Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-01-09


docs Mr.. Jackson alledge in this or any
other letter, that when Mr.. Erskine gave in
the three conditions" he intimsted that ne
was not authorised to treat on other terms,
or that our government 90 knew | can
perceive nothing Of this. Indeed Il would
have been much more f,air Tor the executive
70 have drawn q contrary admission from
this ssa,enee.. For if the "three conditions"
were distinctly knows. and the British mi
mister would consent, 90 hs,did consent, to
adopt terms which did not eomport with
them, The fair Inference b thath museiIxye
lid our government 70 believe that his ia.
.s,ruetions had " two ormore grades Of pro.
positions" Why then did the executive
persist 10 the notion that the mere recital
Of things known to be true bore with i an
insinuasion of another Tact which Is nos
true. 's''
Permit me now, sir, to read that part of
Mr.. Jackson's letter which is in. answer to
the insinua.ion of double instructions.
"Nothins can be more notorious than
the frequency with which, in the course of "A
complicated negotiation, ministers are fur
nished with = graduation of conditions, on
which they may be successfully authorised
to conclude. So common is the case which
you pu. alphabetically, that in aecedins to
the justice OF your statement, l feel impeiled
to make only one observation upon it, Which
is, that it docs net strike me a. bearing up.
on the consideration of the unauthorized ar
rangement concluded here, inasmuch as in
point of cct Mr.. Erskine had no such gra-
duated instruction. You are already ac-
quain.ed with thatwkich was given, and I
have had the henor>of informing you, that
it was the only one by which the conditions
on which he was toe onclude were p7escrib.
ed. So far from the terms, which he was
actually induced 20 accept, having been
contemplated by ADMINISTRATION he hin. self
states that they were substituted by you IN
lieu Of those originally proposed"
Here Mr.. Jackson meets DEMONSTRATION,
not by talking of the respect clue to mis- 60
vernment, hat by an open and unequivocal
denial. Mr.. Erkins had no such gra-
duated Instructions" You, SIR, he says to
Mr.. Smith, have never seen tho despatch
of the esd Of January, and altho' you might
have been induced to think that Mr.. Frs
kline had father powers, have informed
you, and again repeat that itis not Co.,
Does not this renewed asseveration afford
a strong ground for belief that Mr.. Jackson
never had in mind the insinuation with
which he is charged. One word, sir, a. to
what is said respecting the substitution. In
this as we'll as the former letter, it appears
10 me that the remark that Mr.. Evskine had
stated that the terms finally agreed on were
substituted in lieu Of those originally pro.
posed, lis made for the very obvious purpose
Of showing that in Mr.. Erskine's own con.
ception tn: agreemen, did not cempors with
the three conditions"
in the course Of the correspondence the
mex. letter is that Of Mr.. Smith of the 1st
of Nov. from which will read few pas.
sages. In answer to the explanation, he
-" Altho' the delay and apparent re.
luctauce in specifying the grounds of the
disavowsl OF the arrangement with respect
to the orders in council do not correspond
with the course Of proceeding deemed most
becoming the occasion, yet as the explana-
ton has at length been thus made, it only
remains as to that part Of, disavowed ar
rangement to -egrrt that such considera.
,ions should have been allowed to outweigh
the ssNid objections to the disavowal."
While the disavowal was matter of dis
cussioa, it might he proper to. canvass the
reasons on which it was attempted to he
Justified. But after the explanation had
been given and recognized BY our govern
mens, it was not strictly necessary to init.
mate as is here done, that the British mi
nisssr had behaved unbeeomingly in delay.
ing that explanation, or in evinciug re-
luetaucs to give it at all. Besides, sir, as
the 6rst letter of Mr. Smith 10 dated the
9th of October, aud the letter of Mr..
Jnckson is of the Esd of the same month,
there was really no great delay, and a. to
any reluctance. I find in Mr.. Jackson's first
letter of the 18th Of October. the same
causes assigned for the disavows! a. in that