Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-07-09
RICHMOND, July .. 1924
To the Editors efthe Enquirer.
MR.. J. @. ADAMS AND Ills DIPLOMACY

10 the Editors IF the Enquirer.
MR.. J. @. ADAMS AND Ills DIPLOMACY
No..
As TO MIR. AS recent diplomacy with G. Rri
tain, cannet view it as either wise or iudci
Gus. tie has esinced an ignorance of IN. ac-
tuai s'tua''hn OF u. b. very unworthy his .x-
Perience anu, clearly proving TO me, that he
is better Rhetorician Than = dinInn.,.
/" Never" said Mr.. Jay in 1894, in a I.rer to
the illustrious Washington, "did G. B. feel
herself greater than at present" The same
sentence vii apply to her no,O more forcib.y
tnan then. And, as to the Minister managing
her foreign affairs, would observe that great
degree oil caution should have been exercised.
NO ACT ever astonished more completely tbs
thinking politician, than this said Convention.
The whole nation was su much opposed 10 any
concession OF the right of search we had suf.
tered 40 much by its assumption ON former oc
caslons, and The consequent impr.ssmept of
our native and naturalized American seamen,
mat IT must have required no little fortilude
III nir. Adams 10 pen his new letter of instruc-
lions. lie must have experienced still greater
diheuIiy upon the OCCASION, because he had
in fact to forget his own pro(essed doctrines
upon the subJect-and TO abandon, if not re-
s'st, his own triumphant arguments in his let
Ter 10 Mr.. .. tanning, written too on the very
same day that he Penned these Instructions to
Mr.. Rush, giving up the right of search under
The new cioke, II must be confessed, of piracu
MIR. Adams jnsifies This departure, 1t is
said, by pleading the Resolution of the H. of
*. as his apology. They instructed the Ex-
ecutlve, lie commended, 10 attempt to prevail
upon other nations 10 declare the Slave Trade
piracy, and, therefore, he would have vs think,
I" permit them TO search our vessels. But no
such thing The resolution has no such mean
nc mi On inf. did
~ few members of Congress who voted for IT,
l have the strongest authority for making this
declaration. But in the Cd place, how could
Nr. a. have extracted this meaning from
the Resolution We ourselves had passed
tdto, making the slave-lrade piracy. Did
We then mean by that law, to authorize IT,
u. to search o,.r ships for such class of p,-
rates. No-Mr. A. would have been the frat
To take UP arms against such 4 construction.
Why then WAS the Resolution interpreted in a
wider sense Why too did IL not mean sim
ply, that other nations were 10 be prrvailt
upon 10 treat their O1on sIave-trsders as pirates
and only 10 search their otcn resseis for them :?
The Convention too, as It was laid before
the Senate, gave . greater weep than the Sc
nate could reconcile to ,hemsel, es. Ii permitted
British essels TO cruHe tie coasts Of Africa
OF .fmer,ca, faye, our o,cn eoGsis) and Of the
'ttst Lndies"-and 10 exercise there The right
of search - when the British government had
proposed TO the Holy Allies at AK Ia Cha
peilr, aud MIR. 5. Canning had repeated i, in bis
letter 10 Mr.. Adams OF 9th April, lG2S, 10
| confine II 10 the cOnst Of africa!
We were told by way Of reconciling VS. to
| Inns Convention, that our own citizens were
| 10 be- Tried In our own courts. What citi-
zsns Are our nafuralized ci,zens to be
brought here Ii u. b. goes to war with
France, Tor Instance, and she wants seamen.
VIII she let her nuiiue-born subjects pass as
| our citizrDs and be tried here or will she car
ry them home AS the Convention stood.
before the Senate curisiled il, such might be
the question growing up under The clause
when gave to each party the right to take out
VI any vessel not carrying the Gag Ofthe other
party her own seamen-Or, in the words of
me Convention, the sranlan should be sent
for trial before tue competent court in the
cou"try.to chith he belongs"
| vi a!i persons too, Mir. g. Canning is the
| last ~ whom We should have given up the
right OF search, (uDder aoy name or pretext
Whatsosver)-and the first who would hav p
made the attempt TO worm US out of it. He
who has 50 often disputed our neutral rights.
| twItted US about this very question of search
and inipressment lit Is indeed a plume i'm hi.
cap.
MIR. Cummings talents are OF the first order :
bred Ap III the school and under the irnme-
date eye "oi," 10 use Mr.. RandOlph's words,
a iisn oi rs sreai genius AS tins, perhaps
any age has produced--a man remarkable
:" for the depth OF his reflections and the acu.
men Of his penetration" Mr.. Adams with
| all ms oratOIy, with all his book learning and
all his Rhetoric, should have been Cautious.
how be conducted his affairs with him.
He should have recoilecied the peculiar sill
uatIoD OF MS own country, and how important
II was, she should be preserved Independent Of
eutaDgiIog alliances. There was one thing h.,
should nave avoided, the ninging tile inpor-
tao, question Of ihe righi OF Search. II was
a Right which cooid Dot he conceded by AN
Inferior a'al power; nor, lin my humble
opInion) viii II ever he yielded by one who IS
superior, no matter IN what soil the fac floats
OF that superior power. This fact, history H.
Iustratsd by wars upon wars, and, especially.
tina, winch has made this countrv to h..
cour,et, quoted and feared" loudly declares,
All this vas passed over by Mr.. A and thus
do we find biru stating the circumstances
they i'be prsPositiOns.)
" Had been resisted ny the Executive on two
grounds one, that ;he constitution of a,ix ed
was incompatible with their constitution and lie
o'be', that The concession OF the rgb, Of sratcb 4,
'iois oi peace, for offence piIat,cai w,ui he
reppgna1t 10 the feelings Of the na,oo and Of ,nger
o9s tendency. The right Of search is The rg, of war
time " peoce, 10 any object rhaterer, might esfrbi M
precedent ohic, might lead 10 others ,cif sos poo,,s
"hu which, even ~ conhpsJ 10 iie instance specified
Dgh. lie subject 10 great ahuse'
Now, take II Tor granted, that search for a
pIJaticai otienceis al0wed-I also take il for
granted, that so clearly marked was the char
oeter OF this trade, SO decidedly peculiar. the
means by which II was carried on and So do.
termlned IFS channel, that it WAS mex, to i'm
possible an error could he made by ships OF