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Wat the XniUntt of the French fJpTern r&cnt must be combined i'h a repeal ol the Trench edicts viA viem t a noH intercot:rie tA G. Brit," 'ycrrii i a fact thatbtfjrc 'he T'P5 the non intercourse Uwif the Iwt e,3ion, vir. on the 23dFcbruvfi IB l,:toe French RoVcrninent 4 d tffcuUy and formally ihro' their miniver Mr. Scrmntr, com raunitateto thufovernnert hIr fixed dete munition not io restore the property that had Ut so seized I And morovt ry ffom the inf rcrmipn which had been icceired by Mr. Madison, prior to the date cf tne bon-intercourse Uw,.it was ' at the tiirc of passing it evidrnt to my inindthat the BsiHn and Milan decrees hai hoi been revoked, as hid been de clared by the pioclamation. . Art.5tfVAt he session of Congress, 18Q9-10, a law wsa pissed making some new regulations as o ministers and Bar baty consuls. To this jaw Mr. Madison aivr strong objections so strong indeed that he has hitherto utterly disregarded its provisions. Not having deemed it -advisable, at the time this bill was sub emitted to him for hii approbation, to re turn it with his negative, and noC hav ing considered it expedient, at the last session to recommend, .as tbe constitu $thn requires, its repeal of its mouifica tion, he at a late period of the session, pressed roe much ro prevail upon some i member to introduce with ihat view a bill into Congress. I lemsrkrd to him -as respectfully as I emild, 'hat I h d powerful oujtclKns to every kind of pi vate intermeddling with the businrs ! members nf the Legislature, and csperU ally to such secret nvdes of recommend ing public 'measures to thr consideration of Congress, lit received my rem-rk with grtat pertu;baiion and was evident ly much' displeased. . Oirnerto the untoward provisions of this law and to the unfortunate rules of Mr. Madhon't talculating policy, six at least of our functionaries abroad, not iMing their appointments as this law directvare not entitled tb and cannot recti ve ihtcompensition provided by law for thcirseices. eth. Sensible MWavecvfr beer, to the insults and injurirsrhchjjie U State have received, again and again,. : frcra, Great-Britain, I have. at no time been blind lo the reiterated outrages of France. And whatever miy have been ray view of the edicts aod proceedings of either of these powers, com part d with those of the other, I, in my discus sions with their respective functionaries, have invjriably had my eye steadily, en the rights, the interests and the honor of the Unt'.ed S ates. M ver hve I felt a disposition o iden ify my country with either of the bclhgricnt nation. Never did I abstain from asserting the rights or from vindicating the hnr of the Uoited St?, from an apprehen sion that either France or Or -at-B-Tain might thereby b cxhihittd to the w;rld ' in an odious point of view. The fol lowing draught cf a Irtter to General Armstrong" was accordingly .prepared by me immediately after the letter of the Duke of Cadore, to wh ch it refers, hsdbeen received It wasii the usual form laid before the Prtsident for his "approbation. He, however objected 'o the sending of it. And as there is rra j)0 to brlievc that this very letter con sthutcd partof the ground of the hos tility of Sir. Midi ten to" me, it is but pro per to give it publicity. fjf tic draught of the letter propottd to U tent to general Armstrong. Deprttreat of State, June , 18J0. Gcnrrhl frffirrcni5,--Your letters of the , with their retrospective enclo sures, were received on the 2 1st of M?y. In the note of the Doke of Cadore no thing can be -perceived to justify the seizure of theVraerican property in The 'ports, of 1 France 'aad in those oi her tallies. TheVfacJs, as well as the argu ments which; it his assumed, are eonfu cd by events known to the world and particularly by that moderation of trtn , per, which has invariably distinguished ths conduct of th:s government towards the belligerent nations. After a for bearance equalled only by our steady cbscrrance of the laws of neutralh) end cf the immutable. principles of justice, . , The letter of February 14th, 1310. from which the following it an extract: His Majesty can place no reliance on the proceed ings clhe U. Stcie$t who hating no ground ot complaint against France, comrh-ised her in their acts of exclusion, and since the month cf May, Jhare forbidden the entrance of their pom to French vessels under the penaliv of coonication. As scon as his Majeity was in formed of thU measure, he considered him self, bound to order reprisals on American Tesseb, not only in his territory, but litewite in the countries which ar under his influ ence. In the port of Holland, of Spain, of Italy, and of Naples, American veuelt have oeen an ecu, because the American have xed Trench vessel. The American can not hesitate as to the part which t!ey are to iae. i ocy ouht ertlrer to tear to facet tte acef:Utr Independence, and to become again, as befbre the revolution, tie tuSjritt' Eng land, or to take uch measures a tht their commerce and industry should not be tariffed by toe Enpfun, which render them more de penoen? man Jamaica, wnicn, at leat, ha its aserobly of rrp re tenia tirea ami its nrivile- ge. Men wit bout just piUticul tiev, vufieut "ti?etitterjT may alledge that pay ment of the tribute imiwsed bv tneland mav wai they not perceive that the licliah will no soonrr have obtained the admission of . tne principle,. than they will raise the tariff ioauc way, mat tne burthen, at first light, ir.ff insur portable, it will thn'kf cc ssary o fight for interest, aur havbg re- tua li 11 with no Rltle lurpfiic that the Ptf sideiiisccrna m the French gojf rn ment I'disposition trvrcpresejiV.thc;U States as.'ihc ongina) Kgreior.V jAn art hF rlrJtnre.hich . under1 CXtSUftZ circumstances. Is acarcefy; fesi ifianran j act ol war necessarily rrijuircu uj -plarlation Vhjch;wpuld satisfy not' only the UnrtedS'ates but iheSvorlcJ.T'But the note oHhe Duke of Cadore, instead nf,a justificatio haa not furnished even a plausible palliatiQn or a reasonaWe a pology for the sekure cf the American pioperty. J 1 , Threhas never been a period of time which the U. S. have ceased to pro-' test acainst the British orders in coun cil. With regard to the resistance which the United States m-y have deemed it proper to -oppose to such unlawful re strictiens, it obviously belonged to the American government alorie to pre scribe the mode.' - If a system of exclu sion of the Vessels and merchandize of theJttlligerent powers1 from our ports, basoeen preferred to war, if municipal prohibition has been resorted to instead of invasive retaliation, with tvhat -propriety can the Emperor of Hie French pretenfl to see in that .method i f pro ceeding any thing else than a'lawful ex ercise of sovereign power?- To cov strue the exercise of this power into a cause of warlike reprisal is a species of dictation, which, could it be" admitted, would' have a tendency to subvert the sovereignty of the United States, ri-ame has converted our law ol ex clusion into a pretext for the seizure of the property of the citizens of the U. States. This situte was also in. force iKinst the vessels of Great-Briiain If its optration had been considered by , th ! inrh Mvpmmnt it nf sti'ffirlent ' tfTicacy to justify this pretended repri sal, tht verjf operation, as it would have been more severely felt by Great Britain, ought also to have been consi dered us constituting a resistance to her on'ers, the non-existence of which re sistance has been stated by the "Duke of Cadore as the pretext for the act of violence exercised on the American pruperty. The United States having resisted the British orders, the real ground of complaint would svem to be, oor so much that the American govern ment has n't nsisted a tax 01 their na vigation, as that it has likewise resisted the French decrees, whu h had assumed a prescriptive power over the poliry of the United States, as reprehensible as the aueinpt.of the Biitish government to hvy contributions on our trade was bnoxious. Placed in a situation where i tax was proclaimed on the one hand. and a rule cf action prescribed on the other, ihe United States owed it to their wn honor to resist with corresponding measures the cupidity of the onet and the pie-umptinn of the other. When he Am rican g-vemment sees In the provisions of ihe Britih orders an aS. sumption of maritime power in contra vention cf the law of nations, how can it lail also to perceive in the French de- crcesthe adoption of a principle equally derogatory and injurious to the neutral character of the U. States. The pretension of subjecting Ameri- an navigjtion to a tax, as advanced bv the Biiiish order of Novemher Iftor. I was in reality withdrawn by ihe order of the 26th April, 1809. Yet ten months oubsenuent to the recal of that preten sion, its alledged existence is made the basis of reproach against theJAmetican rtovernnient by the Emncror of the French. It would be fruitless to com ment on the disposition to insist upon the prevailing influence of a fact which no long r xists ; which, when it did exist, was uniformly combated ; and he final extinction of which was the man-fest consequence of the measures of this government. If thej American government had seiz-d French v ssrls, as erroneously asserted in the note of the duke of Ca- lore, the occurrence could only have been attributed to the temerity of their owners or commander who, after a p'rvi'.us notification, trom tne isi oi March to the 20 h of May, of the act of exclusion, rvould have strangely presu- sumed upon impunity in the violation of a prohibitory municipal law of the U. States. H d France interdicted to our vessels all the porta within the sphere of her influence, and had she given a warntng of equal duration with that gi ven by our law, there would have been no cause of complaint on the part of the United States. The rrench govern ment would not then have had the op. portunity of exerciiing its power, in a manner, as contrary to the forms as to the spirit of justice, over the property of the citizens of the United States. It was, at all times, in the power of France to suspend, with regard to her self, our acts of exclusion, of which she comp ains,by simply annulling or modi fying her decrees. Propositions to this e fleet have been made to her govern ment through you. They were not ac cepted. On the contrary, a policy was preferred which was calculated to pro duce any other result than that of a good understanding-1 between the two coun tries. By the act of Congress of the last session an opportunity is again af forded to his imperial Majesty to esta blish the most amicable relations be tween the United jSutes and France Le.t him withdraw or modify his de cxees let him restore the property of 6uf citizens so unjustly seized, andVa Jay tV the -United States; eiists,XhicH au thoriws' the rPresidenitcn OTomote:the bestpos5ble understandgwjtljFrwKe, and toimbbse a systehi pf extlurf ja- Minsrthe shiris and mercnanaize ow mritairfin the evritof hex failing to con- form, to the samrjust xerros ox wuwum tion. Ib'fine,us the. Emperor Vill now be acquainted with ;ihc fact that ; (no Franca vessels have ; bcenAihlawfully' seized in" the ports of the tV States, as thebw of excIusioiT against the Com-: mefce of France is no more 'in opera- ! tion, there can be no longer, a solitary j reasonable pretext for k procrastinating the delivery of the American property, IdeUihed by- the French government, into. the possession of the respective .owners. . n ' . r J These observations youMTill not fail !to present to the view of the French go vernment, in order "that the Emperor may learn that the United States insist upon nothing- but their 'acknowledged 'rights', and that they still entertain a de sire to adjust oil differences with the rovernmei?t of France upon a basis.e- qually beneficial and honorable to both nations. 1 have the nonor to ne, c- It. SMITH. Continued in our fourth page I Jforfjfffu Jntelltsence, Very Late from England. - . A'cw York, July 1. Yesterday arrived at this port, the fast sail ing ship Elizabeth, Morrison, from Liverpool, from whence she sailed on the'eveping of the 25th of May. Capt. Morrison-, and a gentie- man passt-nger Have omigingiy larorru mo Editors of the Mercantile Advertiser with tendon niters to the 23dof May and Liver ' th 95th. beiny seven uavs later than hitherto received. I We learn verbally, that the king Was daily ! growing worse that the markets, in Liver J pool for cotton and tobacco, were low and ,' dull sale, that the prospects of a war between 1 Rusiia and France had nearly vanished, and itlut accounts hadreachedthe British govern i ment, of a Revere battle having been fought 1 near the walls of Almeida, between th ar mies of Lord VreUin?tn and Maasenain which the latter wtre defeated with rreat shuphter, leavr 4000 men on the field of .banle and TOO prisoners. j A letter from Liverpool, dated 24th May, mentions that'a bill was before Parliament, for increasing the duty on cotton, Id per lb. and on ashes 4. and &1 per cwt. and.it was thought it would pass on the 23d. The following are the only articles in these papers possesing any interest t LONDON, MAY 18. j ' The cause of Sir rYancis Uurdett, Vs. the ' Speaker of the House of Commons, for com mitting Sir Francis to the tower, was decided on the 17th of May, in the court of King's Drench, in favor of the defendant. MAY 19. j The chsnge which lately took place in the ' American councils, by the appointment of Mr. Monroe to be Secretary of S:ate, is still thought to be favorable to the amicable ad justment of the ditferencs between America ; and Great Britain. In a Pris paper of the 6th inst it is stated, that the division of the army lately under the command of the duke of Elchingen (Ney) is i to be put under the orders of the Duke of Ka . gisa (Mutnont.) This appears to u to con .firro the long reported recal of Key iroro his 1 command in Spain. I MAY 53. Government have as yet received no ofhet-. al confirmation of the defeat of Massena un der the walls of Almeida, but no doubt is en tertained of the general correctness of the account which haa readied us from Oporio. French papers to the 13th, and letters from the Dutch coast of the 8th inst. have rrived. The former state the arrival of Ney at Pans, but assign no reason for his return. By an ar ticle from Vienn it appears that the Grand ' Viiicr has been deprived of the command of the Ottoman armies, on account ot his age ami infirmities. His successor is said to be a. man of ability and courage. The letters f rom Holland state, that the French troops were expected to be with drawn from that country, but whether they would be marched to Spain or the. north of Europe waa uncertain. ' The Minister opened what is call d his an nual budget on Monday last, and this impor tant day, once, the object of so much dread to the British nation, passed over without ex- I citing- any alarm or uneasiness. Nothing was ' said about new taxes, but on the contrary, 1 an old tax was taken off, against all ordinary precedent and general expectation. The King of England rode out on horse back on the 2Uth of May. King Joseph has fled from. Spain, for France. Hp arrived at Valladolid on the 27th of April, and set out again on the 28ih with his suite for France. An action was fought on the loth of MaYch, off the Island of Lissa, between a French and Italian fleet, of five frigates, one corvette, one brig 2 schooners, one gun boat, and one zebec ; and the British frigates Cerberus, Amphion, Active and Volage, which lasted I 6 hours one jof the French . frigates was burnt, and 2 were taken the remainder es- ' 1 rw 1 a 1 1 . it . capou. i ne unusa iosi in omcers ana sea men, 50 killed, and 150 wounded. THE IiATE BATTLE. f The intelligence' given in our last paper of an obstinate and sanguinary battle between the French and allied armies, near Almeida, is confirmed bv accounts since received via Boston, N. York and Charleston These- ac counts do oot vary materially from that air ready published. It is staled that Almeida had surrendered to the allied anny,and that Badajoz was completely invested by them. The following is an extract from" General Blake's dispatch to the Council of Regency : Mott exceUent tir I have the satisfaction to announce to yoii that the allied Spanish, British and Portuguese army have complete, ly tnd gloriously beaten, in the Camn nr AT. . btiherm, yesterday the 15th May, the army of the enemy, which was marching under, the vuiuiuanu -pi cviarsiiai &ouit to the-relief of Badajoz .and the conquest of Nev:Fema dura. But we' have defeated his V . jects, and he is ranidlv retreatmf.. nuriirk.! our cavalry, who are iupported'by our vaj? ray greatly Exceed puft-ne oss f 'uuw.7w:inea.W nv hotirTwithouFcrivinff an ,inchif ground, vhicH enhances the glory of ourjVictpry, tfbult had.onited extjraordinary lprces-wuhv activity proportionate to ine grnu.uujcvi had ihfvie.v We were equal in fore as, to, ihiantry, but his cavalry! and artillery .far ex ceeded ours in number ! hut such , was the ardor, with, whjch the, all jed army fougt av gainst thexomnum enerriy, their noble emu ration tp distinguish, themselves andthe mu tual s0ppc?t which hey afforded to. eacl) o ther, that they defeated 30,000 of the ty rant's satellites i and such was theUenthusiasm, that theyould have conquered anynurnber, inMefence of the liberties pf Europe.. the last insult. : ' ' , v - ' -" ' . ; jycw-Yorfy '''June 28. The subjoined is a rnbre particular acr count of the wanton,, unprovoked and murderous outrage committed on a de fenceless nd unspicious pilot, boat, by the British frigate Melampus. Will the President tamely submit to such insults ? And must the U States be attacked in this manner ? Or are all the shores ol this country to be crimsoned with the stains of the Chesapeake ? Reports of the pilots belonging to,the Dilot-boa'ts Brothers, of this port," and. sundry gentlemen on frard the same,' as to the capture ot tne ong lamaan maah off Sandy Hook, by the British fri gate Melampus, and the-daring Insult committed by said frigate on the pilots and passengers of the said Brothers on Friday the "2 1st inst. viz : That on the said Friday, about half past 7 o'clock, P. M. while coming in from sea, they descried a brig which proved to bef the Tamaahrhaab, standing in from the east ward, and in pursuit of her was a frigate siipposed by them to be the U. States frigate President, as she had the Ameri can ensign flying ; then supposing the saiu nrig wantea a pilot, siooa ior ner, and while in chase, saw 12 cannon shot fired from the frigate at the brig, which caused her to heave' to ; on coniing up she proved to be the frigate Melamjnis, and while in company end within five miles of the light-house, in 8 1-2 fa thoms water, and without any provoca from us, the said pilots or our passen gers, the said frigate fired, witn intent to kill, at us the said pilots and our crew, a volley of musketry ; four balls there from went through the lower part of our mainsail about five feet from the deck ; they then stood off, and we saw no more of them that evening. From the National Intelligencer. Review of Mr. Smith's Address!, An opinion had long prevailed with many persons both in and out of Con gress that Mr. Secretary Smith, from want of capacity and want of integrity, was quite unfit for his place. And to wards the close of the second y ear of his office this conviction became so univer sal as: not to leave the exception proba bly of Mr. Smith bimself. We. had all been astonished at his appointment we all learned the history - pf? that mise rable intrigue by which it' was effected ; wc regretted the necessity the Presi dent was under of .casting him off, and and thereby offending tlu$ few friends of the tamily, whotn he had lately gratified at so dear a fate ; aiid we consequentfy looked forward with considerable anxie ty to the time when the government should relieve itself from so inconveni ent a burthen.. This was done in March last;; and notwithstanding the clamours of two "newspapers thathave since been: placing him daily before our eyes, we were for getting Mr. Smith as last as possible. He might have passed off in silence,' and even have mistaken oblivion for pardon, if he had been endowed with a moderate share of prudence. But he threatened us with a parophlet,v and he has now committed the farther folly of executing the unlucky threat His pamphlet is befpre the public ;it must, from the na ture of the subject, excite considerable attention; and though Us hrst character istic, is weakness, yet its wickedness is of too dangerous a tendency to be'pas sed over without a comment. ' We will begin with a notice of its printipie, the gross immorality of com ing before the world with such a publi cation. It is not possibl that Robert Smithy or any -other men, however coarse and clumsy the texture of his mind may be, shquld hot perceive the shock. that must be given to public mo41 iota, mc jiiiu mio xne viuus ot execut ive goveiment; theviolatign of : one of the essential provisions! of the jederai constitution, necessarily involved an the principle of publishing the secrets of the cabinet. The question here is not whether his statements are tf ueor falsp. nor do we enquire whether they are im- poicamor unimportant vm hut can such statements be made without a crime I Should ther be made by a clerk in. the same office of state, it would be perjury such clerks being undcriti bath of se- e department, Uie Secretary whose very title signifies depositary of secrets, is suppbsed to be bound in honor. And civiUzed isociety wept on from its commencement to the days of Robert Smith, before that tie, in so exalted stauon, was found to be in sufficient, -. i. ':" - a cause iyif toosmirioat. because M tgrijs li parricide escaj) tMu.vuuy v. 'uiuii juvr nOt-rivi .' vmea ior u wnat tnm. sir r- . T . uiunn . iu. uiiiupi y yu.1, jwaiujjue irom Deilg fo' lowed by your successors' in office j f will: tell you : your example itself A hinder Jt, and the, indignation' of von couiui;y wiuvu must now attend you un til you will consent to be forgotten! ' Thus it' cannot be. said you will L lived in. vain. Th defects inhuman laws have; usually, been owingto some defect ?n the knowledge of : human x Dravuv xour uuunoauon will havp tributedto enlarge the sphere, of such knowledge ; ahd.tfi'e method you he tlken to injure yo benefactor v. Ju lia ve rendered a real service, if not t him, at least to the government head ministers. 1 ) f j 4 . But to judge of the atrocity of principle of divulging the secrets ofth cabinet, We ought to reflect on the con. sequences to which it must lead. Th constitution of the United Suites has vested the supreme executive pnv. er in the hands of one man, called Pi-esident of the United States, and k has concen trated ajl the f responsibility in hijnJL' The laws have distributed the labor of the administration into several depart ments over each of-yhcb they h.ve placed a chief, called Secretary or keei er of secrets. The Presiclent norninate& these Secretaries, and removes them at pleasure ; he assembles them in hisca binct for consultaUGn, or he ccnsuK them separately ; he Obtains their opi. nions either in conversation' or 'in writ-, ing ; he adopts or rejects them at plea sure ; for it must noi .be forgotten that he alone is responsible for the acts ot the Executive j he alone is the Execut ive, No vv consultation supposes discus sion, ciouot. ainerent points ot iev., va riou degrees of infoniiation, change of opinion, existence of error and search after truths All this orocess is rnrfi. dential between him and his Secretary ; and for any of these heads of depart, rrients to divulge these discussions, without the consent of the, President, is ceasing to be hii Secretaries. ; It is & breach of the most sacre'cl tics(of hynor and of trust, it demolishes the whele fa bric of constituted authorities on' which'' the nation uad relied as a means of aid ing its Chief Magistrate . in managing its high concerns in their vast variety of details. If then his ministers have a right to publish his secrets, the consc-, quence is, he can trust Jlitm no longer,, he must do so' much of the work him self as his faculties will admit, and ,th& rest must be left undone. 13 ut Robert Smith has asserted this af a right, and iias acted upon it in a most licentious manner in the pam phlet now before us. JEfis conduct is u breach of official, and personal conf idence, as much more criminal than in a prisoner of war, is worse than break ing - prison. And what is sufhciently singular, he has committed this crims for the express purpose of proving to his fellow-citizens that he is a man of. falp.nt nnfVwnrthv nf his d:r.t. How, unlucky for him that it proves the re verse his own proposition ! But we will check the expression of our regret on the general character of the transaction, while we examine the internal merits of the pamphlet auJ compare its-statements with what is known to persons out of office, oris ea sily collected from the broad surface of circumstances open to every eye. We will not dwell on the insidious conduct of its author in confining his attacks as much as possible to things known only tnlhfi nersnn whose nffiri! ctati-vn 5hsn- lutely.prohibitsa reply ; weshall waste no time in noticing What must be obri- ous to tne reaaer m almost every page, ; a long premeditated design to vefttiiis malice on his benefactor in this way whenever the occasion should occur. He seems to have been two years col- lectlrio wftannns tn fio-ht thi Parthian battle, and? hurl back his arrows in 're- tVfat Rllt 1 urill ka l!l. U..Unv'tllPm at the sun in, the Zenith ; , they v ill pot; reach the effulgent object of-his hate, but, returning earthward from their fee ble flight, fall on their, owner's had In the delirium of his desire tb showi I us the President's opinion of his aleM he, lays great stress, upon the oaeref mission to Russia. He would hava made a much better thing of this if b& had adhered tn trnfh in his relatian ot kh facts, i We cannot .know what veaily passed m that private interview bcf.vec MrfSmith and 'the President, since v have only Mr. Smith totteil us ; but wtt know what afterwards past between Mi" Smith and nthrr nRnnl.. On corning out from the President's hpuse.we he informed the clerks m l?is office, atri some other) persons too, that he vtvi going, minister to Russia ; and he M this with apparent pririe and sansfactia On the same day 3ie handed a rote tf the -Editor of the National IntelUgH Cer announcing his npipination ; arid other- note soon? after 'appeared in ;th satrie paper magnifying the ;in)portame of this mission, declaring it tg be w the, most honorable appointment abroad that is in the gift , of our government'' j & mere eriitoria). declaration, which is new ridiculously attributed to Mr.'MadUufl Thia artifice is really too litU to W 1 Is. V v - -
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 12, 1811, edition 1
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