Part 9 (1/2)

But the adency The President followed up the act prohibiting the introduction of British goods by sending Willia of 1806 to join Monroe, the resident otiation These co that a treaty would be concluded, and thereupon the non-importation act was for a tireed upon, and soon after it was received by the President The otiation had been the question of iht to arrest deserters from its service anywhere outside the jurisdiction of other nations, and that jurisdiction, it was maintained, could not extend beyond the coast lihway of all nations There was an evident disposition, however, to colish coovernment should prohibit, under penalty, the seizure of American citizens anywhere, and that the United States should forbid, on her part, the granting of certificates of citizenshi+p to British subjects, of which deserters took advantage But as this would be an acknowledght of search on board American shi+ps, and the denial of citizenshi+p in the United States to foreigners, the American commissioners could not entertain that proposition They illing, however, if the assuree, on behalf of their government, to aid in the arrest and return of British deserters when seeking a refuge in the United States But to this the British commissioners would not accede

Monroe and Pinkney were enjoined, in the instructions written by the secretary of state, to make the abandonment of impressment the first condition of a treaty A treaty, nevertheless, was agreed upon, without this provision But when it was sent to the President, the overnment [the British] did not feel at liberty to relinquish, formally, by treaty, its claim to search our merchant vessels for British seamen, its practice would nevertheless be essentially, if not completely, abandoned That opinion has since been confirmed by frequent conferences on the subject with the British commissioners, who have repeatedly assured us that, in their judgainst the exercise of their pretension by the policy which their governard to that very delicate and important question, as we could have been made by treaty”

These assurances did not satisfy the President Without consulting the Senate, though Congress was in session when the treaty was received, and although the Senate had been previously inforreed upon, the President rejected it On several other points it was not acceptable; but, as Mr Madison wrote to a friend, ”the case of iht to a for been the primary object of an extraordinary mission, a treaty could not be closed which was silent on that subject” The cootiations This they faithfully tried to do for a year, but were finally told by the British ned, but afterward rejected in part by one of the contracting powers, could not again be taken up for consideration The opponents of the administration made the most of this action of Mr Jefferson The country was not peretfulness possible, that thousands of seaer proportion of these were native-born citizens of the United States Not that these opponents wanted war; that, they believed, would be ruinous without a navy, and therefore some reasonable compromise was all that could be hoped for

But as to be thought of an ado to war because it was not prepared; would not prepare in the hope that some future conjunction of circumstances would stave off that last resort; and, ate the injuries visited upon the sea-faring people of the United States, and possibly relieve the nation froh to resent?

As England's need of seaed by the failure of negotiation, grew bolder in overhauling A out as many men as they believed, or pretended to believe, were deserters In the suate Chesapeake, as if to emphasize the contempt hich a nation s which it wanted the courage and strength to resent, or the wisdom to compound for The Chesapeake was followed out of the harbor of Norfolk by the British man-of-war Leopard, and when a few ht to under the pretense that the English captain wished to put some dispatches on board for Europe, a demand was ate

Commodore Barron replied that he knew of no deserters on his shi+p, and that he could permit no search to be made, even if there were After solish a number of the Chesapeake's crew Co else but surrender, for he had only a single gun in readiness for use, and that was fired only once and then with a coal froalley The shi+p was then boarded, the crew mustered, and four roes,--two natives of the United States, the other of South Alish off Norfolk; but the three negroes declared that they had been kidnaped, and their right to escape could not be justly questioned; indeed, the English afterward took this view of it apparently, for the men were released on the arrival of the Leopard at Halifax But the fourth ed

For this direct national insult, explanation, apology, and reparation were demanded, and at the sa all British shi+ps of war to remain in American waters Of how much use the latter e learn from a letter of Madison to Monroe: ”They continue to defy it,” he wrote, ”not only by re ” Some preparation was made for war, but it was only to call upon the unboats to the most exposed ports Great Britain was not alarmed The captain of the Leopard, indeed, was re exceeded his duty; but a procla all shi+ps of war to seize British sean shi+ps of war, and if the demand was refused to report the fact to the admiral of the fleet It was not till after four years of irritating controversy that any settleard to the affair of the Chesapeake

New perils all the while were besetting American comated, forbidding the introduction into France of the products of Great Britain and her colonies, whether in her own shi+ps or those of other nations This was in violation of the convention between France and the United States, if it was meant that American vessels should come under the prohibition; but for a tiht be excepted In the course of the year, however, it was officially declared in Paris that the treaty would not be allowed to weaken the force of a war oes already seized were confiscated and the trade of the United States faced a new calahtful retaliation of a British order in council of six months before, which had established a partial blockade of a portion of the French coast In the kidnaping business, France could not, of course, coland; for there were few of her citizens to be found on board of American vessels, and to seize a Yankee sailor, under the pretense that he was a Frenchht of But hundreds of Americans, the crews of shi+ps seized for violation of the terms of the Berlin decree, were thrown into French prisons So far, therefore, as the United States had good ground of coainst either power, there was little to choose between thenance to as sufficient to hold hiht have had France for an ally; stillwas he, by a ith France, to land, whom he still looked upon as the natural ene all that had co of the old affection In the auturess in consideration of the increasing aggressions of Great Britain, especially in the attack upon the Chesapeake, and the injury done by the interdiction of neutral trade with any country hich that poas at war But he had no recommendations to offer of resistance nor even of defense, except that sounboats, and that sailors on shore be enrolled as a sort of gunboatthe extra session, however, appeared in about teeks, when he sent a special o

An act was al more was needed to complete the ruin of American commerce, supplied that deficiency A lish ministry had issued a new order in council--the news of which reached Jefferson as he was about to send in hisa blockade of prettyany trade in neutral vessels unless they had first gone into sooes; and within twenty-four hours of the President's o, Napoleon proclaimed a new decree from Milan, by which it was declared that any shi+p was lawful prize that had anything whatever to do with Great Britain,--that should pay it tribute, that should carry its merchandise, that should be bound either to or from any of its ports

All that these powers could do to shut every trading vessel out of all European ports was now done; and at this opportuneall American vessels to stay at home It is not easy in our ti, or of a party accepting, or of the people sub to, such a measure as this

But Mr Jefferson's folloere very obedient, and there was, undoubtedly, a very general belief that trade with the United States was so important to the nations at war that for the sake of its renewal the obnoxious decrees and orders in council would soon be repealed But, except upon certain land, little influence was visible General Ar, the American land, a events of the day, it is forgotten” When, however, the effect was evident at ho to sea, even to catch fish, and prohibiting the export of any of the products of the United States, either in their own shi+ps or those of any other country, then there arose a popular clamor for the abandonment of a policy so ruinous Within four months of its enactment, Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts declared, in a debate in Congress, that ”an experi was never before--I will not say tried--it never before entered into the hu like it in the narrations of history or in the tales of fiction

All the habits of a hty nation are at once counteracted All their property depreciated All their external connections violated Five o beyond the limits of that once free country; now they are not even perrates” While American shi+ps at home were kept there, those which had reo werea turn in affairs; others ventured to load with English goods in English ports, to be landed in France under the pretense, supported by fraudulent papers, that they were direct from the United States or other neutral country

The fraud was too transparent to escape detection long, and Napoleon thereupon issued, in the spring of 1808, the Bayonne decree authorizing the seizure and confiscation of all Alish or American, he said; if the former, they were enemy's shi+ps and liable to capture; but if the latter, they should be at hoo law of the United States, which she ought to thank him for

The prosperity and tranquillity which marked the earlier years of Jefferson's adress, both in its spring and winter sessions, could talk of little else but the disastrous eent by an enforcement act, and, on the other, to substitute for it non-intercourse with England and France, restoring trade with the rest of the world, and leaving the question of decrees and orders in council open for future consideration The President no longer held his party under perfect control The h to a sufficient number of Republicans to secure in February, 1809, the repeal of that measure, to take effect the next land and France, and, with regard to theress But the prohibition of importation from both these latter countries was continued till the obnoxious orders in council and the decrees should be repealed

CHAPTER XVIII

MADISON AS PRESIDENT

Mr Jefferson named his own successor Of the three Dee Clinton, he preferred Madison now, and urged Monroe to wait patiently as next in succession Beyond two lives he did not, perhaps, think proper to dictate; and, besides, Clinton was not a Virginian What little opposition there was to Madison in his own party cahly identified with Jefferson's policy to untie the knot in which the foreign relations of the country had becoled Of the 175 electoral votes, however, he received 122; but that was fewer by 39 than had been cast for Jefferson four years before Of the New England States, Ver places with Rhode Island, which had wheeled into line again with the Federalists

During the winter of 1808-9, after Madison's election but before his inauguration, he had quietly conferred with Erskine, the British ton, upon the condition of affairs Much was hoped fro about was the reverse of as hoped for Could Madison have had his way, he would probably have preferred that Congress should have left untouched at that session the questions of eo and non-intercourse; for the tone of the debates and the tendency of legislation naturally led the English ave that these proceedings did not truly represent the friendly disposition of the inco President In answer to those representations, however, there can secretary, certain propositions which were so presented by Erskine, and so received by the administration, as to proovern man, anxious very likely for distinction; but a laudable aood cause made him over-zealous He exceeded the letter of his instructions, while keeping, as he thought, to their spirit Probably he overn difficulties than for the precise terms and minor details by which it should be reached At any rate, he agreed that Great Britain would withdraw her orders in council provided the United States wouldas the Berlin and Milan decrees re secured, he did not insist upon two other conditions--partly because it was represented to hiress, and partly because he believed that the essential point was gained by an agreement on the part of the United States to enforce non-intercourse against France while her decrees were unrepealed These other conditions were, first, that the United States should cease to insist upon the right to carry on in tierent which had not been open in tihtfully seize A the non-intercourse laws against France He also proposed a settlement of the Chesapeake question, but o had instructed hienerosity and not of right, for the wives and children of the men ere killed on board that shi+p But when that settlement was accepted by the administration, he failed to resent some reflections from Robert Smith, the secretary of state, on the conduct of Great Britain in that affair, which Canning, when he heard of theht should have been resented and their recall deotiation stopped

On the terreement was reached, and the President issued a proclaainst Great Britain and her colonies after June 10 On that dayat anchor in all the principal ports in anxious readiness for the signal for flight, spread their wings, like a flock of long-imprisoned birds, and flew out to sea There was an alratitude to the new President, who, in the first three months of his administration, had banished the fear of war abroad, and at ho away involuntary idleness, want, and o of popularity during his long career; but never before had he felt the exultation of riding upon the very crest of a hty wave of popular applause But it was one of those waves that collapse suddenly into a surprising flatness Canning repudiated all that Erskine had done and ione to sea, under the sanction of the President's proclamation, were peres unht to a standstill It would have been easier to bear soain with calamities so well understood and which it was hoped had been left behind forever Gallatin had been retained in the Treasury Department and was the President's chief adviser, and the tere now accused of having been either imbecile or treacherous It was openly said that they had led the young overnment would not sanction But they could hardly have been so foolish as to ain with the certainty that it would stand only so long as a shi+p could go and come across the Atlantic nobody understood better than Madison how grateful a reconciliation with England would be to a large proportion of the people, and nobody was otiations ca, inasmuch as their failure led to new embarrassments

He said with soust: ”You will see by the instructions to Erskine, as published by Canning, that the latter was as much determined that there should be no adjustment as the for; the real fault ith Erskine, and with himent In another letter to Jefferson, the President says: ”Erskine is in a ticklish situation with his governainst the charges of exceeding his instructions, notwithstanding the appeal he makes to sundry others not published But he will , and be able to avail himself much of the absurdity and evident inadarded by hiovern these points too earnestly, inas upon the abandonment of impressment of seanation ood deal of mortification He could hardly have been without the sensation of one hoisted by his own petard It was only two years since Mr Jefferson, with his approval, had rejected the Monroe-Pinkney treaty because instructions had not been literally co that exaer justification, under the circumstances of the two cases; and Mr Madison could not fail to reree to accept it without any protection of the rights of American sea the Monroe-Pinkney treaty

However, the administration was now coreement had failed to dispose of The President's first duty was to issue a second procla the previous one which had sent to sea every American shi+p in port They could all coain at their wharves, till the recurrent tides at last should ripple in and out of their open sea decks Butsunk or burned at sea, which happened to not a few, or of capture and confiscation by the belligerents whose laws they defied Erskine was followed by a new aland, Mr Jackson His mission, however, had no other result than to widen the breach between the two nations A controversy almost immediately arose between the minister and Mr Smith, the secretary of state,--or rather Mr Madison himself, who, as he complained at a later period, did ement with Erskine Jackson inti, that the administration must have known the precise terovernood deal of emphasis on the part of the administration, the insinuation was repeated ale Of course there could be but one conclusion to correspondence of this sort; further communication with Jackson was declined and his recall asked for

It was plain enough in the latter months of Jefferson's administration, to hio had not only failed to bring the belligerents to terreatly to the distress at hoed in one of his retrospective letters written in the retirement of Montpellier, sixteen years afterward It was meant, he said in that letter, as an experimental measure, preferable to naked submission or to war at a time as inexpedient It failed, he added, ”because the government did not sufficiently distrust those in a certain quarter whose successful violation of the law led to the general discontent, which called for its repeal” That is to say, the governland; was too ready to believe that her merchants would not let their shi+ps slip quietly out to sea whenever they could evade the officers of the custoo at some unfrequented place where there was no custom-house ”The patriotic fishermen of Marblehead,” he says, ”at one tirets they were not sent out as privateers to seize these contraband shi+ps as prizes, and to ”carry them into ports where the tribunals would enforce the law” Apparently there was not a reasonable doubt in histhe coast of New England It is also ratherthat there was much of the kind of patriotisovernment offered cohbors, the e Island Sound But this was the afterthought of 1826 Madison's policy in 1809-10 was rather to conciliate than provoke ”those in a certain quarter” He could not coress passed the winter in vain efforts to find soround, not merely for Democrats and Federalists, but for the Democrats alone

Various measures were proposed to meet the critical condition of the country Soh; and none were so acceptable that it was not easy to forreed that the non-iot rid of; but the difficulty was to find a way to be rid of it so that the nation should at once hts, and escape a war The President would have preferred that all British and French shi+ps be excluded from American ports, and that importations from both countries should be prohibited except in American vessels; and a bill to this effect was one of several that was defeated in the course of the session But at last, in May (1810), an act was passed excluding only thethe non-iress The President was then authorized, when the three ainst either Great Britain or France, should the commercial orders or decrees of either nation be continued in force while those of the other were repealed

If the aim of the dominant party had been to devise a schee than any that had gone before, it could not have hit upon a better one than this

Hitherto, in all the perplexities and anxieties of the situation, the government had, at least, kept its relations to other powers in its own hands, to conduct them, whether wisely or unwisely, in its oay It could resent or submit to encroachments upon the commerce of the country, as seemed most prudent; it could close or open the ports, as seemed most judicious; or it could join forces with that one of its two enemies whose alliance promised to secure respect on the one hand, and compel it on the other But now it had tied itself up in a knot of provisos It would do so else, or if France would do soland and was not accepted by France, then the United States would reland, and assume by comparison an unfriendly attitude toward France; and if France accepted the condition and England declined it, then the situation would be reversed Nothing would be gained in either case that otiation, and, no doubt, on better terarded by both powers, the situation would be worse than before This evidently was Madison's view of the question He wrote to Pinkney, the minister at the Court of St Ja of Congress, it will be found, according to present appearances, that instead of an adjust obstinacy in both; and that the inconveniences of ereater sacrifices, as well as disgrace, resulting from a submission to the predatory system in force” Not that he wanted war; his faith in passive resistance was still unshaken; eo and non-intercourse he was still confident would, if persisted in long enough, surely bring the belligerents to terhs the chances as in a balance In England some impression may be made by the prices of cotton and tobacco,--”cotton down at ten or eleven cents in Georgia; and the great mass of tobacco in the same situation”