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MITXTJJ. P AUDIT MA'-lfZA'Z-'W. W37Mi- ''M":
Ourttic the plahi ftffalr, delightful Peace, ' , Jr ' i ; ? , ",' 71, . ; ! 'j; , v
"7iu " ' ' Friday, june ig, 1812. ,-: , , .; ' v' f V' : -:v3: v: ' 1
Relations with England.
COIIUESPONDEN'CE
nw Tllfc ltt INST.
CoofliweA-J
i . . o
Copy of Utter from Mr. Kasseu cc Vc
wor v r siattf. dated
j w
Jjmdaru, Jan. 14, 1812.
Sir I lament - hat u is not in my
, mi Kir th
power
to announce -
return ol 4ir. x a i, -r-
, vrrm here towards, the U. States
mo'rc just and favorable than that of
whirh we now compiaiu.
mation has bcen givento rte of an in
tcntion to abandon. the offending or
dc n in counciU I have not hitherto
made any representation in regard to
these orders in council and if they
arc to bz persisted ill, as Mr. Foster
declares, not only until ihe licrhn and
Milan decrees be entirety abrogated,
but until we compa the French gov
ernment to admit us in France with
the manufactures antl produce of O.
Britain and her colonies, it mast be
useless to sav any thing upoo the ub-u-ct.
The revolting extravagance of
these prcteusions i too manifest to be j
subject ol argument, ani ic ci7 -w-tcmpt
to reason diem down would
a Jmk that they are not too absurd lor
refutation.
Should Mr. Barlow furnish rne
with any new evidence of the discon
tinuance of the French edicts, so far
as they were in derogation of our rights,
1 shall present it to this government,
and once more (howcvcruoncccssary it
may appear) afford it an opportunity
-of revoking its orders, which can no
looger be pretended to rest on our ac
quiescence in decrees of its enemy,
IronAhe unrighteous operation of
which vre are specially exempted.
MR. RUSSELL TO M&, MONROE.
Londnt January 22, 1812.
SiR,--Yesterday 1 understood the
case of the Female, one of the vessels
captured under the orders in council,
came to trial before SirWm Scott.
He rejected a motion for time to pro
duce evidence of the revocation of
the Berlin and Milan decrees in re
liilon to the (J. States, and suggested
that there would be a question of law, If
i! such revocation, when shcvn,would j
be considered by the British govern
ment as sufficient to require the repeal
of the orders in council. At any rate
that he was bound to consider these
orders to he in force until heir re peal
should be notified to him by this go
vernment. Tile Female was con
demned. Extract of k letter fiom Mr. Russell to Mr.
Muuro, dtevl London, Feb. J, 1811.
k Siuce I had the honor last to ad
dress you, I have received vour com
munications of thctfoth of December,
through the good o&ces of Mr. Fos
ter. " While I lament the necessity, as
I most sincerely do, of the course in.
dicated by the proceedings of Con
gress ; yet it is gratifying to learn that
it will be pursued with vigor and una.
niinit) . I am persuaded that this go
vernment has presumed rwuch upon
cur weakness and divisions, and that
it continues to txlieve that we have
energy and. union enough to malce ef
ficient war. ,
4 1 have this moment learnt that
the Hornet has relumed from Cher
bourg to Gowts, and I understand by
a letter from the .Consul there,; that
there is a Mr. Porter on board, With
dispatches from Mr. Barlow to this
legation ; hut he has not yet made his
appearance here. I am obliged to dos?
this letter without waiting (or him, as
I understand the next post may not
arrive at Liverpool in season for the
Orbit," ;
Copj ufa Utter rem Mr. RutteU to tbr Seer eta
rj cj Sta:e. Ltcd London, Feb. 9, 1812.
Sir I have the honor to transmit
to you enclosed, a copy of a letter, da
ted the 29di ult. from Mr. Barlow,
und a copy of the notein which I yes
terdav commumrated that letter to
" tke Marquis Wcllcsley. ' : . -
Although the proof of the revocation
of the Fr-nch decrees contaiued in the
letter of Mr. Birlow, is, when taken by
itself,' of rf o veiy conclusive character,
yet it ought, when connected with that
previously exhibited to this government,
to b-5 admitted as satisfactorily estab
lishing that revoca'ton ; and in this viw
I have thought it to be my duty t6 pre
sent it here.
MR. RUSSELL TO THE M ARQ.. WELLKSLE V.
London, February 8, 1812
My Lord I have the honor here
with to hand to your Lo;dhipa copy of
a letter addressed 10 me on the 29th of
last month, by Mr. Barlow, the Ameri
can Minister at Pari. ;
I have felt some hesitation in conv
municating this letter to your Lordship,
lest my motive might be mistaken, and
an obligation appear to be admit led on
the pan of the United States to furnish
more evidence of theicvocation of the
Berlin and Milan Decrees than has al
ready been furnished, or than has been
necessary to their own conviction. I
truit, howeyer, that my conduct on this
occasion, will be ascribed only to an ear
nest desire to prtvent the evils which a
continued diversity of opinion on this
subject might unhappily produce.
The case of the Acastus necessarily
implies that American vessels, captur
ed by the cruisers of France, are adjudg
ed by the trench navigation laws only,
and th3t the Berlin and Milan decries
make no part of these law, the Acastus
being Acquitted, notwithstanding the faci
of her having been boardtd by an Eng
lish Vessel of war.
To the declaration of Mr. Barlow,
that since his icsidcnce at Paris, there
had been no instance of a vessel, either
under the Berlin or Milan decrees, be
ing detained or molested by the French
government, I beg Itave to add that pre
vious to his residence, and subsequent
to the first of November, 1810, these
decrees were not executed in violation of
the neutral or national rights of the U.
Sates.
Whatever doubts might rnve origin
ally been entertained of the efficient na
ture of the revocation of thuse decrees,
on account of the form in which that
measure was announced, those doub'.s
ought surely now to yttld to the uniform
experience of 15 months, during which
period not a si.gle fact has occurred to
justify them.
I do not urge, io confirmation of this
revocation, the admission of American
vessels with cargoes arrived in tne ior;s
of France afier.having Couched in Enp
land, as stated by Mr. Barlow, and as ac
cords wkh what occurred during my re
sidence at Paris, because such admis
sion is evidence only of the cessation of
the municipal operation of the decrees
in relation to the U. States, of which it
cannot be presumed that the Biitish go
vernment requires an account.
I cannot forbear to persuade myself
thalthe;roof now added to thr mass that
wus already befo e your Lordship will
satisfactorily establish, in the judgment
of his Britannic M jesiy's government,
the revocation of the decrees in question,
and lead to such a repeal of the u.ders in
council, in regard to the- U. Slates, as
will restore the friendly relations and
commercial intercourse between the two
countries.
MR. BARLOW TO MB. RUSSELL.
Par it, 29:6 January, 1812.
Sir The ship Acastus, captain Cot
tle, from Norfolk, bound to Tcnningen,
with tobacco, had been boarded by -an
English frigate and was taken by a
French privateer and brought into Fe
camp for the fact of having been so
boaided. This was in Nov. last; On
the 2d of Dec. I stated the facts to the
Duke of Bassano : and in a few days af
ter the ship and cargo were ordered by
the Emperor to be restored to the own
crs on condition that she had not violat
ed the French navigation laws, which
Latter question was sent to the Council
of prizes to determine. The Council
determined tht no such violation had
taken place, and the ship and cargo
were definrely restored to capt. Cottle.
To the above fact, I can add that since
my . residence here several American
vessels with cargoes have arrived and
been admitted in the ports of France af
ter having touched in England, the fact
being declared; and there is no instance
within that period of a vessel in either
of the cases oft he Berlin and Milan de
crees being detained or molested by the
rrench government.
1 xri, Ctc,
J. BARLOW.
MW. RUSSELL TO MR. MONROE.
London, 22d beb 1812.
SIR I have the honor to hand you
enclosed a copy of a letter to me from
the earl of Liverpool, relating to a per
son by the name of Bowman, said to be
a British subject, and'forcibly detained
on board the United S ates' ship Hor
net, together with copies of the depo
sition of Elirabeth Eleanor Bowman
which accompanied it, and of my reply.
THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL TO MR RUSSELL.
foreign Ojjict, 2Qib Feb' 1812.
SIR I have the honor to transmit to
you the copy of an affidavit, sworn at
Portsmouth by Elizabeth Eleanor Bow
man, stating herself to be the wife of
Wi liam Bowman, one of his majesty's
subject, now detained against his will
on beard the United States sloop Hor
net, at present in Cowes' road.
You cannot but be aware of the urgent
necessity of putting the facts, alledged
in this document, ir.to an immediate
tram of investigation ; and I am to re
quest that you will communicate, with
out loss of time, with the commanding
otn;er of the Hornet, in order that he
may afford you all information in h s
power, Lnd th.it the vessel may not put
o sea before the result of the . inquiry
shall be ascertained, in a manner satis
factory to yourself and to this govern
ment. You must likewise be aware, that this
government has no power to prevent
the issuing of a writ of habeas corpus by
the friends of Bowman ; and that, in
that case, it would be impossiole to im
pede or delay its execution, and the con
sequent temoval of this question out of
the hands ot the two governments, into
those of the legal force and authorities
of this country?
Anxious to prevent any such proceed
ing, the inconveniences which, even if
they did not involve the possibility of a
forcible execution of the l gal process,
might yet be considerable, I request
your immediate attention to this com
munication and I confidently hope that
you will, by affording the means of un
amicable invesrigation, supercede the
necessity, in which the friends of Bow
man may otherwise feel themselves, of
'aking the course to which I have before
alluded.
Here follows an affidavit in relation to the
seaman
MR. RUSSELL TO THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL.
London 2Ul Feb. 1812.
My Lord I have the honor to inform
your Lordship that the U. S alts sloop
Hornet left Cowes on the 13th of this
nw'i'h. The statement of this fact does
away,'I piesume, the necessity of a more
particular reply to your Lordship's note
of yesterday, concerning William Bow
man, a seaman on bo;rd that ship.
Extract of a letter from Mr. Russell to Mr.
Monroe, dated London March 4, 181 L
41 Many American ves els which had
for a considerable time been wind bouud
in the ports of this couniry were a.
length released on the 29th ult. by an
easterly, wind, and took tftetr departure
for the United S:alcs. By some cf thos;
vessels, pirticularly 4 the Friends," you
will have received many letters from me
-and you,will have learnt, as nearly as
it was irrmy power to inform you, what
in your letter of the 1 8th Jan. you desire
to know namely, " the precise situation
of our affairs wi h EngLnd.''
44 Since my lexers of the 19th and 22d
ult. which I trust will have extinguish
ed .11 expectation of any change heie,
the motion of Lord Ensdowne, on the
23th of Feb. and that of Mr" Brougham
yes'erday, have been severally debated
in the respective Houses of Parliament,
I attended the discussions on both, and
if any thing was wanting to. prove the
inflexible determination of. the present
ministry to persevere in the orders in
council without modification or relaxa
tion, the declarations of the leading!
memoers oi aaminis rauon, on iwesc oc
casions, must place it beyond the possi
bility of. doubt. .. In both Houses these
leaders expressed a disposition to for
bear to canvass,' in the present state of
our relations', the conduct of the U. S.
towards England, as it could not be done
without reproaching her in a manner to
increase the actual irritation,' and to do
away what Lord Bathurst stated to be
the fttbti hopes of preventing war.
"in inc nouse.oi commons, iwr.
Rose virtually confessed, that the or
ders in council were maintained to pro:
mote the ' trade of England at the ex -
pence: cf. neutrals, and as a measure of
(I commercial rivalry; with the U. States
When Mr. Canning inveighed ..gainst
this new (he must have mant newly
acknowledged) ground of. defending
these orders,, and contended that they;
could be just ified only on the principle of
retaliation on which they were avowed
ly instioittdi and that they were intend
ed to produce the effects of an actual
blockade, and liable to all the incidents
of such blockade- that is, that they
were meant only to distress the enemy
rand that G. Britain hadno right to
defeat this operation; by an intercourse
with that enemy which she denied to
neutrals, Mr. Perceval replied, " that
the orders were still supported on the;
principle of retaliation, hut tnat this ve-'
ry principle involved the license trade ;
for as Frunqe, by her decrees, had said
that no nation should trade with her
which traded with England, England
retorted, that no country should trade
with France but through England. He
assertt d, that neither the partial nor e
ven the total repeal of the Berlin and
Milan decrees, as they related to Ameri
ca, or to any other naion, or all other
na ioiis, could form any claim on the
ilri'ish governmept while the continen
tal, system, so called, continued in opera
tion. He denied that this system, or
any part of ihe Berlin and V.ilan de
crees were merely municipal They
had not been adopted in lime of peace
wi.h a tiew of internal regulation, but in
a time of var with a hostile pufpose to
wards England. Eveiy clause and par-,
tide of them were to be considered of
a nature eniireiy belligerent, and as
such, requiring resistanceand u hom
ing retaliaiion on the part of C Britsin.
It was idle and absurd to suppose that
G. Britain was bound, in acting on the
principle of irtaliatjon in these times, to
return exactly, und in form, like for like,
and to ch6e the object and fashon, the
mode of executing it, preciscSy by tlu
measures of the enemy 1 :d ptinp
hese measure's, France had b okcn thro'
all the restraints imposed -by the bw.,
of nations, and trodden under foot the
grxal conventional code received by the
civilized world -as prescribing rules for
its conduct in war as well as in peace.
In this sta'e of things England was. not
b und any longer to shackle herself with
this code-, aiid by so doi?g be-come the
utiresis ing vict im of the' violence of her
enemy, but she was ; herself released
from the laws of nations and lef; at liber
ty to resoit to any mesons within 'her
pover to injure and disvress that enemy
'nd to brnv, it back to an observance
of ihe jus gentium vyhkh ii had so eg'e'
giously arid v-aotoniy viola'.ed. Nor
was' England to be ,TeUiced any more
in the extent l .an in the form of reta
liation ; but -he had a right, both as to
he quaiii y and manner to mllkt upon
the enemy alt the evsl in her power, un
lil this enemy should retrace its steps,
and renounce, not only verbally but
practically, its decrees, its continental
system and every other of its belliger
ent measures incoriipatible with the bJd
acknowledged iavvs; of nations. What
ever neutrals might suffer from the re-
ahatory measures of England was pure
ly incidental, and as no injustice was in
tended to them they had a right to com
plain of none. And he rej . iced to ob
serve that no charge of J tuch injustice
had that night beer) brought forward in
the housed As England was contend
ing for the defence of her maritime
rights and for the preservation of her
national existence, which essentially de
pended on the maintenance of those
t ights, she- could not be expec-ed, in the
prosecution. of this gieat and t primary
inierest Unarrest o vary her course to
I sten to the pretensions of neutral na
tions, or to remove the evils, however
they'might be regretted which the im
perious policy of the times indirectly
and unintentionally extended to them.''
u A the newspapers of this morning
give but a vejry-imperfect, report of his
speevh of Mr.' Perc eval, I have thought
it to be my du y to present you with a
more particular account of the doctrines
which were maintained in it, and which
so vitally affect the rights and interests
of the United States. .-,r. r.
I no longer entertain a hope that
we can honorably avoid hWar." y .
Extract of a letter from Mry Russell to the
Secretary of State. ,' London, April; 9. 1812.
, u Since my last : respects to you, no
thing of; importance to us has occurred
here. . - i
1 i 1 hi' i .i I, .
; BLANKS,4 OFVEVERY KIND, ;
May b kad at the moisrk-Office
FURTHER'COR RESPOKBENCE,
;.:-' ' jv-
, On the 5th inst. the President of the
United States' communicated 5 to Con(
gress a very, lbn; letter from Mr Fos '
ter, the British Minister, ioher$ecre-
tary of State, inclosing a Teportbf vthie
Duke of Bassahof of.the;iOthf Marchi,
to Bonaparte, from which, He insists' tip- -on
it, it isuite clear that he Berlin and
Vlilan nrrpft ath cftll in in- a . U i . :h lit.
- ..w,nw.u a. ,uxtt... nun : j w 1.
ii jiia v i&!u4aj ac uccii maue in at ya-i
few instances, as anjencouragement to
A mefica . to adopt a System beneficial tb -France
and injurious tdGreat-Britain,-?i.
That it is therefore 4 impossible for. G.
Britain to rescind her orders in council
whilst the French -decrees are officially-. -declared
to remain ; in force agajnst all
nations nol' suiscrlDng;t6.'i'ke iie;w- ma- 'r
ritime code promulgated in thosede.v
crees and also Without something rriorf
explicit on the part of lArnerica with re
gard ' to her understanding as ' to' the ,
conditions anhexed by France to the re
peal of thosedetreesi r uFbrane what
had passed, unless a full and satisfactory
explanation be made oh both these points
G. Britain cannot refinqtiish her retail
;tory system1 against ;rantefMt)iqii&
implying her Pconseht to the admissibi
lity of the conditions qujestion i
, 'America must fej;I tnat BdnapaRe'ts
not acting, as indeed he never; has;, act
ed, with any view of establishing prirTci
pl s of real freedoin jwith respect iq t&
vigation but is melefy.fndeavonh .
cloak his determination. If possible,vto
ruin Great-Britain , by ; hover demand
and rejected -theories' 6f maritime-law j
and America must see thai Bona partc'f
object is to exclude B-itish commerce
from every coast ad port of the conti? .
nent ; and that in pursuft of this object, 1
trampling on the rights cf independent
states, which lie as insultingly terms a
guarantee thus making thernost solemn
and sacred term in the lavv of nations
syriioninious withusiirpation of territory
and extinction of independence. Ame
rica must see, that p all the states hi
therto in his power have been seized on
q guarantee his system, her is nbw jpro
ceeding to destroy whatever re mains' of
independence in other! neutral states to
make that guarantee complete, ' From
his want of power, lo pass the Atlantic;
with his, armies (a
wani oi power i't
are indebted to the .
which the Ui States
oa.v-1 superiority oq
system of a guaranteeing force, may fail
as to America, butjas, he cannot horc
to shut American! ports against Great
Bri'ain by occupancy and invasion, ,he
hopes tri tffect hisf purpose y Vmnagt - ,
ment and fraud, and to accomplish that
by insidious relaxation which he canr ot
accomplish by" power." ;
" I am commar ded to represent, to
'he government of jmerica," that (i rea t
Britain feels herself, entitled "toex;et t
from them an undeserved arid car.diil
disclaimer of the right of France to in.- I
pose on" her and on the world the .ro-ir -time
code. which has heen thus y opI
gated, and, to the penalties of wbt..iV
merica is, herself qeclar'ed; to te liaole ;
if she fails to submit herself to Ui ex
actions ; Americalpanrot, for her owu,
character, any longer temporise on llvs
subject, or delay coming; to a dUth ct
explanation with France as well as' with
Great Britain, Mfshef wishes to clear;
herself from the imputation of being si u
abettor of such injustice." , , ' ;
i A mtiri. r th-'rasfi nhur slanrl I' '.'.
tiot'a pretence forjclaiming from jGgat iJfyU
Bntain a repeal of'her Orders irt'pon-. ZHm
ciU She must recollect th?lhe lJruisU
government :rieverbr a monteht; cbun
tenattced thelideajthatthereralcf those
Orders could cfepend upon any partial
or conditional repeal 'of the becres. of
France. What she always avowed was
her readiness to : rescind her Orders in
Council as spon'as'France rescind ed ab solutely
and ncdhcthiohally her decrees.
he cduli.(ndtv:eHtr any otier eh
gSgerbenV without Ihe grossestinjslice
to hertailiesas i'-'wcll asithe nemralyjna-. .
tions in generate much less could she do
so if any special kxet ption was to; tfe v
granted,by fradcej upon jcondii ions hu ;
erly ubversivej of the most important
aodndtspotaide maritime rights oil the
British mhirel"!; t '. : 'sJi . I -fr ."':
VV nusi tuum ucrauauc.in. kZTtr
sell, nowtvererrpneousiy, mat tue .ier4 ?m
till, aiiU iJii vvSvias..u;y v'1'
and tpirali ialdd that jhfc ie-"
cution of thi ehgagernent made oifJLhat
Icondition M: ihe j British . governnjtnt
nau oceniUeciiUCQ,yonc uiiwi vvti i
justifiable, as 'a consequence of su;h a
' a T Hi
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