and the decié
ed and enthusiustick sense of nearly all the
people of this country, it is matter of the
most painful regret with muny of them that
the representative of a greut and glorivus
emipire, himseif a man of talents and a fine
gentlenian, should have been obliged to incur
the predicament, into which you have rather
marched than fallen, which notwithstanding
the challenge of your Jetters, ind the fuir
warning you received of its imminence,seems
to have béen as unexpected by you as it cer
tainly must be inauspicious to the future re
lations of the two countries. You find A
merican éndurance may be tried too fyr,
Unthinking men, who condemn . in the
mass and calumniate whenever they condemn,
do not distinguish between your constituents
and their instrument. They attach an odium
to your nume, wkich the more discerning
know you do not deserve —When Mr. Jeffer
son retired it was siid the main gbstacle to
accommodate was removed. But they .whe
coiceived such hopes did not know Mr. Can
ning. Doubtless you were ordered to held
the front you did.—Those rhetorical flourish
¢s and polished invectives, with which your
letters abound, are perfect imitations of Mr.
- Canning’s school, which bus substituged such
- balderdasly for the 'stately’ and t_espccrle
‘garbydn which, till this day, diplomacy, how
ever hostile; ‘'was invariably clothed. Wlhen
beside®” thie utter success of their encmies,
tht unfortunate people of England, in a short
- lupse of ‘'disaster, where deprived of Pitt, Fox,
Neleon,-Cornwallis and Turlow, fite seemed
to have'declured against them, and almost
ever since, distraction, ignorance and malyer
sation have ‘possessed a cabinet heretofore
filled> with talents, integrity, and publick
“spirit. -One of ‘the last struggles of the last
- of these administrations wus to desputch i{'(m
to this dountry, with instructions, which, it
‘canhot be questioned, you have rigidly con
formed to. The resnit is, what must have
Ueen' desired, though it perhaps was scarcely
expected by the kgag your master, and his
late ministers. And you are too high spirit
ed a man to blame the Americuns, if by every
thing short of" insult to your person they
shew their detestation of such insidious, and
dastardly . measures, add s Mo