The Delaware gazette. [volume] (Wilmington [Del.]) 1809-1810, 1809-12-06

respondencc, and particularly to dsnatch adj (
dressed Oh the goth Of April to his mai-stv's !
secretary of state for foreign affairs find that
he there states: that he had submitted 10 your
Consideration, the three conditions speciGcd in
those instructions, the ground work of an |
arrangement which, according to information
received from this country, it was thought in !
England might be made, with prospect OIL
great mutual advantage. Mr.. Erskine then re- |
ports uefbahm ct sericiim saur observations |
upon each OF the three conditions, and the rca-
sons which induced you TO think that Others
might he substituted in lien ofthem. I. nayhayc
been concluded between you that these latter
were an equivalent for the original conditions
but the very act ofsubsttulion evidently shews
that those original conditions were, in fact, We
fyexphcitly communicated to you, and BY YOU of
course lad before the president Tor his consi,l-
Grafton. need hardly add, Chat the difference
between these conditions and those contained
IN the arrangement oFthe sth and 10Th April,
is sufficiently obvious 10 require no eucdation
nor need draw the conclusion, which con-
slider as admitted by all absence Of COMPLAINT
| on the part of the American government. viz
that under such circumstances, his majesty
had an undoubted and incontrovertible ririht 10
dlsavow the act of his minister. ! must here
allude to supposition, which you have more
| than once mentioned to me, and by which. If
| it had any the slightest foundation, this right
night perhaps have been in some degree af
tected. You have informed me thar you I'M
derstood that Mr.. Erskine had two sets of in
struclions, by which to regulate his conduct
| and that upon one of them, which had not been
communicated either to you or 10 the public,
was to be rested the justification Of the terms
1nal.y agreed upon between you and him
1t IS my duty, sir, solenn!y to declare to you
and, through you, to the president, that the
dispatch from Mr.. Canning to Mr.. Erskine,
winch you have made the basis of an official
correspondence with the latter minister, and
which was read by the former to the American
| minister IN London, IS the only dispatch, by
which the conditions were prescribed to Mr.
Ersk'ne tor the conclusion Of an arrangement
with this country on the matter to which it re-
iates.
To return to the immediate subject OF your
letter. If, sir, it be your intention to state, that
no explanation whatever has been given to the
American government of the reasons which
riducet! his majesty 10 dsavow the ast of my
predecessor, must. in that case, observe. that
lnthe instructions CONVEYING to him his majestys
intention, thoSe reasons we're very fully S forci-
bly, stated & ii he has not transmitted them to
you, can only attribute il TO the peculiar deli
cacy and embarrassment Of his situation, for
which he probably trusted to the presidents
goodness to MIKE some allowance and he
might the more reasonably be led to that rel-
ahce on Il, asa iull and ample communication
was also mslc upon the subject by his maicsty's
secretary of State for foreign affairs to Mr..
Pjnkncy. to whom the whole Of Mr.. Erskine's
ougl,Al instruction was read, and who, it was
| natural to suppose, would convey TO his gov
erament SO much Information upon a very mo-
nlentous occasion, as would relieve Mr.. Frs
! kline from the necessity of entering into min.
| ute details of the misunderstanding that had
occurred. At all events, no complaint can be
substantia'ed against his maesty's government
on this score, seeing that they not only instruc-
ted the minister who had made the disavowel
arrangement as to the motives which OCCASION
ed the d:savowal, but also with frankncss,
| prompttude, and most scrupuous regard to
national honor, gave notice to the American
minister in London of the dsavowal, of the
motives Of it. and of the precautions sponta-
neously taken by his majesty to prevent any
loss or iajury accrung to the citizens of the
! United States from reliance on any agreement
| however unauthorized, made in his majesty's
| name. The mere allus sion 10 this latter cir
| SuiINeaiiSS NloPCuSCo HiC nom ldItOeT UOtiCEg
! the effects which you describe as being produ-
ced upon the United States by the circumstan-
ces OF this agreement How far they are ir-
| revocable it is not for me to dctermine--but
| the word irrehara6Ae seems TO imply that loss
had been sustained on the occasion by the pub
lie or Ey individuals Of this country. SO far as
his majesty could be by possibility supposed
answerable for such an eventual loss, he has,
as | have before stated, taken the utmost pre-
| caution TO avert it.
AS to the expectation entertained here, that
the explanation of his majrsty's share in this
transaction should be made through me,
might content myself with simply observing,
! chat was not provided with instructions to
/! that effect, because it was known that the cx-
| PLANTATION in question had already been given.
| But If accortls With tue sentiments of his ma
iesty towards this country to observe also, that
he considered, that as some time must necessa-
rly eapse between my appointment and my