Relations with Great Britain. rest on the ground of the most favored nation only. Something, we think, may also be done in favor of an intercourse with the British Provinces to the north of us. But our claim to an indemnity has been much discouraged, though we have never ceased to press it with great zeal. We shall continue to use our best endeavors to place all these great concerns on the most just and advantageous ground in our power, and shall hasten to communicate to you the result, with the greatest possible despatch, as soon as the business is concluded. We have been cautious not to compromit ourselves with respect to the law which was passed the last session of the Congress, prohibiting the importation of certain British manufactures into the United States after the 15th of this month, either with this Government or individuals. We think it our duty, however, to observe, that our opinion of the propriety of suspending that law remains unchanged, as it was communicated to you in our letter of September the 11th. Indeed, the uniform conciliating disposition of this Government has strengthened us in that opinion. isfaction, has directed His Majesty's Commissioners to give to Mr. Monroe and to Mr. Pinkney the most positive assurances that instructions have been given, and shall be repeated and enforced, for the observance of the greatest caution in the impressing of British seamen; and that the strictest care shall be taken to preserve the citizens of the United States from any molestation or injury; and that immediate and prompt redress shall be afforded upon any representation of injury sustained by them. That the Commissioners of the United States well know that no recent causes of complaint have occurred, and that no probable inconvenience can result from the postponement of an article subject to so many difficulties. Still, that His Majesty's Commissioners are instructed to entertain the discussion of any plan that can be devised to secure the interests of both States, without any injury to rights to which they are respectively attached. That, in the mean time, the desire of promoting a right conclusion of the proposed treaty, and of drawing closer the ties of connexion between the Of the state of the war on the Continent, the two countries, induces His Majesty's Commisgazettes which accompany this will give you all sioners to express their readiness to proceed to the the information which we possess. Of the ulti-completion of the other articles, in the confident mate views of Prussia, under existing circum-hope that the result cannot fail to cultivate and stances, we know nothing. So far, she has followed the example and participated in the fortune of Austria, as exhibited in the last campaign; and so far has Austria imitated hers of the same epoch, by viewing with an apparent indifference events which menace the overthrow of both. We have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servants, JAS. MONROE, WM. PINKNEY. confirm the good understanding happily subsisting VASSAL HOLLAND. To JAMES MONROE, Esq. and PROJECT. HOLLAND HOUSE, November 8, 1806. In order to prevent the vessels of either party His Majesty's Commissioners and Plenipoten- becoming a sanctuary at sea for deserters from tiaries have the honor to represent to the Com-the vessels of the other party, it is expressly stipumissioners and Plenipotentiaries of the United States: lated by the high contracting parties that they will respectively enact laws whereby it shall be made penal for the commanders or masters of the vessels of either of the parties, who may happen to be in the ports of some third Power, or in the ports of one of the parties, with the vessels of the other party, to receive on board and carry to sea (knowing them to be such) the sailors belonging to and deserting from such vessels. It is further That the project of an article on the subject of impressing seamen, together with the reasonings by which the Commissioners of the United States have urged the expediency of an arrangement on that subject, has been laid before His Majesty's Government and has been considered with the same friendly and conciliatory disposition which has marked every step of the nego-agreed, whenever the vessels having on board the tiation. sailors who may have so deserted in a neutral That His Majesty's Government has not felt port shall arrive at any port of the party to which itself prepared to disclaim or derogate from a they belong, that such party shall cause such deright which has ever been uniformly and gene-serters to be delivered up, on proper application, rally maintained, and in the exercise of which supported by lawful evidence, to the agent ot the security of the British navy may be essentially consul of the other party, who may be duly auinvolved; more especially in a conjuncture when thorized by his Government to act in such cases. His Majesty is engaged in wars which enforce the necessity of the most vigilant attention to the preservation and supply of the naval force of his kingdom. COUNTER-PROJECT. Whereas, when the one nation is at war and the other at peace, it is not lawful for the belligThat His Majesty's Government, animated by erent to impress or carry off from on board the an earnest desire to remove every cause of dissat-vessels of the neutral seafaring persons, who are Relations with Great Britain. Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, to Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney, Ministers Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States in London. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, December 3, 1806. the native subjects of the neutral, or others who are not the subjects of the belligerent; and whereas, from the similarity of language and appearance, it may be difficult to distinguish the subjects of the two States, the high contracting parties agree, that for the greater security of the neutral, they will enact such laws respectively as shall GENTLEMEN: The President having this day subject to heavy penalties the commanders of the complied with the recommendation in your letter belligerent ships who shall impress or carry off of September 11, by a special Message to Conthe native subjects of the neutral, or others, not gress on the subject of the non-importation act of being the subjects of the belligerent, from on the last session, I lose not a moment in forwardboard the neutral vessels, on any pretence what-ing to Mr. Merry's care the enclosed copy, hopever. And they further agree to enact laws, re- ing that it will either find him still at Alexandria, spectively, making it highly penal in the subjects or overtake him before the vessel gets out of of the neutral to grant any certificates of the birth reach. I remain, &c. JAMES MADISON. and country of seafaring persons, without due evidence and proof of the same. Messrs. MONROE and PINKNEY, Ministers, &c. Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, to Messrs. Monroe DEPARTMENT OF STATE, GENTLEMEN: Your despatch of the 11th of September has been duly received. Although the tenor of the discussions which it recites does not exhibit on the part of the British Commissioners the readiness in yielding to the justice of our claims and to the energy of your statements which might be wished, yet the general spirit of conciliation with which they profess, and appear to have met you, cherishes a hope that further explanations on your part, and reflection on theirs, will have brought the negotiation to a favorable result. In this hope, and in consideration of the amicable views and manner in which a suspension of the non-importation act is pressed, the President has not hesitated in his determination to recommend the measure to Congress, whose session will commence on Monday next. This will be done, not in his first general Message, which has been already put into its final form, but in a Message appropriated to the subject, which will follow as soon as the course of business will conveniently admit. In your communication of this compliance, so far as depends on the President, with the object of the British Commissioners, seconded by your recommendation, you will not fail to let it be understood, as a proof of his earnest desire to smooth the way to a happy adjustment of all differences between the two nations, and to make every sacrifice for the purpose which may be reconcilable with that consistency and just policy in the national proceedings which cannot be abandoned. This letter, with another to Mr. Monroe, will be put into the hands of Mr. Merry, who, in consequence of the arrival of Mr. Erskine, is now on his return. I have made him acquainted with the general posture of your negotiations, and with the intention of the President to recommend to Congress the proposed suspension of the prohibitory act. I have the honor to be, &c. JAMES MADISON. Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, to Messrs. Monroe DEPARTMENT OF STATE, GENTLEMEN: The detention of the Leonidas enables me to enclose a copy of the bill suspending the non-importation act of the last session, as it was passed by the House of Representatives this day, with only five dissenting voices. In the object, the House is supposed to have been unanimous, the difference of opinion being produced by a disagreement about the time to which the suspension should be limited. As the bill passed with unusual celerity, it is not improbable that the suspension may be further extended by the Senate, especially as a proposal to suspend till the 30th December next, was lost by a majority of sixty to forty in the House. Enclosed I transmit a copy of the documents referred to in the President's Message, respecting the approaches of the Spaniards upon the Orleans Territory, and a few printed copies of the special Message, recommending a suspension of the nonimportation law. I have the honor to be, &c. JAMES MADISON. Messrs. MONROE and PINKNEY, Ministers, &c. Mr. Madison to Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney. GENTLEMEN: You will have seen by my letter JAMES MADISON. Messrs. MONROE and PINKNEY, Ministers, &c. No. 7. Relations with Great Britain. Mr. Monroe and Mr Pinkney to Mr. Madison. LONDON, Dec. 27, 1806. SIR: We have the pleasure to acquaint you that we have this day agreed with the British Commissioners to conclude a treaty on all the points which have formed the object of our negotiation, and on terms which we trust our Government will approve. It will require only a few days to reduce it to form. When that is done, we shall transmit it to you by a special messenger. We hasten to communicate to you this interesting intelligence for the information and guidance of our Government in such measures as may have reference to the subject. We have the honor to be, with great consideration and esteem, sir, your most obedient servants, JAS. MONROE, WM. PINKNEY. JAMES MADISON, Secretary of State. No. 8. Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Madison. LONDON, January 3, 1807. SIR: We have the honor to transmit you a treaty which we concluded with the British Comsioners on the 31st of December. Although we had entertained great confidence from the commencement of the negotiation that such would be its result, it was not until the 27th that we were able to make any satisfactory arrangement of several of the most important points that were involved in it. On the next day we communicated to you that event by several despatches, three of which were forwarded by vessels from Liverpool, so that we hope you will receive very early intelligence of it. We commit this, with the treaty, to Mr. Purviance, who, we flatter ourselves, will have the good fortune to arrive in time to deliver it to you before the adjournment of Congress. The first article of the present treaty, which stipulates that peace shall subsist between the parties, is taken from that of 1794, and is found in most of the modern treaties. The second article confirms those of a permanent nature in the Treaty of 1794. The British Commissioners were very desirous to introduce the permanent articles of that treaty, in the form of new stipulations, into the present one. They insisted, with great earnestness, that that article which relates to the trade with the Indian tribes should be so amended as to admit the traders of Canada and the Hudson Bay Company to participate with us in that trade with the tribes in Louisiana. They seemed to admit that, by a fair construction of the article, they could not support such a claim, but contended that it was justified by its spirit. Their solicitude on this point, which they had supposed was an unimportant one to the United States. created some embarrassment and delay in the business. They intimated that it proceeded from a desire to conciliate the public opinion in this country in favor of the treaty, which became necessary in consequence of the concessions which they thought they made us on other points. As we were decidedly of opinion that the article in the Treaty of 1794 could not apply to territory afterwards acquired, and could see nothing in its spirit which entitled it to such an extension, and more especially as our instruetions contemplated a different result, it was impossible for us to adopt their proposal. They finally agreed, therefore, though not without evident reluctance, to the article in its present form. We regret to say that the third article, which regulates our trade with the British possessions in India, which, with one essential and most unfavorable difference, is the same with the thirteenth article of the Treaty of 1794, is not what we had been led to hope it would be practicable to make it. Aware of the importance attached to this commerce in America, we have used the most zealous and persevering efforts, not only to prevent the introduction of new restraints upon it, but even to emancipate it from some of those which the Treaty of 1794 had distinctly sanetioned. The India Company have, however, been less accommodating than was at first ex The necessity we feel ourselves under to forward to you the treaty without delay will, we fear, render it impossible for us to enter so fully into the subject of it as on many considerations it might be proper to do. We are aware that such instruments must be construed by an impar-pected, and hence the rejection of all the amendtial view of their contents, uninfluenced by extraneous matter. A knowledge, however, of the sense in which the several articles of a treaty were understood by the parties to it may in most cases be useful. It is also just to remark, that some circumstances occurred in the course of this negotiation, which, although they do not appear on the face of the instrument itself, yet, as they may have no inconsiderable influence on the future relations of the two countries, it is peculiarly important to explain. We shall endeavor to give such explanations where they may be necessary, in the best manner that may be found compatible with the despatch which the occasion so imperiously requires, and, we flatter ourselves, without omitting anything on any point that may be deemed of essential importance. ments proposed by us, one of which sought to omit entirely, and (when that was refused) to modify the proviso copied from the Treaty of 1794, that our voyages from the British possessions should be direct to the United States. This amendment, in both its shapes, was repelled in such a manner as to convince us that nothing would be gained by continuing to press it; and we gave it up at length with great reluctance. In this stage of the business, the British Commissioners insisted upon an amendment on their part, by which our voyages to British India were required to be direct from the United States. This unexpected amendment was proposed at the instance of the India Company, after the project of the British Commissioners (which, with reference to this subject, was a literal copy of the thirteenth Relations with Great Britain. article of the Treaty of 1794) had not only been presented to us, but fully discussed, and, as we understood, settled. The real intention and office of it were said by Lord Holland and Lord Auckland to be no more than to make the article speak unequivocally what was the true meaning of the article in the late treaty. We replied to this, that the article in the late treaty was not susceptible of this limited construction; that its obvious import was, that only the voyage from India should be direct; that this had been solemnly adjudged by their own courts of law; and that the practice had been, and still continued to be so. We were answered by the production of a paper, purporting to be a report of, that in their opinion, an American vessel was not entitled to a clearance from a port in Great Britain to Calcutta, under the Treaty of 1794. We were told, moreover, that Lord Grenville, when he made the treaty, the India Company when it sanctioned, and the British Government when it ratified it, did not mean to authorize any other than direct voyages, outward as well as homeward, between the United States and their Indian possessions; and that if the treaty was liable to another construction, it arose from mere inadvertence in adjusting the phraseology; but that, in truth, it was not a fair and natural interpretation of words which authorized a commerce between two defined limits; that a commence between one of these limits and some third place was intended to be allowed, although not a word was said about it in the article. Having given the obvious answer to these suggestions, we urged as long and as zealously as was thought advisable the inconveniences to which our trade with India would be subjected by prohibiting any of the modes in which it was prosecuted, as well as the unfriendly appearance of the new restriction, for which there existed no adequate motive. We spoke of the sensibility which would be excited in our country by such an ill-timed and ungracious interference, the interests which it would affect, and the passions which it would enlist against the entire treaty; to all which it was finally answered, that the India Company could not be prevailed upon to relax upon this point; that, moreover, it ought not to be forgotten that this was a trade from which their own subjects were ordinarily excluded, in favor of the company's monopoly ; that this monopoly, as a losing concern, seemed at present to require peculiar protection; that our admission into British India at all was a boon for which we did not and could not give any equivalent; and, of course, that we could not justly complain if that admission was somewhat qualified, with a view to the mitigation of the evils by which it was undoubtedly attended, and which it was not possible wholly to prevent, especially if we were not placed upon a more disadvantageous footing in that respect than other friendly Powers; which was so far from being the case, that we were unquestionably admitted by the article, as they proposed to amend it, upon much better terms than any other nation, inasmuch as our commerce (exclusive of the advantage of being secured by treaty) would be subject only to British duties; whereas the Danes and Swedes paid alien duties to a considerable amount, without enjoying any privilege (whatever might be said to the contrary) to which we were not equally entitled. We were at last reduced to the necessity of accepting the article with the obnoxious amendment, rendered less obnoxious, perhaps, by the clause relative to the most favored nation; or making a treaty without any article upon the subject, which would have the same, and probably worse effects; or of making no treaty at all. We preferred the first. The fourth and fifth articles regulate the trade between the United States and the British possessions in Europe. By these we are persuaded that much greater satisfaction will be given to our Government and country than in the preceding one. The first three clauses of the fifth article, which place the vessels and merchandise of each country in the ports of the other, in respect to duties and prohibitions, on the footing of the most favored nation, are taken from the Treaty of 1794. To these we are not aware that any well founded objection was ever made. But the subsequent clauses give a new character to this intercourse. The right which the British Government reserved, by the Treaty of 1794, to impose a tonnage duty on American vessels equal to the duty which was payable on British vessels in the United States, is, by the first of these clauses, made reciprocal. Under that reservation, or rather, as we presume, on the pretext of it, the British Government had actually imposed a tonnage duty on American vessels of six shillings and five pence sterling per ton, being almost three times the amount of the duty which was payable on British vessels in the United States. And as the United States had expressly stipulated not to raise the duty on British vessels higher than it then was, it was out of their power, without a palpable violation of that stipulation, to countervail the duty imposed by Great Britain on American vessels. But by making the reservation reciprocal, the United States have an unquestionable right to raise the duty on British vessels to the same level, wherever that may be. And by confining the reciprocity strictly to the principle of national equality, that is, an equality of tonnage duties which shall be payable on the vessels of each party in the ports of the other, a right is reserved to each to give what preference it thinks fit, within that limit, to its own vessels and people. At present, such preference is given by our law to the amount of forty-four cents per ton, which is not only protected by this clause against any countervailing measure, other than by lessening the duty, but the right is secured to increase it in the degree above stated. By this we do not wish to imply that it would be advisable to take all the advantage of this circumstance which the article admits of. The presumption is, that the British Government will, in case the treaty is ratified, repeal the additional duty on American vessels, which will leave them charged, in common with their own and those of every other nation, with the sum of four shillings and five Relations with Great Britain. pence per ton. Should our Government think proper to raise the duty on British vessels to the same point, it may, perhaps, be advisable not to increase the present discrimination. The last clause of this article, which stipulates that the same duties of exportation and importation shall be paid on all goods and merchandise, and that the same drawbacks and bounties shall be allowed in both countries, whether the same be in British or American vessels, will, it is also hoped, be found of very essential advantage to the United States. The right which Great Britain had reserved by the Treaty of 1794, to countervail the difference of duty payable in the United States on Asiatic goods, when imported in British or American vessels, had been productive of very serious injury. The duties which had been imposed by the British Government on American productions, on that principle, were so high, making in most cases a difference of shillings per ton in favor of British vessels, that it must have been impossible in peace for our navigation to have borne it. The evil was the greater, because the species of commercial warfare in which it engaged us, in consideration of the comparative value and bulk of the articles subject to it in each country, would be its effect. By this clause it is presumed that the evil will be completely done away, while we flatter ourselves that the stipulation in favor of drawbacks and bounties. without exposing us to any inconvenience, will be productive of some advantage. It is proper to remark that we did not omit to propose an arrangement on the subject of export duties, by which the United States should at least be placed, in that respect, upon the footing of all other nations. The discrimination to our prejudice in the British duties on exportation, which took their rise in the convoy duty of the last war, has undoubtedly an unkind and an oppressive effect. This discrimination is found in the 43 Geo. III, ch. 68, a permanent act, (which repealed the then existing duties, and substituted others,) and in the 43 Geo. III, ch. 70, which imposes additional duties during the present war. Taking the war duty and the permanent duty together, the consumers in the United States of certain British manufactures (for the duties in question apply only to British manufactures, and not to all of them, British corn, yarn, and manufactures, and some other articles, being excepted) pay two and a half per cent. ad valorem, more than the consumer in Europe, or within the Straits, pays on the same goods. The only mode in which it could be supposed to be possible that this unpleasant distinction could be removed was by applying to the subject the rule of the most favored nation. Great Britain was not likely, in her present situation, to stipulate against all export duties, or even to agree to a maximum. Neither was she likely, by considering the actual duties as originally, and even now, convoy duties, and therefore, in their principle applicable only to the navigation which her convoys protect, to relieve from them wholly, or in part, such merchandise as should be I carried to our country in American vessels, and leave them to oppress her own tonnage, thus offering a bounty in favor of American ships against her own. The rule of the most favored nation was, therefore, finally suggested with a hope that it would meet with no objection. It was, however, perseveringly opposed. We were told that the single effect of such an arrangement would be to compel Great Britain to raise the export duties against other countries, not to reduce them as to us; and that this would be of no advantage to the United States, but might be a serious embarrassment to Great Britain. It was urged, on our part, that, if Great Britain could not give up entirely the excess of export duty now paid by us, it did not follow that it might not be fairly distributed among the consumers of her merchandise in every part of the world, so as still to produce the same revenue, with more regard to justice; that, as her best customers, we had a right to be placed upon at least an equal footing with other nations, and to complain if we were rather distinguished by the peculiar burdens which she undertook to impose upon us; that the discrimination against us, upon the notion that the duty had reference to convoy, was a fallacy, since we, who paid the duty, derived no benefit from the convoy, which was professed to be the consideration of it; and since the protection of their own trade, in their own navigation, being a general and national concern, there was no sound reason why the relative expense of particular convoys should be allowed to suggest the relative measure of the duties which were to supply the means of affording them. They replied to the idea of distributing the amount of the discrimination among all the consumers of their merchandise, by referring us to the present state of Europe. They reminded us that their own colonies in America paid the same export duty that was paid by us, and repeated that, as it was only the discrimination between the United States and Europe, of which we could not demand to have any part of the duty, against which we have any right to complain, withdrawn from us, and we could gain nothing by forcing this country to add to the burdens of others already overwhelmed and impoverished by the calamities of war. war. We were obliged, though very reluctantly, to abandon this object. The sixth article relates to the commerce with the West Indies, which it was found impossible to arrange in a satisfactory manner. There were many serious obstacles to an agreement on this point, some of which seemed to be peculiarly applicable to the present time. The British West India merchants had, at an early stage, represented that, by the trade which our citizens enjoyed with the colonies of their enemies, we had so completely stocked the markets of the Continent with West India productions as to shut those markets on them. They had remonstrated earnestly against any arrangement of that point which should sanction, in any degree, our trade with those colonies. This question had taken deep hold of the minds of a great propor |