Newspapers / The Minerva. / Aug. 11, 1808, edition 1 / Page 1
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
it i nmrTnr r"' ': ".--: v . " 1 ,..V V - fwJ(AKALr DOII.II,, PUBLISHED (weekly) BY WILL IAMD Q.YX. AN. tWODOjLLf. AN J . eaybltUlfY A I" I reariy. j JNo. 645. Vol. 13, RALEIGH, (n . c) THURSDAY, AUGUST U, 1808. f ROM TJIE U. STATES GAZETTE. irrwA Decrees and Brithh trdertr An article under this title appeared in the Ga: jetts of the 1 6th irist. Some of the friends of the editor persuaded him that it'' might be fitful to republish the discussiot i r conse quence r which he revised it and made jveral additions -which he; deems' important la the correct understanding of the merit of tin: subject. In consequence of these he begs leave to present it once niOre to the readers of the Gazette with the alterations and addi tions. " donees -and Brithh orders- The deceptions whlclThave been practised" by the iiends of the administration, in regard to the Ta-T'Ch decrees against neutral commerce, and the British orders in council have rendered it important to call the attention of the public to 'the subject ; and to expose the misrepre- ' stations bf those whose ..systematic-object is to-ii:ate the outrages, ot one ot the bellfge icijt powers mil to aggravate those of the t'.UiiOjTo a-A the partizans .of France and trthe fidmioisi ration to covreel these misre pjes' nla'inns would be useless, and idle.; b.ut (;tlo hope that" ALL THE EDITORS OFTAPKRS vholwisli tke people to be correctly informed of tile nature' of our foreign relations, and of thermal causes of. our embarrassment and. de gradation, will 'lend us their aid at this event ful period, in correcting the false impressions yucJi have been, .extensively made by cun- tiag misrepresentations. ...... J is every day asserted in the government papers, and has at length come to be very gruel-ally believed,, even by men who wish for correct information, that Bonapatte's Ber lin defcrce r.maincd d dead leffer, until it tws- ' stiinufafed into itt'c and activity by the British triers in council 'hat previous to these, orders it was never cxicwed and teas Jktrr intended ThehiSt Washington Monitor, an official taper of the 'cabinet, says : 1 - t "The Berlin decree w asnevejLarjiedlinto effect, against" neirti'als (as-has been proved by lirjtish merchants slrfctly examinee) at the tar of the bouse of commons) before the English orders of council wcrfr bsued in No- leniber last ; and, indeed, Napoleon .could not hive extcuted thift decree -against the Ameri cans, who were the principal neutral, without risking a war with "us, which it was far from king his desire then to provoke." Mr. Brp.ugh.am, an eminent counsellor, who appeared before the British house of commons iu support ot certain petitions against the or ders in-council, declared :' "That there is. . not only no evidence of those measures the French decree having' ken enforced, but every argument and aci fsainStthe nower : of the enpmv to iiH'e them some resnectsv and in other to show that he had no desire to do so.. Those new de crees of tfteiemy laye,betn nothing but so fautli i waste' papr ; in other words, "they.- are r repetition of ihencientr-unprofitable Ec tapid gasconade of theNFrench government, "lliese dtcfcihave not, and. could not,. have any effect, but to evince to the world that .Bonaparte, lrad some desires which" -he could grainy ,- ! . " 'Mr. 'Baring respectable and well informed as he is, has imprudently ventured to assert, in hi pamphlet, that 'it is " a notorious fah, that mconaemnaticrn (Jan American vessel had ever akin flace," under the Berlin decree, previ ous to the publication of lhef British or- Several witnesses exaiToineoT't the bar ojf e British hous of 'commons testified thex mae thing. 'v- '. t . 'Mr. Wilson C. Nicholas the ' leading; mi liistcriui member in the hdiise of representa s cf ee .United'. States, from the state of- urgaiia, in a -.-circlular letter to 7 his constitu tnls holds the same language, and - . Every democratic .-paper lin the United States has so long and so uniformly reprcv t ?SEted.the execution of Bonaparte'! decree -"mst us,1as a retaliating measjure, occasion-; vuur tiie hnttbh orders, that many-honest. IifUlinrmed jneh,"s'taggcied-by such Serous ussertions have be t'rr -induced to :, g'!ei'P the- pointi and to axkfdwledgelhat . wioujli France was the:: a g gitssor in void. i'otnmcrce '-ras re all undisturbed, 'n;i Jghts Unimpaired until the BritiJr-.: J1"8 induced the'Frencli emperor tt tnfoice .,ls tree against us, contrary to Lis oi igir.ul Thfi whole of this is a gross delation, which Shall easily dissipate from the mind of ',iiy. will lend us . his attention for fe w rr.o- '.w? M'hile we examine tEe suhioi.nedLoffi- . . -.--5(. .. .1 .Thedecree of Bonaparte, declaring the British- isles, and their depcpdejigies, in a state of blockade and forbidding all, neutral commerce witli them, was ISSued, at Berlin, as is well know n, on the 2 1st of November, 1S0. The British orders in council declaring France and her dependencies In a f State of blockade, were first published in the London Gazette on the 16th November, .1807. and could not have, betn known in Paris, in the common course of comriitinication, before the 2.5th of tbeaame month, or probably, the 1st of December. On 30th.Iay, 1G07. more Uian six months before the(issuing of the orders in council, -the Aynerici ship Horizon was wrecked, by a styrm, upon the coast of France, near Mor laix, and th.e property, which was acknowledg ed to be bona f i dk American, was. immedi ately seized and sequestered by the. ofneer of the French government, on the ground that pa irForTt irv iisTuid vvn ioTTaveTdnVeTromThe English: manufactures or territory," and con setpjently liable to confiscation under the 5th an cle of the Berlin decree. After a variety of proceedings -before, stib ordinate tribunals, which the property 'was held in sequestration, the subject was brought before the imperial council 'of prize's at Paris, on the 1 6th of October, 1CC7, one month be fore the issuing of the British orders in coun cil i t.lvl after discussing the defence set up by captain. M'Clure the American owner of the-"" property, in which lie argues that a con fiscation would be contrary to the provisions otthe treaty ot 1800, and to the explanation of the Berlin decree, as given to Mr. Arm strong by the minister of marine, to Decem ber I8&6,the council cf-prues formally decree, that . . w The, application of the 5th. article of the ,before mentioned- (the Berlin) decree to the . Americans as to other people results from the general teirns of the article, -and. from the comniunication recently made by his excellen cy, the cbiefjusticc (the ffland juclge) relative' to tlve oHiaii. Ai. IntEUTION of the sovereign-" Observe th'rs. We have here an official at judicial declaration that the oiticii: a. in- tention of the -sovereign was, that tire de crees should apply to the Americans, as to othei people ; and the council appealed a re cent communication from .the chief justice to prove this original intention. Now. Ji us see what thai cdmmnuicationi, w'iis, anJ whethe; the council -of prizts gave it fcir construction. It is here inserted in-it official form ; let'it be remarked that it is "dated TAore than tin. months before the. British orders in council "co'utdpttssibly.be known in Paris. r" Fxtractof a letter from': the- grand judge, ' minister of justice, to the imperial attorney general for the council ol prizes . (tuaJtslation.) ParisrSept. 13, 18C7 suppose that the decree is not intended to in fringe any of the stipulations of the convention,, of. 1800 ; at the same time frankly acknowl edging that he knew nothing of the matter, and that if our minister wished for authentic information upon the subject, the prince of Beneverito, CTalleyran) could givfe hi full satisfaction. No application was ever made bv our minister to tins source of official in-; formation, or any remonstrancetgainst ', this atrocious violation our treaty and our rights. The answer of the minister of marine, the !vjk pensk," was communicated by our pre sident to congress, as a sovereign balm for the wound which had been thus wantonly in flicted upon our national honour ; and there the thing rested. - - :. . Let us now ix tuh to the imperial council of prizes in the case of the Horizon. After astablishing the fact, as Wt have seen, that the original, intention of the emperor yas,to nake no exception to his decree in favdurjof the United States, hey proceed to pronounce sentence upon the Cargo of the Horizou'in the following words : ' i. . " With respect o the merchtndise or the cargo, which from the result of the examina-' lion, shall be. known to have come from the Kn'gliih inanuiactui ies, or territory, these it" (tiie council of prizes) has confiscated for the profit of nhe .state, by virtue of the 5th article Of the decree, of the 3Ut Nov 1806, the whole tq'Ue sold., cc.:--... u -" Done at the imperial council of prizes, sitting ut Pari this 10tU of Oct. 1807, (Signed) ' BCUUFR." President la Coste Heporter." Tills single de-ision puis the wlole jues- ( lion at rest ; for it is not to be considered as a decision upon- the merits of the individual case of the lloriion simply : It is settling the principle" which is to govern all other case of a like nature. U is a dedarati n by the highest' authority of the government,'-not merely that so much American property on board the Horizon as had been purr h.rst. d m Cil doc u'ments, .which-proSObSws l .'pnal intention of Boij-aije 14tifCj5jhi d States ; ;auf thathc.;actually,dici 7r?oite::it,?ong. before the publication., of ; : ,sa PWeis in conncilinopen vifela Sir I have submitted to his majesty the emperor and king, the doubts raised by Iris excellency the minister of marine I'lid colo nies, on the extent of certain dispositions o( the imperial decree of the 21st Nov. 1806, which has declared the British Isles m atate of blockade. '.'The. following are his majesty's inten-, tionson the points in question : 1. May vessels of-war by virtue of the imperial decree' of '2 1st Nov. last, seiceVfa board neutral vessels, either English property," or een all merchandise proceeipg from the English rcanufaclUres octcrrKi------, - " Answer. His majesty has intimated that as he did not think proper to e : ress any exception in his .decreo, there is grojjnd for niakine any in its execution in relation to feny whomsoever (al'egard do qui que de pent etre.J ins najesiy'-uas pu;iyvvi a i.noi on on. the question "whether armed French vessels cmght to capture neutral vesse ls wounu to or Tfom Fngland, even when they have no English rnerchandizc en board. - Signed) ; ; ' REClGll : Here, then.w-e have the declaration of the emperor hiinself, as to his original inttntWi ; ahdhe-.m ntluced to treat themqujrcrjquiic cuvilierly "for supposing it necessary lr. ask such a question 'r inasnnich as' his-vinHjeisty ' did not think proper to express any except .lion in his decree, there ;is no ground lor tuakingiai in its execution in Ration to any whomsoever.', i Yet our .adniinistra'lilh hae t hV; bqi.dr.ess.-t6.9ay,-.inXh;eir"ttTici3l paper, that :'dfeapr;e ditl not originiliy- intend to execute this, decree against us, and tht be could not -rste'erit eforthe issing of th-BriiisH orders, b'e.causelt would be risking a war with ns ; though this Very lette of Begnier was otficially commnniited to bobgfes , by -the-pi-esident himself. Si Thexe is.no .ground," says themperorfurakir-g ahy-texcepon in xhc, execution ot the decree ana we urgeti -;.tjv tnacnowjedge41aw of nations, wi'd-j is roiVntrv.-- 1 .t " Ts provq'this, ahd'sUence ihe- adherents of aG"1!n'5ion, we have to attend England, was good prize; but that all -A'me rican property in France, whether caplued on the ocean, by the cruizeis of. France,, seiz' cd in "her ports, or wrecked on her coast, if it iitrd ever been purchased from Great Britain or any of her possessions whs, uport the same principle good prize and to be coiifiscated lor the profit of the state," in whatever way it ma, have been introduced into , -France, whether voluntarily or by an ine'vitatle.-apt of God. It also dKckies ihe p,itit, not that such pioperty hud at the time of pronft)cing the sentence- become, liable to seizure i.r4 conhs cation, but that it had been so from the mo inent.cf issuing the Be rhn decree. It decides that the Seizure 'hich Wis made cn.the first of June, more than half a year before theex-- istence of the British orders, was a lawful sei-A zure, and that the property from the moment that it '.touched the French territory, became vesterd in thtJ ,--state-ly-A-ir4ue- ot ihe Berlin dc cree.,. -li' any possible case could-have formed an exception to the application of the rule, t it would have been the very one of the Horizon; which was forced into France by stress of weather. . - On the 18ih of September,' more than two month before- the British Orders x in Council CjuIJ be known atParts, we fjnctvn official letter1 from the minister cf the inlet iorto Mr. Fayssat, merchant at Bordeaux, Jn answer to a letter written in his own name and, that oH other merchants . f Bordeaux, the object of which was to obtain(the actns-sion of the Ame rican shiri George1 VVashingtoi.ifWhich had been taken into Plymouth by ah English-' ship of war. The minister says : - : " Different reclamations of that nature " having been submitted "to the emperor" no " new thing therefore " his majesty eonfuin- k' ipg the dispositions of his -derreerof the 21st neutral vessel going from English ports, with corgoes of English merchandize, or of, English origine, as lawfully stizabl? by French arpcv td vessels. " ' - - : - 'llie d;cree of blockade has been now issu ed eleven months. ,.The principal powers of Europe, far from 'protesting agaiust it? proyi sioiis, have adopted Ahem.. They have per ceived that its execution jnijst?. be cornplete to render U more effectual and It has.jseem- ed easy to reconcile! these measurse "WUU the observance of treaties, r specially at a time when the infractions by England iJ. the rights of ell maritime fi(iV!er8i render Jheir interestlcd'at j monatid tend to unite timJs$uipori Oj thi same caunf. ... , .'; v -t-:;" Accept tec. &cv , -(Signed) - CUAMPAGNY, ' His Excellency GcnrArmsuong, r Minister Plenipotentiary U. States. , Take notice, thatlljLliis was olTiciallyjaid to our XFinister in France, 'about ttua mouths before the Fre.ne.li government could le ap prised ol 'the -English orders in council, and was .subsequently communicated to congress i) y ' the pi c b ident. ' htUl . t he ad ministration 1 have the asuvance to reiteWte 'the language -? ' of the French gyvernmsnt, by saying that this outrage 'was occasioned by ;r the infrac tions by England of the lights of all mara time powers and by imposing upon the people of this" couna y a belief, that$hese in fractions consist in tfec British orders of colCwu cil, wliich were not iiued for a coiibidcrable : tiiijc afterwards. - .'. ;'. Such was te conduct of the French gov ernment towards this country, previous to the . issuing . of the British orders. Numerous other instances might; be mentioned of A meVfcan Vesssels seized in France, before tho . British orders were issued, and held in se qUsTTalton to this day ; tind every merchant knows what a sequestration in Francs a mountsto If there had not been, therefore, ia fornial decision of condi;mnation, still, the ery-seuwMf-and-sequestration of so nuTctl-- 1 .i.r,r.,n.:iim Rfwhrnngw i ht.tJtgi-gurreaLies reuiivp ru a tin? & V-6tforexDectini? anv such e'xceivl appeared applicable iJnn.; nntwitstandin? the letter of Feneral stances, and it i-esul A " - 7 V a . . , Armstrong to the rninister of marine, and the letter of the minister Of marine t general " November, 1806, has recently prescribed " is-strict execution It is impossible for me w sir, after thislecision, to-grant your requet. I therefore remirj to you the piece which was annexed to it inviting yon to cornmiir " nioate my answer to the 1 merchants who, . . t H i .r it witnyou, ;ua signea tne memomj property was outrage sunicient, and ought to have prompted our government to make inl mediatc and vigorous efforts for obtaining redress. 1 . ' '- .. Let us now see what was the -conduct of the .vassal nations of 'France. Immediately after ihs promulgation of tbe v Berlin decree, th king of Holland, as Ivi is called and the king Of Prussia, issued sirnilar decrees," If;ths month cf 1 tbruary 1 3Q, ' tight maulta befirg. the Jiiglisi government 'puUhkc'd their orders ii council, the king of Spain, a merp.' 4 tool ' of France, published a decl ec similarto that of Jbei un, which iio concludes in tng i?;Ujnrtr.g re markfibie wcrcs-r - 44 Filially, his majesty conformably to "the iileai of 'hii ally, "the', emperor of the : French, deJatesin his-stdtes- the same law as his jin peii.1 majesty, on principles of reciprecity .. and propriety, has promulgated under ' dale of tha 2 1 st ci November'. 1 806. - ,U nder'thistlecrce which expressly profeSei ses to be conformable to the ideas: of the em peror of theVFrench, numerous seizures "and confiscationsT)f American vesselsimmediat. ly iook j lace in the various port of Spain, f - A" early as July 1 b?T,four months before thg ' existence of (he Brithh orders' in council) Ihb T" Sea Nympii, us has already been nlentiohcd '. by an ,abi wnicr in this .Gazette, . was conw ' ' , uemnee at rorto tavcio. tier cargo was assorted the Briiish jnanuficiuresjvvere se parated from vthe iet.t and confiscated j uhdef" the Btrhn decree without any -other eausa being assigned. T - . n Thus it . appears from, official documents in r ths, pcrsscjiiou Dtroyrnmcnt, i that-? for twelve months passively acquiessed in the , i existence of, the Bertih decree before Jthc is suing of the British orders ; arnl that during at !itsfJ-half that tiine, seizures and xonfisca . Lions American; pioperjy were coiitimialljf j . taking place in the poits ot 1 ranee ana' tb - feCouiuries .inder the 1 controul of Bonapartci .With what face then could pur President de : - ; clare in his message at ''the opcningjOS th ( . l : ,. . r . ..i t " '. -a' lube scbaioii oi euutrress, enai w no an eno o , r .-r ' (Signed) f 'xn'jnths before any knoxl'ledge- uf the Bri- 1f''A. "Order hi Coilnul could be had in parisy aii ofiicial coitespodence took place., respect--itt'-UtJ- BerhH-def -e, .between " our minister gen.-i mstt-ong, ana (Miainpagny, the rjenc.h niinisc bf ovigo' relations in. which gene-; raj Arrn'Striiiig ' inquires . 'v panicularly -jphe-theP: it':b&is .majesty-,i.imehti6n--tnrnrT-clS-: gree to infract the obligation of ' the treaty now .subsisting- between' the Ui.Si- and the French empire?. " "' ; r ; , - The minister of foreign relauons-rcpies in'. '.the followine words : Jfhe provisions of a!! trie regulations: 'ahef th,' nAltnns ol' F.iirnn: rrnt l-'no-l.-irxl. Ou T- " 1 t"S I' ' ' r JTl f . salute you, I1 harmony has been uuinterrunied, ana; com s - if i CREIET.,r-.--J, merct utu friendly init rcoune.yc bemain. :iU Again roh Xhz- 24th of September, -at least I tained dn their usuaj footingj'- ; ' U ' A All 4 I . " . .'II ll . - t" . jn mis proves.nEonitsniiy, vinaw inero ,t. -; fs in'tifii- gvemmefit.a mykridusv an alarm ing' pai tiahty for France, vtnTcli induces themi as far as liisin. their power, ttii persuade ; the . people hat t?Yoy have -experienced from that r quartet; nolhTiTc: Jmt SJric ndshtfi ttnd Ek&diiZ,-: y'vHtJevthe v attempt to trace all our suf to the existiiigtr.eircum isf fomi he x pi anati ons ' which ha-v been aditreseu to .me by thlTim r penal prociireuf general ot the council ofpri tengiu cniirniitterr,ntr nanormtlis- g'races to . 'Great -Brit .jfjir whereas ther,govy ernjeiit,;of Grciit lir.jrranklydeclai'eii . v our'tniniswr, Mn, gier the publication of ih9 . .-' Beriijj (iecvee, that, should f ouf vmytiient : conjrary to theiV,f.xp'ecta'.ioh$ acquiesce fr tha - execution of that ereerxGfeat Britain wot JJ state of bloclkader-Jiave ..tie ob4i ged 'o '.addpt--rtaliattngrw?sure4 iff- her, own 'defence; ''h Raited onfffiole year ami xouiitiuiat we tu i acqmesse; iu inc exc cution of it, withSiit'-so much a atttinptjag to reUt it jiod. then iswe'iatSklOl..'. .J
Aug. 11, 1808, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75