The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-09 00:00:00

TITHES,

Mr. SHEIL moved fora return of the number of bills filed
in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland for the recovery of tithes,
and the names of the attorneys who fled such bills.
Mr. SHAW objected to a motion of this nature being made
without the usual notice.
Mr. S EIL had no objection to giving notice, but he thought
it unnecessary, as he did not anticipate any objection to his
motion from the Noble Lord who was Secretary for Ireland.
Mr. SHAW ;aid that it would be more regular to give
notice of the motion.
Mr. i 3 HEIL then gave the usual notice for to.morrow
(till day).
Lord ORPETH brought in a Bill having reference to
the subject of tithes ; but from the low tone in which the
Noble Lord spoke, it was impossible to catch its immediate
object.
Adjourned at Nine o'clock.

HIS MAJESTY'S ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS
OF THE COMMONS.
We understand that while the gallery was closed, the fol-
owing answer of his Majesty to the Address of the Commons
was presented at the bar and read :
" I receive with satisfaction the assurances contained in
your loyal and dutiful Address.
" It w►ll ever be my study, under the will of Divine Provi-
dence, to maintain the high character of this country among
the nations of the world, and to promote the peace and wel-
fare of all classes of my subjects."

STANDING ORDER COMMITTEE.
The following arc the Members who constitute the Select
Committee appointed last night, " to whom shall be referred
all •Reports front Committees on Petitions for Private Bills,
in which it shall be stated, that any of the Standing Orders
of this House have not been complied with ; and to report
their opinion thereupon from time to time to the House :"
Byng, George f3r4bgm fiir J. Pendarves, E. W.
Chandos, Marquis of Guest, J. J. Price, Sir It.
Clertc, :ill. G., Bart. Knatchbull. Sir E. Ridley, Sir M. W.
cliyg ype.4, Lowther, Viscount Sandon, Lord
Denison, I. E. O'Connell, D. Strickland, Sir G.
Ebrington 3'ite9Ynt paliner, R. Wood, Alderman
Estcourt, r. G. B. p 9 w,, )),Pon Wrotteslcy, Sir J. B.

Nay *pi:it runs high in Carnarvon. Two
iudivi-
dua„ , ' V/ agent county member andig I 4 abent—are constantly
engaged in the dea,scless attempt to enslave Eno porough of
Carnarvon ; to accomplish this object, all their agents, Under-
lings, and retainers, from the highest to the lowest, are per-
petually in motion,--, Corrnirvon Herald.
Notwithstanding the inclemency of the season, a
Robin's nest was found containing five eggs, on Friday se'n.
night, at Yelvertott„"
•

"'ciA.GE

AMERICAN PRESIDENT'S Mho,_.

NON-INTERCOURSE WITH FRANCE, AND HOS-
TILE PREPARATIONS.
(From the New York Times of January 20.)
SPECIAL MESSAGE.

We hasten to lay before our readers the Special Message of
the President to Congress. Its firm and dignified sentiments
will be responded to and supported by every American heart.
Non-intercourse and immediate preparation for the worst, are
the measures recommended to meet the unwarrantable demands
of France.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
To THE SiNATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Gentlemen,--In my Message at the opening of your Ses-
sion, I informed you that our Charge d'Affaires at Paris had
been instructed to ask for the final determination of the French
Government, in relation to the payment of the indemnifica-
tion, secured by the treaty. of the 4th of July, 1831, and that
when advices on the result should be received, it would be
made the subject of a special communication.
In execution of this design, I now transmit to you the pa-
pers numbered from 1 to 13 inclusive, containing, among
other things, the correspondence on this subject between our
Charge d'Affaires and the French Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs from which it will be seen that France requires, as a
condition precedent to the execution of a treaty uncondition-
ally ratified, and to the payment of a debt acknowledged by
all the branches of her Government to be due, that certain
explanations shall be made, of which she dictates the terms.
These terms are such as that Government has already been
officially informed cannot be complied with ; and, if persisted
in, they must be considered as a deliberate refusal on the
part of France to fulfil engagements binding by the laws of
nations, and held sacred by the whole civilised world. The
nature of the act which France requires from this Govern-
ment, is clearly set forth in the letter of the French Minister,
marked No. 4. "We will pay the money, says he, when the
Government of the United States is ready, on its part, to
declare to us, by addressing its claim to us officially, in wri-
ting, that it regrets the misunderstanding which has arisen
between the two countries ; that this misunderstanding is
founded on a mistake ; that it never entered into its inten-
tion to call in question the good faith of the French Go-
vernment, nor to take a menacing attitude towards France ;"
and he adds, "if the Government of the United States does
not give this assurance, we shall be obliged to think that this
misunderstanding is not the result of an error." In the let-
ter marked No. 6. the French Minister also remarks that
" the Government of the United States knows that upon it-
self depends henceforward the execution of the treaty of July
4, 1831."
Obliged by the precise language thus used by the French
Minister, to view it as a peremptory refusal to execute the
treaty, except on terms incompatible with the honour and in-
dependence of the United States, and persuaded that, on con-
sidering the correspondence now submitted to you, you can
regard it in no other light, it becomes my duty to call your at-
tention to such measures as the exigency of the case demands,
if the claim of interfering in the communications between the
different branches of our Government shall be persisted in.
This pretension is rendered the more unreasonable by the
fact, that the substance of the required explanation has been
repeatedly and voluntarily given before it was insisted on as a
condition--a condition the more humiliating., because it is
demanded as the equivalent of a pecuniary consideration.
Does France desire only a declaration that we had no intention
to obtain our rights by an address to her fears rather than to
her justice? She has already had it, frankly and explicitly
given by our Minister, accredited to her Government, his act
ratified by me, and my confirmation of it officially communi-
cated by him, in his letter to the French Minister for Foreign
Affairs, of the 25th of April. 1835, and repeated by my pub-
lished approval of that letter after the passage of the Bill of
Indemnification. Does France want a degrading, servile.
repetition of this Act, in terms which she shall dictate, and
which will involve an acknowledgment of her assumed right
to interfere in our domestic concerns ? She will never ob-
tain it. The spirit of the American people, the dignity of the
Legislature, and the firm resolve of their Executive Govern-
ment, forbid it.
As the answer of the French Minister to our Charge d'Af-
faires at Paris contains an allusion to a letter addressed by him
to the representative of France at this place, it now becomes
proper to lay before you the correspondence had between that
functionary and the Secretary of State relative to that letter,
and to accompany the same with such explanations as will
enable you to understand the course of the Executive in re-
gard to it. Recurring to the historical statement made at the
commencement of your Session, of the origin and progress of
our difficulties with France, it will be recollected that, on
the return of our Minister to the United States, I caused my
official approval of the explanations he had given to the French
Minister for Foreign Affairs-to be made public. As the French
Government had noticed the Message without its being offi-
cially communicated, it was not doubted that, if they were
disposed to pay the money due to us, they would notice any
public explanation of the Government of the United States in ,
the same way. But, contrary to these well-founded expecta-
tions, the French Ministry did not take this fair opportunity
to relieve themselves from their unfortunate position, and to do
justice to the United States.
Whilst, however, the Government of the United States was
waiting for the movements of the French Government, in per-
fect confidence that the difficulty was at an end, the Secretary
of War received a call from the French Charge d'Affaires in
Washington, who desired to read him a letter he bad received ;
from the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was asked
whether he was instructed or directed to make any official
communication, and replied that he was only authorised to read
the letter and furnish a copy if requested. The substance of
its contents, it is presumed, may be gathered from Nos. 4 and
6 herewith transmitted. It was an attempt to make known to
the Government of the United States, privately, in what man-
nvr it would make explanations, apparently voluntary, but r catty
dictated by France, acceptable to her, and thus obtained pay-
ment of the 25,000,000 of francs. No exception was taken to
this mode of communication, which is often used to prepare the
way for official intercourse, but the suggestions made in it were
in their substance wholly inadmissible. Not being in the shape
of an official communication to the Government, it did not ad-
mit of reply or official notice, nor could it safely be made the
basis of any action by the Executive or the Legislature ; and
the Secretary of State did not think proper to ask a copy, be-
cause he could have no use for it.
Copies of papers, marked numbers 9, 10, and 11, show an
attempt on the part of the French Charge d'Affaires, many
weeks afterwards, to place a copy of this paper among the
archives of this Government, which for obvious reasons was
not allowed to be done : but the assurance before given was
repeated, that any official communication which he might be
authorised to make in the accustomed form would receive a
prompt and just consideration. The indiscretion of this at-
tempt was made more manifest by the subsequent avowal of the
French Charge d'Affaires, that the object was to bring this
letter before Congress and the American people. If foreign
agents, on a subject of disagreement between their Government
and this, wish to prefer an appeal to the American people, they
will hereafter, it is hoped, better appreciate their own rights,
and the respect due to others, than to attempt to use the Exe-
cutive as the passive organ of their communications.
It is due to the character of our institutions, that the diplo-
matic intercourse of this Government should be conducted with
the utmost directness and simplicity, and that in all cases of
importance the communications received or made by the Exe-
cutive should assume the accustomed official form. It is only
by insisting on this form that Foreign Powers can be held to
full responsibility ; that their communications can be officially
replied to ; or that the advice or interference of the Legisla-
ture can, with propriety, be invited by the President. This
course is also the bsst calculated, on the one hand, to shield that
officer from unjust suspicions, and, on the other, to subject
this portion of his acts to public scrutiny ; and, if occasion
should require it, to constitutional animadversion. It was the
more necessary to adhere to these principles in the instance in
question, inasmuch as, in addition to other important interests,
it very intimately concerned the national honour ; a matter, in
my judgment, much too sacred to be made the subject of pri-
vate and unofficial negotiation.
It will be perceived that this letter of the French Minister
of Foreign affairs was read to the Secretary of State on the
11th of September last. This was the first authentic infor-
mation of the specific views of the French Government, re-
ceived by the Government of the United States after the pas-
sage of the Bill of Indemnification. Inasmuch as the letter
had been written before the official notice of my approval of
Mr. Livingstone's last explanation and remonstrance could
have reached Paris, Just ground of hope was left, as has been
before stated, that the French Government, on receiving this
information, in the same manner the alleged offending Message
had reached them, would desist from their extraordinary de-
mand, and pay the money at once, To give them an oppor-
tunity to do so, and at all events to elicit their final determina-
tion, and the ground they intended to occupy, the instructions
were given to our Charge d'Affeires which were adverted to
at the commencement of the present Session of Congress.
The result, as you have seen, is a demand of an official written
expression of regret, and a direct explanation addressed to
France, with a distinct intimation that this is a sine qua non.
Mr. Barton, having, in pursuance to his instructions, re-
turned to the United States, and the Charge d'Affaires of
France having been recalled, all diplomatic intercourse be-
tween the two Countries is suspended—a state of things origi-
nating in an unreasonable susceptibility on the part of the
French Government, and rendered necessary on our part by
their refusal to perform engagements contained in a treaty,
from the faithful performance of which by us they are to this
day enjoying many important commercial advantages.
It is time that this unequal positionTof affairs should cease,
and that legislative action should be brought to sustain execu-
tive exertion in such measures as the case requires. While
France persists in her refusal to comply with the terms of a
treaty, the object of which was, by removing all causes of
mutual complaints, to renew ancient feelings of friendship, and
to unite the two nations in the bonds of amity, and of a mu-
tually beneficial commerce, she (=not justly complain if We
adopt such peaceful remedies as the law of nations and the
circumstances of the case may authorize and demand. Of the
nature of these remedies I have heretofore had occasion to
speak, and In reference to a particular contingency, to express
my conviction that reprisals would be best adapted to the emer-
gency then contemplated. Since that period, France, by all
the departments of her Government, has acknowledged the va-
lidity of our claims, and the obligations of the treaty, and has
appropriated the moneys which are necessary to its execution ;
and though paynment witlihr,l4 sn grpin4;
to our existence as an independent 'nation, It IS not V 6 .be PF:
lieved that she can have deter Mined permanently to retain a
positi9ll 6 ijtterly indefensible. • In the altered state of the
questions in PeAntrOymi, 41140 r µll Gkistin circumstancPsi
it appears to me, that, until such a determination shall have
becoma evident, it will be proper and sufficient to retaliate her
present refusal to comply with her engagements, by prohibiting
the introduction of French products and the entry of French