The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-01-24

ISteat Oh tue orders III c3upci', vet did 30
tess my readiness to take upon mvso. g,
make that offer. provided that yon Mculd
give me before hand IN untnicial assurance
that, coupled with that offer, so made. the
demand OF the repeal of the orders. would be
tavoraely received; that you, OF COURSE, de-
chhed to give any such previous assurance;
Dnt' as appeared TO attach great impor-
tancc to this suggestion, anal YOU were led
TO think that Il compliance with it mi,hr
relieve me from a difficulty in executing the
Instructions of my government. YOU consent
eed tofakc a few days to consider of it, and
to reserve your defnitive answer until YOU
suoniu see me again NUu then observe
that you "never doubted, in your own mind.
as to the inexpediency and impropricty Of
Encouraging me to take an unauthorized
step, by an unofficial promise that it should
os well received" / am sure you did not,
SIR; cnt must take the liberty to say shat l
am equally sure that ! never thought ofask-
"S 'u 10 give ne encouragement to take
an unauthorized step Of any kind. am. in
deed, truly mortified, that my conduct has
appeared to you in that light and 1 should
NOT DE readily consolcd, ii i did not reject
mat IN condescending to listen, even fur u
moment, to what must have struck YOU AZ
an irreguiarity, as vain and nugatcry in its
purpose as reprchenSible in lis principle,
YOU must at least have given me credit for
so1d intentions, and for a strong desii :, SIN
eereiy felt although enormously obeyed; that
our countries should find themselves in that
relative position which suits the interests *
tends 10 he happiness ofboth.
-"hen ! protested n readiness to make my
proposal IN writing, 1t. was. as you state,
professionally but did not intimate that I
was acting without authority, nor did l COM
pfehend that such was, as ] now know it to
nave been Ipnls II ,ntesCiop The ,>,.nu:;,,I
nature of my oiier arose out of circum-
stances, and was afterwards pressed upon
convection that, If it was meant to adopt the
views ct the President, nothing mere could
DC necessary. j understood you to be desir-
Gus or ascertainipg, whether was empower
ed q disPosed with = view TO Il final ARRANGE
'hcnt, topresei!t, what i had suggested, III
written torn, rs an overture originating viii,
my governments / said of course. that e.
very thing bei::g first niatured, a note should 4
DC presented, but that I would, with your
permission, take a. little time to consider cf
Sie manner and terms. ! did not at that
tiiae Suppose that we were conversing about
Il written PROPOSAL, which was to be made
"fty ~ 1o ie'ecucdS or even tor the purposc,
Oh oe'loeration, and consequently i'll profes-
sing my Willingness to MAXI it as soon as we
were prepared forit, ! presumed that / had
done al that yen had desired. Aid / was
c9inri"ed in this opinion, not only by your
Sayiing nothing, as ] supposed, to the cont "a
Iy,pat "Hsyour requesting me, as ] was about
!" leave tie room, totemploy myself, before
the next interview, upon sucit-a. note as we
had been talking c. and then retracting that
request oy observing, that I. would doubtless
'rSe desire to know what were your ideas
no intentions upon the subject of. it, with
Wi;ch was given to understand ! should be
mace acqatinted at another conferences.
AZ the third interview, after speaking of
n transaction upon the Lakes, of which your
ira ers. complained. asd of another occur
fence 81 fHe,tay Of Passaniaquoddy, YOU obl
served that yoil had thought long and an3i-
lously upon whati had suggested tie You -
that the subject had at first struck YOU as be-
ing much more simple than upon Careful
examination 1t had been fcuil to be that
In the actua! state Of the world, it beloved
oo'i YOU AMI me to move IN this affair with
every possible degrce OF. circumspcction
that without some explicit proposal on nv
ljartiu writing, upon which Inc British go
Eernncti: could deliberate and act, nothing
gould be done aid, finally, that you must
!GaVe me b. conShit-inr OWE discretion who
t.ler would make such a proposal.
1t appeared 70 ne that, il this determine
ti"n Should be persisted in, nay overture vas
hos liAely to be successful, and | urged, ac-
-" N''Gy1 HH( piN!'iiSty OF SciIn on IN a.
course WHICH would lead us 70 a. better issue.
l nat course was. that we should understand
one another us to eur respective views, and
thAt a concise note, which | had in fact pre-
pared since the last meeting, should thcn liz
presented and acted upon. You Informed
me that my wish IN This particular, could not
be accedeh to thar if l presented a note,
YOU must be let at pertect liberty to decide
upon "hat 1t proposed; that you could NOT
SiVe ME even an ittfiration of t.e probab c
con>cduentcs of it ; ard, in a word, that GU
wouid neither invite nor discourage such a
proceeding. YOU added, that there were
some points, belonging to the subject, which
1t would be proper to disc1ss in writing {; one
OF which was the Connection .setween our
Embargo and your Orders Of November.
SUPPOSED to be implied by my proposal. /
feiaar,icd that, with an actual result IN view.
and with a VISA to arrive at that result with
ont delay, it could not oe advisable to entan-
gle ourselves IN Il written CORES ondcncc.
as to its scope and duration, upo,
topics on Which we were not likely to agree:
and chat il were to frame my note, viii, n
knowiedge that it was TO provoke argument.
ibsictd Of leading at this crisis To a s%alutarV
c!lihge IN the state Of the world, YOU must b.
Conscious tiiat too aust argue. And where
YohlG this end 10 what wholesome con-
sequence would it conduct us? At the close
NJ i'm Ey..... Z