Whole Xo. 38.1.
The "Xorth'Ctirolina Free Press"
BV GEORGE HOWARD, '
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DOMESTIC
(QVve copy from the Washing
ton Globe of iha Gib inst. the follow
ing interesting letter from the Presi
dent of the United States, in reply
to the committee of the Republican
members of the New York Legisla
ture, relating to the recent rejection
of Mr. Van Huron.
Washington, Feb. 23, 1832.
Gentlemen: I have had the
honor to receive your letter of
the 9th inst. inclosing the reso
lutions passed "at a meeting of
the republican members of the
State of New York," on the re
jection by the Senate of the li
nked States of the nomination
of Martin Van Burcn, as Minis
ter to England.
1 am profoundly grateful for
the approbation which that dis
tinguished body of my republi
can fellow citizens of New York
have, on that occasion, been
pleased to express of the pass
ed administration of the affairs
placed in my charge by the peo
ple of the United States, and
for their, generous offers of con
tinued confidence and support.
Conscious of the rectitude of
my intentions, my reliance in all
the vicissitude's of my public
life has been upon the virtue
and patriotism of an enlighten
ed people. Their generous
support has been my shield and
my stay, when, in times past:
lite zealous performances of the
arduous military duties allotted
to me, though crowned with
success, was sought to be made
ground of reproach; and this
manifestation on the part of mv
fellow citizens of the great State
of New York, assures me thai
services not less faithful in the
civil administration will not be
less successfully defended.
When such reliance fails the
public servant, public liberty
will be in danger; for if the peo
ple become insensible to indig
nities offered to those, who,
with pure intentions, devote
themselves to the advancement
of the safety and happiness of
the country, public virtue wdl
cease to be respected, and pub
lic trusts will be sought for oth
er rewards than those of pat
riotism. I cannot withhold my entire
concurrence with the republi
can members of the Legislature
in their high estimation of their
eminent fellow citizen, whom
they have so generously come
forward to sustain. To this I
will add the assurance of my
undiminished respect for his
great public and private worth,
and my full confidence in the
integrity of his character.
In calling him to the Depart
ment of State from the exalted
station he then oecunied bv the
' 1
suffrages of the people of his
native State, 1 was not influcn-
TarlorougU, (MSecombe County, JV. fly TeS.4y, 20
ced more by his aeknnwl
talents and public services, than
"J mo general wish and expec
tation of the Republican Party
uirougnout the Union. The
signal ability and success which
distinguished his administration
ot the duties of that Depart
ment, have fully justified the se-
icciion.
I owe it to the late Secretary
ot State, myself, and to the A
menean people, on this occa
sion to stale, that as far as is
known to me, he had no partici
pation whatever in the occur
rences relative to myself and
the second officer of the govern
ment, or in the dissolution of
the late Cabinet; and that there
is no ground for imputing to
lnm the having advised those
removals from office which, in
the discharge of my constitu
tional functions, it was deemed
proper to make. During his
continuance in the Cabinet, his
exertions were directed to pro
duce harmony among its .mem
bers; and he uniformly endea
vored to sustain his colleagues.
His final resignation was a sac
rifice of official station to what
he deemed the best interests of
the country.
Mr. McLane, our then minis
ter at London, having previous
ly asked permission to return, it
was my own anxious desire to
commit the important points re
maining open in our relations
with Great Britain, to a succes
sor in whose peculiar fitness
and capacity I had equal confi
dence: and to my selection,
Mr. Van Burcn yielded a reluc
tant assent. In urging upon
him that sacrifice, I did not
doubt that 1 was doing the best
for the country, and acting in
coincidence with the public
wish; and it certainly could not
have been anticipated that, in
the manner of successfully con
ducting and terminatinrr Jn im
portant and complex negotia
tion, which had previously re
ceived the sanction of "both
Houses of Congress, there
would have been found motives
for embarrassing the Executive
action and for interrupting an
important foreign negotiation.
1 can never be led to doubt.
that, in the instructions under
which that negotiation relative
to the trade with the British
West Indies was conducted and
successfully concluded, the peo
ple of the United States will
lind nothing either derogatory
to the national dignity and hon
or, or improper for such an oc
casion.
Those parts of the instruc
tions which have been used to
justify the rejection of Mr. Van
Burcn s nomination by the Sen
ute of the United States, pro
ceeded from my own sugges
tion: were the result of my own
deliberate investigation and re
flection; and now, as when they
were dictated, appear to me to
be entirely proper and conso
nant to my public duly.
I feel, gentlemen, that I nm
incapable of tarnishingthe pride
or dignity of t hat country, whose
glory, both in the field and. in
the civil administration, it has
been my object to elevate: and
I feci assured that the exalted
attitude which the American
people maintain abroad, and
.1 I 11 . I
i i . . r
the prosperity with which they
are blessed at home, fully attest
that their honor and happiness
have been unsullied in my hands.
A participation in the trade
with the British West India
Manila, upon terms mutually
satisfactory to the United States
arid. Great Britain, had been an
object of constant solicitude
with our government from its
ongin. During the long and
vexatious history of this subject,
various propositions had been
made with but partial-success:
and in the administration of mv
immediate predecessor, more
than one attemnt to adiust it
had ended in a total iutorrup-
hum ui me iraue.
The acknowledged imunr-
tance of this branch of trade,
the influence it was believed to
have had in the elections which
terminated in the chancre of thn
administration, and the general
expectation ou the part of the
people, that renewed eflWts, on
rrank and decisive grounds-,
might be successfully made to
recover it, imposed upon me the
duty of undertaking the task.
Recently, however, Great Bri
tain had more than once decli
ned renewing the negotiation.
and placed her refusal upon ob
jections which she thought pro
per to take to Hie manner of our
previous negotiation, and to
claims which had at various
times been made upon the part
of our government.
Ihc American Government.
notwithstanding, continued its
efforts to obtain a participation
in the trade. It waived the
claims at first insisted upon, as
well as tiic objection to the im
position by Great Britain of
higher duties upon the produce
of the United States, when im
ported into the West Indies,
than upon the produce of her
own possessions, which objec
lion had been taken in 1819 in
a dispatch of the then Secreta
ry of State.
A participation in the trade
with the British West India
Planus could not have been, at . true import of the instruction;
any time, demanded as a right; jlaken as a whole, which I di
any more than in that to the ' rectcd to be given to our minis
British European ports. Inlhciterat London, and which nei
posture of affairs already ad-! ther expressed nor imnlied enn
verted to, therefore, the Execu -
live could ask nothing more!
than to be permitted to engage
in it upon the terms assented to!
by his predecessor, and which
were the same as those prcvi-
ously offered by Great Britain
herselt. bven these had been
denied to the late administm-
lion, and for reasons arising
from the views entertained by
the British Government of ourjsisted upon terms which it had
conduct in the past negotiations.
It was foreseen that this re
fusal might be repeated, and on
the same grounds. When it
became the duty of the Execu
tive, rather than disappoint the
expectations of the people, and
vy holly abandon the trade, to
continue the application, it was
proper to meet the objection to
the past acts ot the American
m (
administration, which objection,
i ii r
as had been foreseen, was ac
tually made, and for some time
insisted upon.
It is undoubtedly the duly of
all to sustain, by an undivided
and patriotic front, the action of
the constituted authorities to
wards foreign nations; and this
duty requires, that during the
continuance of an administra
tion in offico, nothing should be
1833.
done to embarrass the Execu
live intercourse in its foreign
policy, unless upon a conviction
that it is erroneous. A tho
rough change in the adminis
tration, however, raises up oth
er authorities of equal dignity,
and equally entitled to respect:
and an open adoption of a dif
ferent course implies no sepa
ration of the different parts of
the government; nor does an
admission of the inexpediency
or impracticability of previous
demands imply any want of re
spect for tiiose who may have
mumiaincfi tliem.
To defend the claims or pre
tensions, as they had been in
discriminately called, on pithpr
side, in the previous correspon
dence, which had been for a
time urged by the late adminis
tration, would have been to de
fend what that administration,
by waiving them, had admitted
to be untenable; and if that
which had been by them conce
ded to be inexpedient, could
not be sustained as proper, 1
perceive nothing derogatory,
and surely nothing wrong, in
conducting the negotiation up
on the common and established
principle, that in a change of
administration there may be a
corresponding change in the
policy and counsels of the gov
ernment. This principle ex
ists, and is acted upon, in the
diplomatic arid public transac
tions of all nations. The fact
of its existence in the recent
change of the administration of
the American government, was
as notorious as the circulation
of the American press could
make it; and while its influence
tion the policy of foreiirn na
tions was both natural and rea
sonable, it was proper, accord
ing to my sense of duty, frank-
ly to avow it, if the interests of
the people of the United States
should so require.
Such was the motive, and
'such and nothing more, is the
! deinnation of the government of
the United Slates, nor of the
late administration, further than
had been implied by their own
acts and admissions,
I could not reconcile it to my
sense of public duty; or of na-
tional dignity, that the United
States should suffer continued
injury or injustice, because, a
former administration had in
subsequently waived, or had
failed seasonably to accept an
offer which it had afterwards
been willing to embrace. The
conduct of previous administra
tions was not to be discussed
cither for censure or defence;
and only in case "the omission
of this government to accept of
the terms proposed when here
tofore oilered," should "be urg-
' - d
cd as an objection now," it 'was
I .1 i . i .
made the duty of the minister
"to make the British govern
ment sensible of the injustice
and inexpediency of such a
course.
Both the right and the pro
priety of setting up the past acts
of previous administrations to
justify the exclusion of the Uni
ted Slates from a trade allowed
to all other nations?, was distinct
ly. VIII No Si.
ly denied; and the instructions
authorized the minister to state
that such a course towards the
United States "under existing
circumstances, would be unjust
in itself, and could not fail to
excite the deepest sensibility
the tone of feeling which a
course so unwise and untenable
is calculated to produce, would
doubtless be greatly aggravated
by the consciousness that Great
Britain has, by orders in coun
cil, opened her colonial ports to
Russia and France, notwith
standing a similar omission ou
their part to accept the terms
offered by the act of the 5th Ju
ly, 1825;" he was told that
"he could not press this view of
the subject too earnestly upon
the consideration of the British
ministry;" and the prejudicial
influence of a course on the
part of the British government
so unwise and unjust upon the
luiure relations ol the two coun
tries, was clearly announced "m
the declaration that "it has bear
ings and relations that reach
beyond the immediate question
under discussion."
If the British government
should decline an arrangement
"o;i the ground of a change nf
opinion, or in order to promote
her own interests," a prompt
avowal of that purpose was de
manded; but it they should not
be prepared to take that around.
"but suffer themselves to desire
that the United States should,
in expiation of supposed past
encroachments, be driven to
the necessity of retracing their
legislative steps without know
lego of its effect, and wholly de
pendent upon the indulgence of
Great Brirain," they were to be
made sensible of the impracti
cability of that course, and to
be taught to expect such mea
sures on our part as would- vin
dicate our national interest and
honor. To announce distinct
ly to Great Britain that we)
would not submit to a continu
ed injustice, on the ground of
any objection to the past con
duct of the American govern
ment, whether-it were right or
wrong; was the obvious import
of the whole instructions.
If the Executive had caused
it to be stated to Great Britain,
that finding his predecessors to
have been in error, as was im
plied by subsequently waiving
the terms they had advocated,
and had, in expiation of thoso
errors, abandoned the trade to
the pleasure of the British gov
ernment, the interests of the li
nked States would have suffer
ed, and their honor been re
proached; but in excluding such
considerations, as inappropriate
and unjust, and in clearly avow
ing his purpose not to submit to
such treatment, he hoped to
promote the interests of his fel
low citizens, and sustain the
honor & dignity of his country.
In all this, gentlemen, I have
the approbation of my judgment
and conscience. Acting upon
the principle, early announced,
of asking nothing but what is
right, and submitting to nothing
that is wrong, I ask that only
of which the justice could not
be denied. I ask a participa
tion in the trade, upon terms
just to the United States, and
mutually advantageous to both
countries. I directed a simple
(continued on the last page,)