Newspapers / Raleigh register, and North-Carolina … / April 17, 1812, 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
a rev a- A t- Attn ' -viV -V;V:f vv-.j '1 ' . t. ' Onri are tbe tolafli at fair. deHvlitf&l Pea. - .UwMp'd by putjr rtje, to live like BcoUieftij'tv , '; .:.-.. Vol. XUI. FRIDAY APRIL 17, 1812. i - . . IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OT COMMONS, FEBRUABY 13. JJUEJIIC and EXGLAXlh TTtpitDKAQ said all tirrccdin the iUUU . . ... . v Aav wmac confession, mar wirwuw '"" to be deprecated, ana an agrecu iu wu fessing that this 'event was but too pro bible. TheBriiish government, and the, government of America, gentlemen veil knew, bad each, since ihr very be ginning of the commercial and political diicussions nhich had arisen between thera, professed the mo-it amicable and conciliatnTf dispojitions. And yet it was strange, with ail this professed friendly ditpositiorion the part of Grrat Britain towards America, and with. all. this pro fessed friendly disposition oh the part of America towards Orest-Uruain, tne breach between the two countries had been widened, till thej now saw, from the nature of the President's speech on the "opening of Congress, that war must infallibly be the consequence of Britain M .it..!iii. In tnif tvclpfn tn u'hirh tabitiiu -j she had adhered Tor the last hve years. To'this noint they had now come, and the case between the governments of Biitain and Amenca was corapieteiy before the w bole world, save and except the bri'iish Parliament. In America it was distinctly known by all men, how the question stood between that country and France, and between that country and Britain. Iff France it was equally well known how affairs were situated between that empire and Aroericar and between America and Britain, and eve ry person uho rhose to read a newspa per cn the subject, might possess them selves of equal information. Now, then, he wou'd be glad to know, why this in-J formation, so universally . notorious, sfiould he denied to the British House of Commons?- The refusal oucht to be justified on the grounds that if the papers were produced, secrets might be discovered injurious to the public inter ests; that the governments with which we were negotiating had an extreme dislike to the? e disclosures ; that they had impeded, or would impede, negocia tiont, and m number of other and simi lar pleas. But to the present instance, thtrc were no such pleas to urge. He arked for nothing more than was con tained in the two booksnow in his hands, printed by order of the American Con gress. He could not, at present, refer to them as Parliamentary documents, but, he would say, he saw in these pa pers great rrasonsto blame the persons engaged in carrying on the negotiations With America.' Feeling this, it was im possible to be sa isfied with the situa tion in which they wete placed, debar red, as a Houe, being in that charac- lhoseSitb misconduct to whom, in his opinion, misconduct was so justly im Dutable. ' The rieht honorable gentle man oocJoiire f.he Chancellor of the -r t - x Exchequer) had declared to thm, that he would couijsernhis country to bear with more from America than from a ny other it ate. Then it followed, if he was right in this opinion, that they ought also to have been more strictly observ ant of Dunctilious decorum and respect toward America than toward! any of the old powers of Europe. But he was sorry to say, so far from this having been the case, it would be shewn hy the papers, if produced, that the great- csi inaiicnuon naa ocen aiipisypu 10- warris.the American Ministers; so rreat indeed, as to amount to diploma tic incivility to those employed in this country, and to the most unconciliating spirit towards those in America, with whom communications were carried on since the lime of Mr. Erskine. Having read the whole ot the correspondence, although deDrived of the meanvof re ferring to it as an oQicial document, he W2s compelled ;to say, that, in his'opi nion.'both the' instructions to Mr. Fos ter by Ms government or the manner in which he carried these instructions into execution, had failed to effect either conciliation or amity. There was also iwncr coTresptinoence, wnicn uc usu in vain moved for last session, between our minister for foreign affairs (Mar cruts Welleslcy)'and Mr. Pinkney, which had been carried on- with like uccess,' and terminated in the American minis ter's leaving this country. Of Mr. Pink nry he need say little : be was a man of sound sense and judgment, of an able and acute mind, and of the highest rei putation. He was a man who had con cLcted himself during his residence la this country, in a manner tho most ho norable to himself, and likely to benefit both nations. - At all times, taking the most impartial view of the different in terests concerned, his conduct, though firm, had been most 'conciliatory. Without losing sight of the claims of the country with wnich he was entrust ed, he had at all times approached the minister! with whom he was in treaty with respect, attention and deference Firm to his purpose, and able to eluci date the subjects under discussion, he had never failed either in time, punc tuality, or mode'of procedure in his mission He would he could say as much for those with whom Mr, Pink- ney had intercourse. But it was not so, and it was impossible to say that gentleman had been treated with the proper and punctilious ceremotiy he me rited by the Marquis Wellesley, At the period when this correspond ence commenced, a great soreness pre vailed in America, on account of the rupture with Mr. Jackson. The feci- Wngs of that country were in a state of extreme irritation ; and this topic was the subject of Mr. Pinkncy's first letter to the noble Mtrquis. One would have thought at such a time that a minister would have felt that no want of decorum i i u i ! or attention on nis pan, suouiu uc su peradded to augment the unpleasant feeling already too prevalent ; but it so happened that to thi3 veryletter of Mr. Pjnkney, of the 2nd Janum, on the subject of another minister's being ap pointed In the room of Mr. Jackson, no answer was returned until the 14th of March. Upwards of two months of pre cious time were wasted, during which Mr. Pinkney, aware that some time might be 'necessary, waited with the most patient respect and decorum. On the 15th of February the American Mi nister again wrote to the British Secre tary, on the subject of our blockade, one of the most important in di :ussal, and in all its bearings, between the two coun tries. To this no ans.wcr was returned till March 2. Again, on the 30th of April, Mr. Pinkney addressed a letter to Lord Wellesley, relative to J he Ber lin and Milan Decrees, which were con sidered as the chief source of all exist ing differences, and therefore merited the most earnest and immediate atten tion ;but to this Utter no answer was ever returned. O.i the 3d of May fol lowing, another letter was sent to our Foreign Secretary, complaining of the forging of ship papers, carried on in London, by which British ships and pro perty were made to appear as Ameri can. This traffic was alleged to be o penly and notoriously carried on, and it was not possible to conceive one more infamous lb the nation where practis ed, or injurious to the country against which it was directed. Yet this charge of iifamy against Britain, this injustice and injuy to America, was passed over in utter silence, and no answer whate ver to the letter was returned. On the 23d June, Mr. Pinkney again wrote, rer fcrnng to his letter of 'he 30 h April, on the subject of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and requesting an answer ; but no answer was returned. On the 7th of Ju-y, he wrote again relative to the appointment of a minister in the room of Mr. Jackson, (his first subject on the 2d January), and even at this distance of time received no official answer, but merely a verbal assurance or private note, that a minister would immediately be sent 6uUr, On the 8:h of August, Mr. Pinkney once more" wrote, referring to his letters of the 23d June and 30th A pril, but could obtain no answer. On the 2 1st August, he again by letter pressed the subject of blockade, but could obtain no answer. On the 25th of the same month he again wrote to state, the revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and to this communica tion our Minister at length condescend ed to send a reply. The next part of the correspondence Was another letter from Mr. Pinkney,! relative to a misap prehension of Sir James Saumarez, on the nature of the blockade at Elsineur, and the impressing of certain seamen from an American ship. To the form cr subject an answer was returned ; but of the latter no notice was taken. He had indeed been much surprised at the whole course of this correspondence, bur-at-this particular period his aston ishment was greater than ever. TJiat a subject so keenly felt by America, "as the impressing of her citizens, should be entireljr passed over in .silence, was be- yond all former neglect and inattention. All the' world knew that this point was the one on which the greatettiifli6uUy existed in negotiating an amicable ad justment between the countries, and that our conduct towards(AmeVican sea men stood more in the way of concilia tion than my' other matter whatever. Surely then such an apportunity ought not to have been neglected ; surely it was the duty of. the British .Minister to show, by his speed and attention to the subject, that he was as anxious to evince the spirit of conciliation as to profess it, and that, knowing how fatal to the in terests of this countrv a rupture whh A merica would be, he would have eager ly embraced the opening presenting it self, to demonstrate our amicable inten tions, and remove one of the sorest griev ances complained of. But, no ! 1 reluc tantly and coldly was the answer on this subject wrung forth not from the noble secretary, not by letter from him, bu. practically by the discharge of these seamen, by Sir William Scott, in the court of admiralty, thereby acknowledg ing ana declaring the right and justice of the claim urged oirthe part of Ame rica. This was the conciliation of the noble secretary, that he permitted the sentence of a court of justice to give a practical answer to a Foreign minister, whom he would not take the trouble cf putting pen to paper to satisfy on so In teresting a point. On the 2 1st of Sep tember. Mr. Pinkney found it necess3ry again io addressihe British government, and referring to his letters of oOih A pnl, 23d June, and 8th August, on the subjtct of the Berlin and Milan decrees, he urged an immediate answer, as his government had long been in expecta tion of a communication on that head. Again, on the 8th and 10th December, he wrote, and with these letters conclu ded bis correspondence, being unable to obtain any satisfactory information, and soon after he demanded hi audience of leave of the Prince Rvgtnt. lit was shortly subsequent to this period that the Prince Regent delivered a speech to Parliament, through his commissioners, in which the subject of America was al luded to. But the paragraph in which this allusion was contained, was, he musi confess, expressed in very equivocal lan guage. It stated he Regent's earnest wish to bring the di-cussio' s with Ame rica to an amicable termination But wivhes might exist where there was no hopr, and this seemed to be the case here, where the speech from the throne induced a belief that negotiations were pending between the countries of which a favorable issue might be anticipated, when in fact there was no such thing, for the discissions for the time had ter minated, and it was not a continuation, hu' a resumption of them which ensued :n the nrgociations opened by Mr. Fos ter. Some time -after this, Mr. Foster had been sent out to America, and the correspondence between him and the government of the United States, hai, 3S he before mentioned, been published. At the period of this mission, much was rxper.ted from it. It was thought that Mr. Foster had gone out with other and new powersbeyond what had b. -en in trusted to -any preceding negociator. But in this respect, expectation was grievously disappointed ; for he carried with him to America only re-statements of points and matters which had been stated over and over again before, and to which he could receive no other an swers but such as had before been as repeatedly given. From such a mis sion, it was indeed vain- to look for any beneficial result. Neaily connected witTK the subject which it was now his ear nest wish to impress upon the House, was that which involved the considera tion of the Orders io Council. But from this he would entirely abstain, and the rather, as it would be brought un der their view in a regular manner, in the course of a few days, on a notice given by an honorable friend of his (Mr. Brougham). He would not ,now stop to inquire whether the Orders iq Coun cil were wise and politic whether thost measures had ever been acted up to whether it had ever been possible to car. ry them fully into effect. He; would not now trouble, the House with an investi gation into the object and nature of the Berlin and Milan Decree's, or whether or not these decrees had been repealed -T-all these matters, as he had already stated, would come more fitly under dis cussion on the .motion of his honorable friend.; and he. hoped with a better at tendance than the present numbers in; theHouse disclosed. The whole object and effect of the motion, with which iti was his intention to conclude was aim- ply for' information -for ihforniafidri to enable them to judge officially of the con duct of ministers. who, as he had all a- long apprehended, had bVonght this country wo. inc; verge? oi awar wnn a merica. -Frorq the wholet?nor of their conduct, while, professing conciliation and regard, such ,had been the result which he nticipated,'and which their situation at this moment proved to be a suspicion but too well founded. . Mr. Whitbread said he had detailed the order of the correspondence he would now state the result. On the 5th November, as'was generally known, the President of the United States sent the opening Message to Congress, and, on the 29th, the Report of what was called the Committee on Foreigh Relations was made. The nature and tendency of these documents were apparent. There could be no doubt of the feelings which predominated in. the 'American govern ment and the mass of the people. Their view of the matter was clear and deci ded ; and, from their, tone, it was evi dent, the mission of Mri Foster had been ineffectual ; in point of fact, that it had terminated. In this condition stood mat ters at the present moment, and he could anticipate no g.od ground on which his motion c?iuM be refused ; but he wjs aware of many arguments by whichthe House should be influenced to concur in pressing for the information he now d madded. He was aware that the papers he asked for were voluminous, and had no claim to novelty, and that therefore, it would be somewhat of a task to read them through. But their importance merited that attention, and they could expect no less voluminous documents on a question, .which, I tk.r the peent, had been protracted from year to year. He did not enter into, the discussion, whether the Orders itvCcuncil were wise ; whether America had acted with partiality towards France ; whuher she had shewn a hostile disposition to this country ; whether the Orders in Goun cil had been, or could be acted up to ; no man could doubt that their result was the utmost commercial distress and dif ficulty. No man could doubt but that if the American market was opened to our manufactures, it would be a deep and signal blessing. No man could doubt that a war with that country would be a great evil, and that it va3 impossible to foresee the consequences. It was indeed an easy thing Lr gentlemen t' talk (as gentlemen had talked, and others had written) of chastising America -of pun ishing her and even of annihilating her. Il was not in our power to punish Ame r i . : nca ; ; ny our lormer misconouci anu mal-government we had made her a great 5c independent power ; and it was now ridiculous to talk of annihilation, which our greatest efforts were incom petent to accomplish ; as for conciliation, if he had spoken forty eigt hours soon er, he would have said the time f r that 1 was past. He would have thought that the Constitution frigate, which bailed from France with dispatches on the 9th of last month, had carriedout the final determination :of the relations between the countries' But wi hin the sho t time he had mentioned their had b?en an ar rival from America, which had excited sensations of a "different nature, and cre ated very sanguine hopes, in his opinion too sanguine. By this arrival it was un derstood, that a b 11 was in progress through Congress, hy which all goods binci'jidc Americanxproperty, or which had been contracted for inithis country previous to the 1st February, 1811, should be allowed to be imported freely into American ports. If this bill pass in to a law, it must be obvious, according to the system of licenced fraud and per jury now, Unhappily for the moral cha-. racter ' of the country introduced into the whole circle of British commerce, that any quantity of goods from Britain, might be sworn to, and imported. tnta America. The intelligence had excited a very great sensation in the jaiercantUe world, rnd the joyto which if hacl given rise was a clear and sufficient proof of Thextensive relief that would be given were the pofts of America to be .wholly opened to British. trade. But this could not be expected, while the baneful sys tem of the Orders in Council was so ob- J sfmately persisted in a system which was now deserted by its tnosjKsangfUint. advocates, and to approve of which Jere was now hajrdiy s one : merchant." Jo' tic found in the British empire--ootohTc.but would acknowlege that every hope they had entertained of any good result from these otders had been grievously & ut terly disappointed: -But he callej for no decision on tnesequestion$informatfoa was Jiis sole Object; 'rHe confessecT that America was yjerji? He had ever looikeri to her eon reverence, anjl respect,? and considered the issue tf:hercont trjras o hbbje a Conflict deserved. Hef felt no jealousy of her greatness, for her was convinced, lhat with proper treat-; ment,,the more America floiarishibei , more might Britain i be : prosperous. It had been alleged that America had been swayed by a secret hostility. agaiqst us : He denied that ansuch ' inference ' Could X be drawn. They had done! no more than we or any other nation would have done?' ia her situation, f As the only neutral a- mong contending pbwersi she.had en deavored to avail herself Of that condi tionbut so fur was he from believing that she had been guided by iojustice to wards France, or-towards' Britain, he was free to state his firm and decided o pinionrthat America! hid ben. treated with injustice both bv Br tain & France. France had demanded of America what wasr i m possible'for hqr to performand Britairrhad also required Of her the per- formance of an impossibility.- In this situation,' after suffering as long as pos sible, she had at length reported to mea sures of self-projtec0ono'''tit'vain6t ill compelled to it by, the belligerent that she adapted the embargo, arjd after wards the non-intercourse act. It did not appear then that the'eharge of injus tice was applicable to America, but to ' England and France. ; France, howevtr- was wise enongh to be the first to recede from her unjust pretentions, and- would consequently reap the benefit of conces sion,1 and conciliation. The, news that had lately arrived from" America offered a still more forcabie inducement to the House to accord with his motion ; for IF the bdl alluded to pass into a law, which would 1e beneficialjo Britain, it would , no doubt, give umbrage to France, and they, ought tobe on.the alert to take ad j - vantage of so tavofable an opportunity, and Restore peace and friendshi between' two countries, which ought, for their mutual welfare, to be ever firmly united The hon- gentleman concluded by mo- ving for the papers p question. ) L -LIST OF: LETTERS - In tb& Raleigh Post &jjicel 3Ut March, 1812. BAHTLETT ALLEN, or Peleg Rogers, Wm, Andrews, Nelson Andrews, Briton Aycpck. Peter Brown, J qhn B rassfiel John Baucom, Sally Blackman, Jpbn Brown, jfacob Bledsoe, jun'r, Joseph BarSee, James Brown, Jacob Bledio.or John Bledsoe,. J ch A Beildle, J ames Burro vs. Mark Cook,' 6, Jdseph J. ' Clinch, William Corti, Mr Cook, Tabitha Curtis, Misst Mary -H Curtis, 'John Chevjs, Nancy Chapman, Hintoii Curtis,' Lem'J Coolc, Clerk of the Sup Court; Michael Uismukcs, 'Benjam.n Dunn, Josian:Piilard, Hardy Dean, Day;d Daitqn jr Win pAvis. Wain Evans,' Warsharri Ellington. Thomas Edwards. Abl Fairman. . Peachy R Gilmer, Henry A. Griz zard, Jno.Greefi, Andrew tGlenn. Marj Hood, Arch'd Henderson, Henry Hill, Edward Hat field, Theophilus Hunter. 2, Jonas and 1 shm Hendon, David H!nton.' ., Jude JohmonJ Cadwallader Jonfs, Gideon Johnsbn, Martha C Jones, Robert N Jeffreys, Starling Johnson, ; Nicholas Jordan, r. Rulings worth or Geog.e Bell, Berry King Hartwejl King. jJNjicholas Lewis, John Lewis i Samuel F. Lambert 3, Joel Lane, Samuel t11es, . William Love, - Sa muel Lowrie, Lewis Lashfee, Benjamin Lane, liss Elizabeth Lewpour(at Willie Jones's) ' Benj. Medearis. Martin Nail," Wihna tfozris, John Norns, John Nutu Hinton Pugh, Tho mas Price, James Peters jun. Rev'd J. Puri foy, Robett Powell. Benjamin;H.' Rice, Isaac -Rutan, Wilson Robinson.; Mrs. A. RicV Jo seph Rea&onoor, John Riley, jun. Willing;ton Richardson, Samuel Reaves.; Malcora .Shaw, Littleton Sledge, Samuel Scarbor4ngh," Al&ey Sanders, John Sanders (care of James Peters Miss' Elizabeth StilU Solomon Terrell . Jod Terrel. 7 Woodson Vaden, Elizabeth Vander. grift, Wm. Vincent, Edward Varner. F Robert Wynne, Randolph Webb 3, Nancy WiUiarr.sV HartVell Winn and Agness. McGee. ! 5$ DANIEL DU PKfi, Ass, P. M. ! Town Lots for Sale. THE Commissioners. appointed by an ;ct of the JasV General Assembly, to lay off Town, &c at Granville court-house, will cti . fe? for sale to'tbe highest bidder, the lots of the town of Oxford, - iaid but pursuant to au ' tbority, on the premises, Thursday the 7th of May next. The sale will continue frcev day to day until all the lots arc aold. The terms of sale are, bond with approved security', lor the payment Of the purchase Money- on the 20th of AnriL liBl "1 V -T v ; THE-COMMISSIONERS. STRAYED AWAY, l r T? ROM my Plantatwnhear Taxhorough, no : JS the night of Tnesdaythlst of March, a BROWNAX. tiuir, upwaroaot d teet light toiinaer. x expect nc wm mase ms way , for HUIsDoroV as . waa urea or voianep pard, near that, place, ; Any, person securing or sending him to me, so thatI get him,-shah beliberallywwarded. I ! i r vvv HENRY COTTEN.; j Tarboro.AprU2,1812; SSSr - f- 3. r i . a Hi t.' f;r Pi hi f-.. St. i;, - -3 ! -1
April 17, 1812, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75