The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1810-01-24


by m arrangement so sclaIiy nlsde ,a.e eCrDi Isll
bya Substitution Of olher propositions -
!. .Ertracf from ldr. Jacksen's Letter Of oen5er'
y llh, 1909. -
You state, sir, very truly, that an Arrangement had
been made between yoss and Mr. Eiskinc, and that
Ills Majesty had thoughts proper to disAyow the ar
rangemrnt.
have, here in he outset, to regret the loss Of the
advantages Of BAL intercourse with you, asl should
have svailcd nysef Of il TO enquire whether ny your
statement, IL where your intention complain of tie
disavowa itself, ora total OF explanation of
il, or Of the circumstance OF that explanation not
having been made through me. ] observe that in
the records Of this mission there is no trace of
compliant, the part Of the United States, of his
Ms:esty having disavowed the act Of his Minister.
You have not in the conferences we. have hitherto
held distinctly announced any such complaint, apd
have seen, with pleasure, in tis sforbearancc, your
part, instance Of that candour, which doubt not
will prevail in all communications, III much
you could rot but have thought it unreasonable 20
complain If the disxvowal ot act, done Under
such circumstances, coud eny lead 70 the conse-
qicrces that have actually followed.
II was not known when left England, whether
Mr.. Erskine had, according 10 the liberty allowed
him, communicated 20 yea IN srfesso rs original in.
stiuctions. II nov appears he lid Bia, in
ve,fng 10 ss .fr ~rresbondrnce and particularly TO
despofch addressed the 20N If .trit 10 His y,a-
jestys Secreia'ye Of Ne f,r Foreign fairs, find that
he there aafes. h0f he hd submitted TO cons'aera-
on ne three conditions scecife, ip those instrzcons,
as the ground ,vork Of arrmssmen. which accord
ing 70 information resolved from hs country, a.
Moueft England might Ge nsade, siM brosDecf u
greet mutual aduanfose. Mr.. Erskfne nen reborts
verbatim ef s9afi~ ynlp obscrpafons nbon each ef the
three conditions, and the phich sndxced yor 10
think that others migbt be sudyafraed ~, Gsn " hem
II may have been concluded between YOU that these
latter equivalent for the original condt ions
6uf the rety ACT Of substitution sride'1y she'Os Maf
Mose original conditions srere ia fact, uey explicitly
communicated TO you, and By you Of laid beare
the prsadent for his confederation. need hardly
add, that the difference between these conditions and
those contained in the arrangement OF the 18Th and
18th April Is sufficiently obvious to require no eluc-
dation ; nor need draw the conclusion. which
consider admitted BIZ all absence Of complaint tie
part Of the american gorer"et. viz that under such
circumstances, His Majesty had sn uIldSabted aud
ncontrovertible right to disavow the act of his
Minister. I must here aiude to suppositioe
which you have moro than once mentioned to me,
and by which, il il had any the slightest foundation
this right light perhaps in some degree have been
affected. You have informed me tl,st YOU under
stood that Mr. Erskine had two Of Instructions,
BY which to regulate his conduct and that upon
one Of them, which had not been communicated
either to you to thepublck, to be rested the
justification of the terms finally agreed upon between
you and him II is nj auty, sir soicinpy declare
TO you, and through YOU, To the President that the
despatch from Mr.. Canning TO MI Ersknc, which
drnce with the latter Minister and which was read
By the former To the American Minister in London
is the only despatch, Oy which the conditions we're
prescribed to Mr. Erskine for the conclusion of an
arrangement with tins country the matter TO
which it relates.
II must have cost the scnsibility Of our gov
crnment severe struggle 10 brook the inso-
Ience of Jackson's letter. Patriotism, how
ever, trilinphed over personal feeling, and
their rescntmcnts were sacrificed 70 the pub.
lick good. There was hope, though a faint
one, that the minister might be reclaimed to
decency, ind the negotiations be conducted to
some valuable end. This chance our excel
lcAt President was unwilling should be lost
TO his country. Accordingly our government
took the mild course of reasoning the Case
with him--of correcting his errour, by shcw-
ing he had been mistaken AS TO the iacts--as-
suring him solemnly that they did not know
that the conditions contained in the Despatch
of January, were the only conditions on which
Erskine was authorized to make AN arr.age-
ment. and that, If they had known that cir
cumstance, they would not have made any ar
rangemcnt. That they had the strongest
reaspns, that could be derived from the most
solemn and repeated assurances of Mr.. Ers-
kline hinsAlf at the time, for believing that
he had other instructions, and that he was
fully warranted by them in making the ar
rangement, and that it would be performed
on the part of England. That they had re-
,ceived no information Of that, till il was. given
by Mr.. Jackson himself, that Mr.. Erskine had
no other instructions. That they had waited
to be apprizcd OF the grounds Of the disavow-
al before they preferred complaint in form;
and reminded him, that in theireonfcrcnces
they AID intimated repeatedly that the dsa-
vowal was matter of complaint. This repre-
.sentstinn is made by Mr.. Smith, in his letter
of the 10th Oct. This mild course k.sd' DOT
the expected and desired effect. Ii did not
induce Jackson to soften the offensive ground
he had before taken. He even pretends to
derive from this letter of Smith informa-
,iop 6f that vround He SAYS in his answer