The American herald of liberty — Exeter, N.H., 1794-08-12 00:00:00, page 2

The grai.t of money* byCongrefs^or the
nival armament was made oa the 9 h day
of Jane. John T. Morgan, a Shipwright
of Borton, was engaged by the Treasury
Department, on that day to procare the live
oak and cedar timber, from Georgia and
the Carolinas. Advice haa been some time
received of his arrival at Charleston, whith
er he Was dispatched by the fir ft veflel af
ter the above appropriation of money.—
Wood-cutters and moulders have been or
dered from CohnedicUt and Mdflachufetts
and authority given to employ such as may
be procurable in the bouthern dates. Stores,
axe, moulds, &c. have been fhiptfr.om
Philadelphia, and New-York. Many oth
er preparatory meafares have been comple
ted, or commenced.
The folio'ving gentlemen h^ve been ap
p toted, under the war department, agents
for the building of the fix (hip;.
Portimouth,. New-Hampshire— Joan
Langdon, Naval Agent. Bolton—Hen
ry Jackson, do, New York—John
Blagge,do. Philadelphia, Gurnby and
bMtrH, do Baltimore, Jeremiah Yel-
Lot r, do- Nor oik, Willi am FeNNock,
do.
6y the arrival in this port from Southam pt 6ft,
[England.]
Britifti House of Lords, May 26.
AMERICA.
MARQUIS Lanfdowne rose, and after
taking a view of. fbe eonduft of
M millers at home, and of the Gtuation of
affairs on the frontier of France, drew the
attention of their Lordlh’psro the conduit
of Mini Ilers towards Neutral nations, or
thole powers of Europe, who had not con
federa ed in the military crusade. Their
cpndull towards Genoa, was highly repre
hemfible and impolitic; it had alienated the
affelHoas of that Republic, and driven it
It becomes now
j 0 i» turn f fpeftator of our defeat and lof
fes at Corsica, the Gfrcomlhnces of which
it •, found txpeJfeW to conce.l from the
' public eye. Their conduS to^rdr SW
deb end Denm.rk, u th vied mth no left
forefigbe end policy. Thc<e power.> h«e
already fitted out large fleet*, and Mj
they once be brought to aS in coWrin# lo *
with enemy, be did not know to
an extent of war arid misery we fho«y
driven. A/'
Order has also been taken concerning the
plans and dimensions of the (hipt, and other
needtary matters, in the war department.
The frequent publications of late, re
fpeding the difpofltion of the Six Nations,
have a tendency to encreafe that jeaioufy
on tneir account, Which perhaps aheady
exists in too high a degree, as well as to
i -.volve the United States still more in an
unhappy war. The eis reason to believe,
that some of our friends among the Indians,
have been weakened ih thCir attachment
to the Unfed States, as well as luffered
in their reputations, by unmerited calum.
nies and gross misrepresentations, which
they have no opportunity to refute in a
corrcd fhtement cf fads. Corn planter,
in par:icul«r, has lately been fpokeh of, as
inimical m qs, and his conduit stated in
such away as might incline those unac
quainted with tire probity of the man, and
too dihaot hum him to form a right judg
ment of his sentiments or conduCt, to fup
p>fe him iofincerc and unfriendly. The a
bove declaration, therefore, is published to
d - jJlice io an absent character, who has ev
diflingutfhed himfelf as the friend of the
United States, who excited general edeem
while among us, who, in the course of his
pegociations, displayed the orator, the par*
riot, and the man of feeling.
were Under its walls in griat force. The
fleet rcndezvoufed there to attack Port da
Paix, but sailors could not be found to
man them. A fecohd message, however,
had been sent toGeni Laxaux, from Co).
Whitlock to surrender the place, and he
received for answer, that no attempt would
be made to prevent the landing of the Brit
ith trOOpf, but that they all might expeCt
never to return. ' .
^ BEAI * (Cornpidnttr) io a
f^bn of mputaiion, lately from tbe Indian
Country.
I Know/’ said thia refpeftable Indian,in
a tone of anxiety, blended with hrmnefs,
** ‘hat the people of the United States make
very free with myname in the newspapers,&
assert things wh ch are falle, but you miy
inform them that 1 am a friend to peace, A
friend t« my njtion, and a friend to justice
and equity.
* s Bnfaloe Cirak, July £. 179.4**’
NAVAL ARMAMENT.
BOSTON.
The Marquis having drawn the outlines
of our ficustton with resell to the war io
Europe, the profped of ourfaccefs, and the
diHcne s which relied on it, said, that what
had prompted him chiefly to call upon and
to interest the minds of their Lordships,
was a matter, now of the higheit magnitude
and the wrldvft concern. It was the rela
tive flotation of America to this country.—
America, he Cid, as a neutral union, and,
he believed a wife one, had adopted that
conduit which it behoved her to adipt.—
Nevertheless, as a neutral nation, America
had a right to our attention and regard in
point of jufticeand policy. Whatever dif
ferences of opinioo had adfen between
Great Britain and the European powers,
the interest of America and the friehdlhip
of America, Ihould be cultivated and re
vered. The peace which was made with
America, in 178 3, was such as wascalculat
ednot only to lay the foundation of an alli
ance, but of a lulling friend (hip : It mark
ed out the boundaries of her dominion with
a degree Os hberahty^lt gave her the o
cean as the natural barrier on the east, and
the Great Lakes as the natural limits on
the North and Weft. The forts and o»t
--pofts which by treaty should have been ced
ed to her, have remained since in our hands
(for what reason he did not now with to
difeufs) and though repeated applications
have been made to government, yet it had
appeared from Mr. Jefferfon’s letter to the
Minister Plenipoten iary for America, (Mr.
Pinckney) that no fatisfadory answer can
be obtained refpeding them.
The Mtrquii then adverted to the order
of council, of November, 1793, for the
seizing and detaining all American veflejs
Jaden with wheat, flour or grain, bsund to
any of the ports of France i—which order
had been kept a secret for some time and
which, from the evil confluences that
would accrue to Great Britain in its com
mercial concerns, had called for a deputa
tion of the merchants of the city of London,
who deprecated any rupture with Ameri
ca, as one of the greatest calamities, which
in a political as well as commercial point
of view, could happen to this country. This
measure, the Marquis represented as un*
gescrous,provoking ahd impolitic; and then
added, as matter of the highest aggravation
the conduit of Ministers, in the behaviour
pf the Consul at A giers, towards the Ameri
can trade to Portugal. It was matter of
notoriety tihat the Fortuguefe had kept in
the Mediterranean, a fleet ready to aft at
all times agiinft the Algerine pirates. Vari
ous reasons had been afligned for thia arma
ment. Some said it had been from the old
superstitious grudge which the Portuguese
had against the Barbary States. Others,for
the purpose pf exercising their marine and
keeping it in aftion. But here it served to
protect the trade of America to Lilbon,
and become* an object of serious atten
tion. It is all edged as a faft—a fact he
bad good reafon^ he laid, to believe, (but
which he would wish to hear fairly denied
and refuted) hat a truce had been made,
under the influence of the Ebglifh Consul,
between the Dey of Algiers and the Portu
guese ; and that in consequence of this trea
ty the Americans, unapprehenfive of the
danger which arose, From the treachery of
the States of Barbary, were seized, plun
dered and led into captivity, where many
of them now grban under the oppreflion of
those barbarians.
The noble Marquis then proceeded to
ft ate that part of the business on which he
principally grounded his motion. He said
that that Which would Fall most seriously
and feelingly to Ministers to explain, and
which he deemed eflentially neceflary for
their Lordships to be informed of, was the, >
recent conduct of Ministers in the pedon
of Lord Dorchester, Governor General of
' Quebec. He considered Lord Dorchester
as a man too prudent to act of himfelf un
der circumstances so big with danger, fp
pregnabc with calamity and ruin, had he
not the express authority of Minifters' for
such a Conduct, which, the Marquis laid,
weht to open a fcene.of horror and: da*«ftr*
i tion in the weftern world, by ah open dec
laration of war between Great Britain fnd
America. Lord Dorchester had/ M/faid^
j recently received a deputation froth th*:
Indians who inhabit to the north weft Os
the Ohio, announcing their wishes to unite
. with the Rnglifh, and break the peace vvith
the colonies /The. noble Marquis heft
read the answer of Lord Dorchester to this
deputation, which re-echoed every hostile
feutiment breathed by them* affixing to
each period the tehdef and parental appe
latiqri, ** Children. **
The Marquis then said that if a war with
America was the object of their wishes;
that if the peace of 1783 had now given
diflatin faction to those who then concluded
it, they should come forward and declare
their change offentiment, and unfold the
purposes of such a wat4 Tlje Americans,
Lord Grenville role in,reply to the Marl
quis of Lanfdown, who, he said had in ro
doced into his speech much extraneous
matter, and which was no way relating to
the motion he had brought forward. He
had set but with taking a view of the in
ternal situation of this country, and had
used expreflions which indicated his utter
diflent to rhe meafUres lately adopted by
adminiflration. He had said, government
used measures of unmerited and unprece
dented severity. This, his Lordship laid
was quite foreign to the present motion ;
never:hclef y as the noble Marquis had
thoaght proper to introduce it, he conceiv
ed it proper to notice it in reply. That
government so (ar fiom using undue severi
ty, had, on the contrary, been almost crim
inally tardy, was a point to which he was
sure the sense of the coumry would con
cede. They had waited until they found
the ferment of opinion wks ready to break
out into action ; and the consequences of
such actions would be but a counterpart of
those horrors which we Lw psfling before
our ryes in another dountr . Let any man
look at this coun ry for the fie two years past ,
and then fay if be Can poflibly deny the ur
gency and expediency of the measures
which have been adopted. After the view
which the noble Marquis had taken of
our domestic fiiuation, the fuhject of the
neutral powers had engaged his attention.
Lord Grenville said he was ready at any
time to jollify the conduct of Great Britain,
in those parts in which it had been im*
peached, relative to its conduct toward neu
tral powers. He maintained that it had
been much less rigorous than it was warrant
ed by the law of nations.
It was a principle admitted, and indeed
was inconteftibie, that you might prevent
any power from supplying your enemy
under the cloak and cover of an infiduous
neutrality. The- Algerine truce was the
next object that demanded his Lordship’s
attention. Tne Portuguese, he (aid, were
always oUr naiural friends, and ever ready
to give amicable assistance ; but from their
situation wirh the Algerines they were
prevented from tendering that afliftance
which otherwise they were inclined to give
us. Thus conditioned they applied to
the government of this country, to act the
part of a mediator and to endeavour to ef
' fectuate a peace between them and the
Algerines. His Majesty did according
ly dispatch a Consul who negbeiated a
truce, but he denied it was attended
with any of that secrecy, and for those
purposes which sfrere stated by the noble
Marquis. The order of council had al
so been introduced into the Marquis’s
-speech of this evenirig; His Lordfliip
affected, that in rdpeft to- that measure
■ this country would hive been juftified
! had it gone to even greater length
What did we do ? We did not seize the
' corp, on the contrary, we merely brought
their vessels into Englilh ports and paid
a fair price for their cargoes.—-Surely
the Americans could riot De said to be
ill treateq. Were they not as well paid
in English gold as they would have been
in French affignats ? •
Another ftibjeft introduced was the -
J boundary line. This, his Lbrdfhip said ;
was the firft time that ever he had heard
that article in the treaty of peace stated
as an advantage to this country. He
■ admitted that although it was not ad
vantageous yet the treaty should be ob
served ; at the fame time it Was to be re
- membered, that .it was mutually .bind
ing on both parties,'and it was unfair to
demand the execution of a treaty by one
party, when it remained unfulfilled by
the other. It was unjust to demand One
party to rclinquifhthciradvan^ with
from their councils and public difenfliona,
wished, by eveky means to avert the cala
mities of such a state, and had given proofs
of forbearance under insults and irritation ;
but he would nevertheless, from a consider
ation of the great importance that the trade
of America is to this country, most sincere
ly advise Ministers, before they entered on
a mealure so impolitic, and on which a
great part of the commerce of this island
now depended,carefully to confider it in all
its circumstances; and he hoped that they
would fairly come forward,and give that
information which their Lord (hips should
know on the facts he had mentioned, and
which he would be very happy to find
fallacious. On thefeconfideratiuns he would
move, That an humble address be pre fear
ed to his Majesty, requesting his Majesty
Would be graciously pieafed to order, that
there be laid before this House such in
flructions as have been given, or ordered to
be given, to Lord Dorchester, relative to
the differences oetwecnthe American States
and the Indians to (be north weft of the
Ohio, and Lord Dorcheftcr’s answer there,
to.
Embargo laid on foreign /hips by the
American States.
Mr. Sheridan said, there was a paper
which had carried a general alarm, and
on account of which the States of Ame
rica had laid an Embargo on foreign
ships. The paper he alluded to, pur
ported to be an answer given by Lord
Dorchester, to the Indians of Lower
Canada. In that paper his Lordlhip
animadverted on the conduct of the A
mericari States, and said it was likely we
should be at war with America before the
end of the jorefent year &c. He tho’t
it was of consequence that this paper
should be laid before the Hbufe, and
it was supposed to have beeri written in
consequence of orders from this country,
and therefore hp moved for an address
similar to the Marquis of Lanfdown’s.
Mr. Secretary Dundas said, that was
the firft moment he had ever heard of.
such £ paper, and he was certain that no
orders had been font froin this, country
to Lord Dorchester to write fflich a let-,
ter.
Mr. Fox said, if that letter was a for
, gery, that circumstance could not be
communicated too fodn so the* v country.
It had been corifidered as am authentic
letter in America, where it had already
produced some inifehief. He Was ex
tremely happy to hear from the King's
nifaifters, that it was all a fabrication.
■ It had been faid# no orders weye sent to
I Lord Dorchester to write such a letter,
but he wished to know whether any W
f ders were sent to bis Lordihip that would
authorize him to write such a letter ?
He knew that noble Lord wa^ not a
person who Would write such a letter
without authority.
Mr. Secretary Dundas firmly believed
Lord Dorchester incapable of Writing
any paper that had the least tendency to
involve this.country in a war with Ame
rica. He declared upon his honor as a
' gendeniani that he had never heard be.
rote of such a letter, and that it had not
been written in consequence of any or
ders from this country* So little dcfir«
outreceivingthofe benefits which they had
stipulated for, by the very fame treaty.—•
He had voted for the treaty of peace,
not because he thought it was the most
desirable that could he procured ; an J
further experience had convinced him
he Was right in his opinion of the article
fettling the boundary line of the Ameri
can States.
He now came to the last part of the
noble Marquis’s speech, and on which
he seemed most to rely. He should on
ly fay, that the paper which was produ
ced from the pocket of the noble Lord,
was one that never before came to his
knowledge. He had received no fucli
from Lord Dorchester ; and if any fucli'
really did exist, he fhouldAdoubtlcfs in
due time hear of it, together with that
noble person’s reasons for his conduct.—
Until that time he thought it decent and
decorous not to invefti^ate thfe matter.
o
He should therefore oppose the motion
as unnecessary.
The Duke of Grafton deprecated the
idea of a war with America, whom he
thought should be united to us by a fami
ly compact. He wished Ministers had
given a more explicit informaticn upon
the fubjcCt before the House, as certain
ly they well knew whether there was any
thing in Lord Dorchester’s inftru&ions
which would lead him to use such afpeech
as that which was supposed to be utter
ed by him to the Indians.
Lord Sydney said that Lord Dorches
ter was a person of the highest prudence
as well as abilities, and to which he ad
ded a particular regard for America;
it would therefore be improper to difeufs
his conduft now, without being in poflef
fion of those fads which mi^ht influence
his resolutions.
Lord Stanhope said that the Noble
Secretary had admitted poflibly such a
paper might exist.
[Here was a call of No I No ! ]
Lord Stanhope infilled he had.admit
ted that there might exist such a paper,
and cdnfequently the poflibility of a war
with America.
Lord Grenville said, if any other no
ble lord had laid what had just fallen
from the noble Lord, it had required an
answer ; as it was it required none.
The House then divided.
Contents, - •* 9
Non Contents - 69—Majority 60.
House of Commons-May 26.
4