Part 73

The motion was agreed to without opposition, and Mr. BURWELL and Mr. GARDNER appointed a committee to wait on the President accordingly.

Conduct of the British Minister.

The House resumed the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday, being the resolution from the Senate approving the conduct of the Executive in refusing to receive any further communication from Francis James Jackson, &c.

The resolution was ordered to be read a third time.

To-morrow was named as the day on which it should be read a third time, and negatived, ayes, 32.

The resolution was then ordered to be read a third time to-day.

Mr. NEWTON.--Mr. Speaker: It is with regret, sir, I feel myself constrained to offer some observations on the resolution from the Senate now on its passage.

I am not ignorant that I am trespassing on your patience, and that, at this late period of the discussion, I address you to no little disadvantage; but I derive, under such discouragement, great satisfaction in knowing that your politeness and indulgence are at all times the same.

I lament, sir, that the discussion has not been confined to the subject which the resolution presents for consideration, but as I had no control over the debate, I am compelled to pursue it through the meanders it has taken.

As silence on the observations which have been made, though on points foreign to the one in debate, may be ascribed to an acquiescence in their justness, I cannot refrain from apprising you that I hold myself bound to answer such as shall, in my judgment, demand an answer. This course will compel me to discuss points no ways related to the one before the House.

I shall endeavor to atone for taking this range by giving to each subject a separate consideration, and by observing a due regard to brevity. With this apology, I hasten in the first instance to the discussion of the competency of Mr. Erskine's powers to conclude the provisional agreement of the 19th of April last.

I put aside from this discussion the instructions of Mr. Erskine authorizing him to tender reparation for the attack on the Chesapeake, because his power so to act has not been distinctly questioned. The gentlemen who have preceded me on the same side of the question have sustained, I trust to your satisfaction, and that of the House, the competency of Mr. Erskine's powers to make and conclude the arrangement of the 19th of April last. Persuaded, as I am, that they have performed this task with great ability, I will not tire your patience by passing over the same ground, nor by citing the same authorities on which they relied to support their arguments.

I will permit myself only to take up the discussion of the points which terminated their remarks. I will content myself with furnishing some authorities not pressed into service, in support of the positions taken by them. That Mr. Erskine was a Minister Plenipotentiary, cannot be denied; in that character he was received, and in that he acted until he was recalled, is equally true. The propositions made by him in that character were received and acted upon as the propositions of his Government. The Executive of the United States had no control over his private instructions; no right to demand an exhibition of them; they were given for the government of the Minister's conduct. If he acted in contravention of his secret orders, over which his power was absolute, he became responsible to his sovereign for his non-observance of them; but his public acts must necessarily be binding and obligatory, originating, as they must be considered, in the general and avowed powers of the Minister, exercised in conformity to his private instructions. If his secret instructions limit his general commission, he is bound honestly to apprise the Government with which he is negotiating of the fact. He ought to say, to this boundary I can go; beyond it I cannot pass. To illustrate this doctrine, which I hold to be sound and correct, I will give as an instance the chaste conduct of Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney, who, previous to affixing their signatures to the treaty concluded by them with the British Commissioners, publicly apprised the Commissioners that they had no authority to bind the Government of the United States, as their instructions did not permit them to conclude a treaty which should not contain stipulations against impressments. The fate of that treaty is known. It was rejected. The British Government could not complain, because it was previously informed that the Ministers of the United States had no power to form such a treaty.

Mr. Erskine never entertained a doubt but that his powers were competent to the formation of the arrangement of April last. He unhesitatingly declared, in submitting his propositions for suspending as to the United States the operation of the Orders in Council, that he was commanded by his Majesty to submit them to the consideration of the Executive of the United States. I will prove this statement by his letter of April 18, 1809, and others, addressed to the Secretary of State. He says:

"The favorable change in the relations of His Majesty with the United States, which has been produced by the act usually termed the non-intercourse act, passed at the last session of Congress, was also anticipated by His Majesty, and has encouraged a further hope that a reconsideration of existing differences might lead to their satisfactory adjustment. On these grounds and expectations, I am instructed to communicate to the American Government His Majesty's determination of sending to the United States an Envoy Extraordinary, invested with full powers to conclude a treaty on all points of the relations between the two countries. In the mean time, with a view to the attainment of so desirable an object, His Majesty would be willing to withdraw his Orders in Council of January and November, 1807, so far as respects the United States, in the persuasion that the President would issue a proclamation for the renewal of the intercourse with Great Britain, and that whatever difference of opinion should arise in the interpretation of the terms of such an agreement, will be removed in the proposed negotiation."

In another letter, of April 19, he says:

"In consequence of the acceptance by the President, as stated in your letter of the 18th instant, of the proposals made by me on the part of His Majesty, in my letter of the same day, for the renewal of the intercourse between the respective countries, I am authorized to declare that His Majesty's Orders in Council of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn, as respects the United States, on the 10th day of June next." (1809.)

The above extracts from Mr. Erskine's letters leave us in no suspense as to the opinion he had formed of his instructions. In this settled belief that he had conformed strictly to the instructions of his Court, we find him so late as June 15, 1809, when he notified to the Secretary of State the new Order in Council issued on the 26th of April last. In this letter he says:

"In consequence of official communications sent to me from His Majesty's Government, since the adoption of that measure, I am enabled to assure you that it has no connection whatever with the overtures (of the 19th of April, 1809) which I have been authorized to make to the Government of the United States, and that I am persuaded that the terms of the agreement so happily concluded by the recent negotiation, will be strictly fulfilled on the part of His Majesty. The internal evidence of the order itself would fully justify the foregoing construction, and, moreover, it will not have escaped your notice, that the repeal has not thereby been made of the orders of the 7th of January, 1807, which, according to the engagement I have entered into on the part of His Majesty, is to be abrogated with the other orders, in consequence of the adjustment of differences between the two countries, and the confidence entertained of a further conciliatory understanding."

Thus it appears that Mr. Erskine, from communications, subsequent to the 26th of April, from this Government, is decidedly of opinion that he acted within the pale of his instructions. His language is free from ambiguity. He says: "In consequence of official communications sent to me from His Majesty's Government, since the adoption of the order of the 26th of April, I am enabled to assure you it has no connection whatever with the terms of agreement concluded by the recent negotiation." Nothing can be clearer than that his opinion was made up on a full consideration of all the instructions received by him from his Government. This must be evident to the most superficial observer on reading the following extract from a letter of the 14th August, 1809, addressed by him to the Secretary of State. It is as follows:

"Under these circumstances, therefore, finding that I could not obtain the recognitions specified in Mr. Canning's despatch of the 23d of January, (which formed but one part of his instructions to me,) in the formal manner required, I considered that it would be in vain to lay before the Government of the United States the despatch in question, which I was at liberty to do in extenso, had I thought proper. But as I had such strong grounds for believing that the object of His Majesty's Government could be attained, though in a different manner, and the spirit, at least, of my several letters of instructions be fully complied with, I feel a thorough conviction on my mind that I should be acting in conformity with His Majesty's wishes, and, accordingly, conclude the late provisional agreement on His Majesty's behalf with the Government of the United States."

The British Government could not, from this view, disavow the act of its Minister without incurring, and that justly, the charge of bad faith. To give support and nerve to this inference, I will read a passage from an author of great celebrity, Burlamaqui. The author says: "If he who has a commission to treat has kept within the bounds of the power annexed to his office, though he acts contrary to his private instructions, the sovereign is to abide by what he has done; otherwise, we could never depend on engagements contracted by proxy." This authority is full, and in point; it covers the whole ground; it leaves no fissures through which crafty politicians can make an escape. On the reputation of the British Government it fixes a blot which nothing short of the power of time can efface.

Past transactions are worthy of remembrance, and sometimes of repetition. The chameleon may take the hue of surrounding objects, but his change of color does not new-model his figure, form, or character.

Let us, for a moment, bring to our recollection the occurrences which took place, and the orthodox opinions which were held, at the time when the honor and dignity of this nation were deeply wounded, (a wound not yet healed,) in the attack of the Chesapeake; when the blood of American citizens was wantonly shed, and when the British squadron, after the commission of an act so atrocious, in violation of the jurisdiction of the United States, anchored in Hampton Roads and interrupted the regular communication between Norfolk and other places. After having taken a review of facts, let us compare the opinions of that day with those subsequently delivered; and, by the standard of consistency, test them.

The President, soon after the commission of those outrages, issued his proclamation, interdicting the entrance of the waters of the United States to the public armed vessels of Great Britain. That act of the President was considered as just and proper, as flowing from moderation and wisdom. The propriety of it was defended on the declaration to the Executive by Mr. Erskine, that it was his firm belief that Admiral Berkeley had acted without orders. Keep in force the proclamation, was the language of that memorable day, until reparation, ample and satisfactory, should be made. Such was the state of the public mind. Mr. Rose arrived; his mission, instead of having the salutary tendency of removing the irritations excited, was eminently calculated to nurture and increase them. Insults were added to injuries. Before he would deign to make known to the President the nature and extent of the reparation he was authorized to offer, he demanded the revocation of the President's proclamation; in plain terms informing this nation that its Government should make concessions to His Majesty for using precautionary measures against the lawless acts of his officers, as a prerequisite to a tender of the reparation His Majesty had condescended through him to offer. This new mode of redress proving no ways satisfactory, Mr. Rose's mission terminated. No sooner was it known that the negotiation with Mr. Rose proved abortive, in consequence of the inadmissible demands made by him, as already stated by me, than the President was openly accused as being the cause of it, by adhering to a "mere punctilio."

Thus, sir, we see, that no Republican President can do right, when his actions are viewed through the medium of party spirit.

Mr. STANLEY said he did not flatter himself he could add any thing to the information which the House already possessed on this subject. Yet, as a measure was about to be adopted, which, without the possibility of yielding any advantage, would, in his opinion, fix a stain on the national character, and put at hazard the peace and prosperity of the country, he felt impelled by the imperious call of duty, to raise his feeble voice against it. Permit me here, said Mr. S., to express the surprise and regret with which I have heard observations from those who support the resolution, which, having no connection with the resolution itself, are calculated, if not intended, to excite the passions of the House or of the people; to furorize the public mind; to mislead our judgments in deciding the question, and to obtain a result rather from passion than reason. I allude to the repeated recital of British outrages, the bombardment of Copenhagen, and the attack on Constantinople. A calm discussion of the question itself, would probably lead to as correct a decision, and be not less honorable to the American Congress. The danger of foreign influence has been mentioned to us, by way of caution, I presume. A solicitude on this point can be but commendable, though I hope unnecessary. It may be the fate of this country to be cursed with men whose ill-directed ambition, and predominant selfish views, lead them to support the interest and the designs of foreign nations, though adverse to the interests and honor of their own. If such there be, let them be marked as objects of suspicion, scorn, and contempt.

It has also been the fate of other countries, and may be the misfortune of this, to possess in its bosom, and to cherish in its confidence, men, who from an equally base and corrupt self-love and ill-directed ambition, become supple courtiers, political sunflowers, cringing demagogues; who, worshipping the idol power, whether in the hands of a military commander, a protector, or a consul, tender an implicit obedience and united support to every measure which emanates from the Executive, the source of office and profit. Such men bring upon a country the curses of undue domestic influence. Not to know and not to fear the dangers both of foreign and domestic influence, is to close our eyes on the light of history, and to disregard the testimony of ages. The States of Greece, as the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. EPPES) reminds us, fell from foreign influence; the unhappy Kingdom of Spain at this moment groans and bleeds from the same cause. And, sir, from domestic influence, Rome had her Cæsar, England her Cromwell, and France now drags the chains of Bonaparte. Should it ever become the settled doctrine in this country, that the opinions and the measures of the Executive are entitled to our prompt acquiescence and blind support; that, like the devoted soldier, a mere military machine, we are not to pause over a vote; that free discussion of the merits of the Executive shall authorize suspicion of the purity of the citizen; the time will be fast hastening when a throne shall be erected upon the ruins of the Constitution of the United States, and the name of America be added to the list of those Republics which have "risen like the rocket, and fallen like the stick." Whether either of these parties exist in this country, I need not at this time inquire; no circumstance could render such an inquiry in this place other than unpleasant. I have suggested the possibility of their existence, and their evils, with a view equally pure, I hope, with that of those who have before alluded to them, and to excite a caution which well merits the attention of the American people.