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tBiit BOILS, f M illi)
PUBLISHED (wikklt) BY ALLMAffD JMLLu-TUESDAY, OCTOSEH 39, ISO.
u e. aro. -403.
t i 11 n vm- (w ii i ffi r ii v li ivi r i;r :?. m m
; - I T PUBLISHED (wikklt) BY ALLUAffD JMLLwTUESDAY, OCTOBER .$
I
cw aurora:
. ' SPANISH AGGRESSIONS.
; fit Ul.
Since the two preceding numbers were.
written, a tries of- article, purporting
to fee letters from Spain, have appeared
in the Philadelphia Garette fome of
wliich merit particular attention. I "
' The letters are declared to be from
' cbara3ers of tbe firft repealtluyH
we have not the lealt doubt- of this raft,
and thev are faid to have been received byf
ao intelligent cbara&er here Which is (til
more certain I We coukl wi& that thcj
had fallen into the handaof. a editor ei
tber intelligent himfelf ol capable of difl
ccrning wnat was due to e. hoqor and. tn
terelts of his own country or who, p(f
feued a knowteJg of ih fubte-to beal
paMtj Tuf forming 'aa-'opfhidh itpon it,
The opi n ion of t hef Phi fade! p.bia Ga7 et t e
here is certainlr of n more imhortance'.
than the chirping of thetocuft, but when
U is well known that foreign governments
have taken pains to obtain and make ufe
of the opinions of certain American indi
viduals for the purpole'of defying or de- ,
nying ths juft claims of American citi
zens nude by the American government ;
we fliould not be at all furprifcdtq hear
of the equally ioconfiftent aiid imbecile
opinions ot a mercenary Gazetteer, being
employed for the fame purpofes as the
opinions of mercenary lawyers. !
We have not the feaft doubt that the,
rMadrid letter ot the I2h July, comes di
. reclly from an ofjicia fource j and in this?
view we haU'offeri' lew ' remark g 'upr
on it. ,; . '"
It now appears, 'notwith'flancKng all
the previous exultations of Major Jck
fon and other wife accreditor! thaiSaain
docs not difpute our title k Lonituna
properly fMedT and that all the ex
ultations, on rfle . WjUrious confequences
rcfulting from the pvirchfe are reduced to
afimple difpute about boundaries I
Thai fome rtegodation Would I ncceHarily
. arife, and fome indifference of' opinion
follow, upon the final fettlcmcni of boun.
4ici wnicn nave never yet oeen ictiica
We'te Incidents that mieht naturally Ihave
been expelled i and it was "as natural o ,
ic-iupiic in inc ncociauon opaiti
would emp'oy all the means ufually re
fortedto by European diplomat ills to pro
cure for iifelf as good terms as polflbie.
But it was not, therefore, a neceflary
confequence that a war IhouM be the ef
(cL otthis negociaiion and it will fcarce.
' ly be fuppofed that the menace of war,
would be the mo'.i likely method ol ot.
taing from uS' the bed tcrmi for Spain
Whatever therefore has been (aid in the
papers in the nature of menace,. we con..
elude to be mere brulam lumen, and that
the whole will be amicably Icttlcd by ih:
more pacific' TyflcnT of r.egociation we
hr.d in the letter from Madn t, that Spn
is difpofed to do ihii for a fair eouivu.
lent.
. What then are the rlyU$ upon which
negCatlop will principally hinge I They
apear to be founded in the tollowiog
ptopofitiop
1. The Elland Well Florida were orl.
ginally reded by France to England in.'
iTrwhoratthrfrmrii.nr-ceded to
Spain the III md of New.Oreans, ani
the territory WtR of lUMilfiflippl. - ;
2. Thit in 1780, Spain conquered thi
connuy eaft ol the Mifljflicpi, then d
tided into E. and W. Florida!, which
co'qu?(li were confirmed by the peace
That V ft Florida forced no part of
LoiJ.G,n' al orl&i:a,,7 ceJci b; France
Thfe,prlp:on,rwi,, U. I0 P"
harttoc'nt.io the ITcnce of the difpute,
fjlit as it concern! fcrriiury j but ,t
flioulJ be kept it Uw that Spal"
,t...,iM. ,U:e are f'htr f-bjefls, tjon
. ihVh bp.U ha. o ft, j.ft m-' re
tilbuiioitotU Untied States; ndj s
xry apparent that Iheiffumet a mote r
rogsnt tone upon thtfe polbii,
caufe odr govetnmtPt has in tht P0" !
clfive nanner, demanded faiUfaclion ot
the infult and injury done uf, by ht
SpioKh inteiwHnt at Ncw.uneani, vi
by the piltsge of our vrffel at fei.
Spain in tacl appears to wllh for a p.
renl compromlfs of diffrfences, to obtao
an ob'ivion of Injuries, and to make that
oblivion ike price of a feulementof boui
datici but in tbe cmirfe (he aot futi, lie
.defeiis bcrown purpofe either herm
eiflers are mifiMortoed or ety taudt
niiVske h , charter of our goverr-aeot-f
oa what we kww we arc raihtr
ifpofed to think them miftaken. Let us
tow examine the principles laid down
in fupport of 1 he pretentions dr Spato, as
exprefseil in the Madrid letter. 1' 1
The jirft propolition fets out with : fta
ting in a manner and in words incorrect,
what is not infaA true. It dates, that
' Eaft arid Wett Florida were originally
. ced'M by France to England." This is
incorreii in terms, becaufc there was no
divifion of the terriibrv into Eaftand Wcft
yntil after the Englilh took poHeflion of
Florida in 1763. Tbe treaty bears date,,
te toth of February, 1763, and the Bri.
j tiji king's proriamaiion is of date the 7th
October, of that year, the 7th. and 24th
'. articles contain all that relates to this
' fubiedl therein.'
s ttl. Vll. In otderweftablifli peace
.n fiVid i0J dirable foundations," and to1
feojiVe forever all fubjeft oJdfTpufe with?
regari to the, limits' of the ,Briti(h and
French territories on tHe continent of A
merfca, it Is agreed, that for the future,
the confines between the dominions of
his Britannic Majelty and thofe irf his molt
Chriilian Majeftyj in that part of the
world (hall be fixed irrevocably by a line
drawn along the middle of the river Mil
iitfippi, from its 4ouTce to the river Iber.
viHc, and from thence by a line drawn a.
long the middle of this river and the lakei
Maurepas and Ponohartrain to the feas,
and for. this purpofe ;tbe moft Chiitait
Kini cedes in toll right anifguarari'tes to
his Britannic Majefty the tiver and port of
Monne, ana tvtrf icing tudicd pi fojjrjjtt
tr.jngbt to pificft on'the lett tUe(esll iiJe)
of' the 'MHfiflippirexcept-ihl fown-e
New- Orleans and the inland cn which it -is
fttaated, which (hall remain to France,
'k$. XXI V. ' Great-Britain (hall, . at
the end of thrje months after the exchange
of. ratifications enter inu poffefljon of the
river arid portof Ml-il, ami of all that'
it to form 'he Uoiits of the territory of
GreatfBritain on the (E(t) fide oft
the Milfiffippi asfpecificd in the 7th ar
ticl-"
Tbee vreprefume, ate iliefourrfation
of,4he-?flerkn that EalUnd Weft Flori
da were .ofignally cerHd .by France to
England, Hb fmi time ctdtd to
opatn - New Orieans -ind - the -territory -weft
of the Vilfiflippi which Spain has
alledged to Uve held ever .fmce without
any alteraiiai of boundarie wbatfoevcr.
'Njw thif is altogether either wilfuUy
mifrepreftited or pil;ably mifta'ien.-.
Thfi country licre fpecificd as cedel to
Spiin b Fr?nce in virtue of a ftcret
cnven.ton dated the 3I of November,
i;5 j, vrrich preceded-wiiat is called the
or'tinal tfffiin.
Ne'hcr in it a tak that the country nvr ;
11 ip.a ' i tJ .1 t?i : 1 : i if
aiieccaii anu vveu rioriua, v as neije
'er fnce and without alteration of boun
Jaries by Spain ; tor it Is well known
that during our revolution, the Britiih
100I po He (lion of Florida and f far Irom
its remaining without boundary, theBri
tift did nrtuaily divi(4 the country into
two provincts, , which they called E and
W: Florida. -
But it maybe proner in ihis place .to
advert to the original rendition U narnes
f thofe countrie. The whole o( the
-territory fouth vf-Virini was fir (V til id
riotida,and it wswi;h a virw to itscn
qnelt that Soto let out from Cuba, In the
viyage wherein he cilvcvcrcd ihe Miilis
fi?pi. "The Plantations of Cato'ir.a and
ol South-Csrolina and fuhf.qucmty of
Gwrgia, took from the couutiics thereto
foe called Florida.
The fucctfs of the Briiifh plantations,
cm l lie difputes which atofe between
thrf fuuthern neighbour!, and the dif.
puts which arofe tipon the feas bctwren
t fx two nations produced a vatiViy nf tie.
gc'aiions. Thofe which took place in
138, arofe from the Spaniards infidirt?
cnne tiRnt 01 " VMiting, learcnmg- jjru
ifh veflili, and the counter complaint of
Dritain. that Spain was encroaching upon
Britiih boundaries, In concntion conclu
ded at Pa rdo, on the 14th ol January,
1739, wherein It was ftipulated 14 that
commiilioneri fhould be srpolr.ted 10 re-
fgulate ihe pretentions 01 me two powers
fn relation to th4imiti of Floiida and
Varoitns.
It appears that Coromirtiorers were
appointed, and lhat they determined the
limits of Florida, to be a line drawn I com
Fort St. George on tbe mouth of the rr
ver San MaitUeo, due e(l to the mouth
'of the river VaCIa, In tlx bay of Apata.
'ihee. We have before Di the convention
tf ParcJo, eodihe snap with the boun.
ary Ime'thui tiawr) pubUflicd io the
Y 4
The citct S. Martheo, is row called i
St. John's river and is ia latitude 30, 35 ;
COrtb. S. ': '
TM bouadiffy.it will appear wis a fa- i
crifice ori the pari of QreatiSrifat,n,vhtcii
plainly Ihew? that hehooght itjieceirary i
10 make foinc reparation to Spa'fi ; .lor j
'the Carolinians had by' two- efj defpe
rSte batdes ir" 1702 and 1703 hi which the
.Spaniards were overcome, Obtained ptf.
feflion of the country of the Apalactvees,
.and had extended their conqueft " to the
,,M..M.mits of the Carolina charter, by the
deftrudion , of the Timoogua Indians,
and the Spaniard who had joined hem
in 1700" ' f '' " v
ThtCarolIaa cbarterxtende.l the boua
dary fo rheapth degree of north latitude
and heTe'fewrai viclories of the dfoli
.nif Iwd fecuVed ?bai by charter ' they
. had been granted Qreat-Brhain fn " gran ...,'
ing tr Spain by the operatitm of the conl ',
ventioti of Pardo territory, which he hold
to the extent of aJegree of latitude ce- :
,3ed towards SpainTo far liberally. &ut
what is i-nporiant to'iheVprcfent 'queftiou
is', that lie line fettled by the convention '
at Pa rdo, lira rt j Florida fnnply. to tha
Peninfnla, and does not extendt'even ;as
far as the St. Marks or to the Apalachi
cola rive.
From ihence .forward to 173!, when
the Chart'tr for Georgia was palled, .the
whole.of lhat country I'rom the Currituck
Inlet the foul h boundiry of. Virginia, ro
Cape' C are vefal-, in Ltiiudc 28, 54, was
called Caiolina ; and after- Georgia hid
been eftab idled, iItc cou ntry nwth of the
- riwr :St -obu,-and as fur as Savannah on
the fea coilt was called Vieorgia, well
s the interior to ihe river Abama, and
all thecountries of ihe Cre,k$ ihence
beyond cilled and claimed by the French
as Louifisna up to the Alle-hany moon,
tains.
It appears then that ihe Madrid leter
is not incorrect in its 'roifitioft, that Ea(t
and We(l Florida was originally ceded i
ty francf to England in 1783.
I. Bccaufe neither the treaty of I7j and
the convention of Pardoof 1739 even
mention any fuch ru-bdivifions
f Becaufc as it appears by the tals, the
wimle of Florida after the convention
of Pr;lo, . wajoccC4riljt linjiicd io
the Peninsula, part of what is now cal
led Eall Floiida.
3. Becaufeas is evident from this conven
tior., that even the occupation of lhat
part of what is now called Eall Flori
da which lies north of the 301b rfeg.
35 a.in.'was an ufurpation und con-
, travention of the pic-cxifting conven
thrn, which ought not to be brought up
evennf it would beofufein fupport of
a claim to a (till more exttnfivc inno
vation. " .
4 It is not a correct pofitton to aflctf,
that any part cf Flotida was original:
ly ceded by France to England becaufe
the original ccflion was made by France
to Spain in 1762 .
5. Bccaufe the divifion into two pro,
vioces wsi made by the Britiih after
th treaty4of 1673, their intention be
irlg to extend their frontier along the
Mifliflippi, and to combine their po
litical and commercial operations
from-Canada oy- the-LAes with-tbe
Milfillippi.
Frtm the Political RtgiJItr,
TO THE MAKOyiS DE'CASa YRUIO.
SIR,
To your acknowledged attempt to
corrupt my fi Jj'iey as a cniien, by enga
ing my (crviccs to fupport the read
ings of a foieign mir.iller, you have
dared to add the atrocity of impeaching
the truth of my declaration, which had
hrcn made under ihe facrtd obligations
ol an oaih. .
In the nature of your employment, and
the paucity of your means, you might
have found an excufe, as well at a mo
live, for the foimer part of your con
duel ; in ihe mortification of your failure
only, can even the ffcadow ot a caufe be
traced for this tad departure flora allihat
ii honorable, juft and true.
The cuarantee of the nation will rro-
tf cl your pctfon; but as that guarantee
cannot in this country, be extended, by
my corflruflion, to level! a foteicn mi
nifler wiih the privilege of ralfely charg
lni?a ciiiten of the united Shim whk
I rfjrrv. itd ot ptomu'gnipg that iharre
mroutn me mcuium 01 a ncwiparcr. nci.
ihcr your office, nor all the lirclirm of
diplomacy fhaU reflrain my refutation of
the deliberate fa'.ffiood, rior prevent the
refutation beicg made through the fame
Channel,
In yoar belief i-hat peliiVlt
tancehad jwepanedinw to reoelve -witlk ,
& reloctarice ihe cwHrficatios"
-oir tpmpofals, you teay r'fv l4bitl
SI correci view ot yinirxrwn arrliid," Www '
evr grofsry ywi 'wri dacived iT&eara
logv which it fwgefted.- -J ,
The ircumftances df that cotomXiTsi. !
cation were faiihfully and-correclly deTaiK.
d in cny deposition," ' and, na carefA
review of that tiateflnen'-, i afeinly af
fcit that very .part of the tJeoofiuon is
tTMc.- I (hall 'therefore feaire yoo toen.
, lty the fcaoor nd thr benefit or the eva
i&9n and conwdS fonts which 'j-ois hav -
'TemrtexJ,-. J5y tnole comradfaions yam
hive endeavotired to mvalidat lw4i(ii-
torcftcd oatjiof a mani !&cyift, he tela,
fiona p'riv ate harcte Wimtd deem
bitnfelf degraded bv a cortiDarWon with
1 the M i; 6K'-d Cala Yrulo."- A mat
Sir, who solds 'teiVmnials of perfonat
worth, and public ferviw, trom. d.iffereiit
chief magilttatesof his nat ion, winch will
obtain eqtial confi deration with yoot
boated nobility, for they arc certainly
quite as honorable and ey-en of more an
cient ditc lhan thetitle yon btar.
1 Ymj dotibtltfs prefurned that you Viatt.
only fo contradift f the editor of a newl-
paper, whoTc Iheeu" ("ntticUbjIJing ,
yon haJM Bed then liti-fflft ymr 1L1 UJm
t'tons Sj ' are fcafce'.y to be fecu act.
" the Schuylkill ahd Ovlawan-, wl c W
' without a pface to tic .oycritivWnt
" and wit'hotitxper,or.al liflucftOcV' effec
tually to diffipateal ihat he" had flared in.
dcr the obrigarioHS'of his oath. Id thi
preemption,'' hoiwever, rou !u'c only bt.
trayed a wkkes heart ai-d a miTcratit
htaJ.rt Where we are 1oth ltnownt it i
not, 1 hope, an uirthie aflumption 10 fopt
polethaif fli mhi obtain equal cre4!er ct
with Mr. Yrtijo, abllraacd tiom the fane
lionol my 'oath. V
On the ptefeti: occafionymir malignity
has forced me to a courfe of proctedii.g
in the vimficatrun of my mith, of which
m er all "tlic political intolorai ce'
vou hTd rrti.tloiiedr I had heretofore- .
fcornedto avail myrdf. By the nature '
if joit infamous imputation, I sm com
pellcJ for rtie information of thofe to
who.ii I .may be Unknown to exhibit
ftWidocymeiiti as, in co&rxxicm whh jho
faiUs! have flated tnay ellablithiny
claims to belief againft the contradidionij
with which you have Unbrulhingty dared
to aiutk me.
When my fellow. citizens cf the Uni-
tcH Sitcs an. I hc people of other coun
tricS hayc examined thefe vouchers of
charadlcr, the publication of which have
been thus extorted ficm me ; when they
have nSlccled that on the' part of Major
J acklon there cool J not have exilted a tin
gle motive for miftaicment or departure
from truth in framing bj depufnion j .
wnen they Hull hkewiie , have rulrctcJ
that on the part of the Marquis de CaU
xrujo, every motive anting but ot mol
lification, every wiC.i to avert the ton-
Icqttcnccs of his uiilucccfifiil attempi,
were combined hi the molt forcible .de
gree, to prompt his pcivetfion ot the truth;
wnen meie remits are nnpai!ioi.aie'y con-
fidcrrd, there will remain but ohc cpin-
ion on ihe fubject.
Yes S ir Jxvta pcifgadcjxiy ftlLlLalL.
yourown nation thus infoirticd, will pro
i.ounce ihat you have'prollratcd hr digni
ty ol your office, and violated rwil U-
ligation.
Your idle threat of . dtmandirg ths
" puninimcnttif faUJacLfcn tror.i ifte to.
vernrotni'- I ar;rl to fcorr, and con.
fign 10 Its rr.eiitcd ci.uttinpi.
ItiliiOt in this country that a i:i?cn
can be piH.idicd forobtyirg tie laws by
ciifcbflrgjhedeftgns .f a fmrf n mil ider
Nor isit within ihctoi.tto t 0y
vernmeit to prevent acitireiiof ihe U
niicd Stru licm rcpellii g furh a thrge
as you hive brought igalnft me, nor of gi
ving his refutation of ihe calumny thro'
the fame medium, with that you bavt
cl.ofen fot ill promulgj'hn a public
new fpsper, could any 01 her duel r rf pre
vail, ourciiiicni woulu '''e .itma
he niferab' valTali of .' guifhed
flavei," about whom you have prated.
W. JACKbON.
PhuaJelphis, Oaober9, 1804.
" From the letteri, with which 1 wis m
nortd by Genera) Wa&ington, I havet
felefled the two which are (unjoined, orl
account of tKelr rlatci, and the fuhjrtis to
which they relate.
The fitfiw ) received tn the expiration
of my military fervke, which, at the ag
of twenty. four, had embraced the period of
the American war
The fecond was itemed wha I wit.
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