Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. having remained there at the ratification of the treaty. (No. 4.) In order to place the matter in a proper light, we the same day transmitted the following answer, which closed our joint correspondence with the Admiral. (No. 5.) And here it is necessary, for understanding the last clause of our letter, to state what led to it. Mr. Spalding had suggested to Admiral Cockburn, after every other means had failed, his giving permission to claimants to go on board his ships in the offing, to obtain the voluntary return of their slaves; this he assented to with great willingness. He sent an officer with them, and, in the presence of ourselves, gave the most positive instruction to the officer to have every facility afforded them. This produced a return of thirteen slaves; six of Captain Wylly's, five of Mr. Couper's, one of Major Butler's, and one of Major Johnston's; and would have produced the return of hundreds, if it had not been for the means employed by the inferior officers to prevent their return. On the morning of the 13th instant, the British flag was struck at Dungeness, and, having consulted with the many respectable gentlemen with us as to the necessity of the Occasion, we called upon Captain Massias for an officer and twenty-five men to be sent to Dungeness, to prevent, as far as possible, fugitive slaves still joining the British ships that were yet in the offing, and were to remain so for two or three days. been since January last; for it carried insurrec- No. 1. Messrs. Newell and Spalding to Admiral Cockburn. CUMBERLAND ISLAND, March 6, 1815. SIR: We are instructed by General Floyd to call upon you, and are by him authorized to receive from you any public or private property, or any slaves, that are or were in your possession at the time of the ratification of the Treaty of Peace by the President of the United States. The construction put upon this article by us is, that all private property and all slaves in your possession, whether on land or water, at the ratification of the Treaty of Peace, are to be restored. We place this construction upon the first article of the treaty, because it appears to have originated in the most amicable dispositions of both the American and British Commissioners-amicable on the part of the American Commissioners, in only demanding what might be restored without inconvenience; amicable on the part of the British CommissionMr. Spalding then addressed the following ers, in promising to restore all that could be letter to Admiral Cockburn, and followed Cap-restored without great inconvenience ;-for we tain Newell, who had already taken his departure. (No. 6.) Having thus, sir, closed the mission with which we were charged by General Pinckney and yourself, it is important, in our opinion, that we should observe to you that, on our arrival at Dungeness, on the 6th instant, the United States' barge taken at St. Mary's was at the wharf, but was removed that evening; and we also understood that most of the cannon taken at Point Petre were removed, subsequent to the ratification of the treaty, from Cumberland. Five or six hundred negroes, brought from St. Simon's as late as the 15th February, were at Cumberland long after the ratification, and many of them sent off in the night of the day after our arrival. In conversation with Mr. Spalding, it was admitted by Admiral Cockburn that Major Kinsman, of the marines, had continued to enter fugitive slaves into the colonial and West India regiments, after notice of the ratification of the treaty, and until he (Admiral Cockburn) had given written orders to the contrary. Accompanying this letter, you will receive a list of such slaves as their masters have returned to us. From Mr. Hamilton, who lost two hundred and twenty odd, and from Major Butler, who lost one hundred and thirty, and from many others, whom the terror of the times had driven away, we have no returns. Nor is it to be wondered at that a thin population fled before a war which has been conducted in the spirit which this has cannot persuade ourselves that the restoration of private property or slaves is to be limited to the for it must be obvious to you, sir, and it must be slaves or property taken in the forts you occupied; obvious to all, that there are no slaves, and that there is but little private property, ever taken in forts. The limitation that appears to exist in the first part of the first article of the treaty, as to such property as may remain in the forts and places in your possession, is obviously confined to artillery and other public property taken in such forts or places, and which, if once removed, would have required much trouble and much expense to restore. And this conclusion is the more obvious, from noticing that in the following part of the same article, archives, records, deeds, and papers, which are objects of easy transport, are promised to be restored, into whosesoever hands they may have fallen, or wheresoever they may have been transferred. Begging that we may have an answer upon this subject, so deeply interesting to the inhabitants of Georgia, as soon as possible, we remain, sir, &c. Admiral COCKBURN. No. 2. Admiral Cockburn to Messrs. Newell and Spalding. GENTLEMEN: I have had the honor to receive the document which you state yourselves author Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. ized to assure me is a true copy of the Treaty of Peace which has been concluded between our respective Governments, and which you have been instructed to lay before me by Generals Pinckney and Floyd. Accompanying this document, I am likewise honored with your note of this day, informing me of your being authorized to receive from me any public or private property, or slaves, to be restored by me under the first article of the aforesaid treaty, and explaining to me the construction you are pleased to put upon that article. But I only find in the certified copy you have laid before me, that "all territory, places, or possessions, taken during the war, or after signing the treaty, (excepting only as therein excepted,) shall be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction or carrying away of the artillery or other public property originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private property." It becomes, therefore, alone necessary for me to state to you, that Cumberland island being the only place or possession taken from America in this neighborhood, which was retained by me at the date of the ratification alluded to, I shall as quickly as possible evacuate it, without causing any destruction; and I shall leave on it, or deliver to you, whatever public or private property or slaves (originally captured here) remained upon the island at the date of the ratification. I have not the slightest reason or inclination to doubt the amicable disposition you state to have actuated the British and American Commissioners in forming this treaty. It appears, however, clear to me, by the expressions they have thought proper to adopt in it, that I am only required or authorized to make the restitution I have above stated; and I must beg to decline venturing an opinion as to whether the treaty is properly worded, according to the intentions of the Commissioners; but I apprehend, had they wished to imply (as you conceive) "that all private property and slaves in my possession, whether on land or water, were to be restored," it might have been so specified without difficulty; and although you observe there are no slaves, and but little private property ever taken in "forts," yet a continuation of the words "or places" may, perhaps, do away the difficulty which presented itself to you on that point. Therefore, gentlemen, in giving up this place, in conformity with the treaty you have done me the honor to lay before me, I must beg to be excused from entering into discussion relative to captures made elsewhere, on land or water, and which have been removed from the places where captured prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty. I have the honor to be, &c. G. COCKBURN, Capt. NEWELL and T. SPALDING, No. 3. Messrs. Newell and Spalding to Admiral Cockburn. CUMBERLAND ISLAND, March 10, 1815. SIR: Your letter of the 7th is before us; and after the desire you have been pleased to express of declining all discussion of your construction of the first article of the Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain, it only remains for us to call upon you for a list of the property, public or private, and the slaves "originally captured on Cumberland island," which you have declared your readiness to deliver. It is our duty to add this further and final remark, that this list will, we presume, include all slaves originally captured on the island of Cumberland, or, having come from other sections of the country, have there first fallen under the dominion of the British arms; and, particularly, that it will include all slaves and other property taken or received since the ratification of the Treaty of Peace between our respective Governments. We remain, sir, &c. Admiral COCKBURN. No. 4. T. NEWELL. T. SPALDING. Admiral Cockburn to Messrs. Newell and Spalding. HEADQUARTERS, CUMBERLAND ISLAND, March 11, 1815. GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 10th current, the first part of which obliges me to beg your reconsideration of my letter of the 7th, as, I believe, so far from declining therein "all discussion of my construction of the first article of the Treaty of Peace lately concluded between our Governments," I have quoted, verbatim, the major part of it, and have explicitly stated to you the line of conduct which my construction of the said article called upon me to adopt, in giving up the territory possessed by the forces under my orders. I declined only entering into discussion respecting "captures made elsewhere, and which had been removed from the places where captured prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty," such not appearing to me to come within the specified intention of the aforesaid first article of the treaty; and you will perceive by his signature added to my letter, the Commander-inChief of His Britannic Majesty's forces on the North American station concurs with me in this opinion. I have herewith the honor to transmit, in compliance with your request, a list of property and slaves originally captured on Cumberland island, and which appear to have remained on it at 11 P. M. of the 17th ultimo, the period at which the ratifications were exchanged. I have the honor to be, &c. G. COCKBURN, Rear Admiral. Capt. NEWELL and T. SPALDING, United States' Agents. Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. A list of slaves and property to be given up with Cum- Jacob, James Nightingale, Step, Daniel, John G. COCKBURN, Rear Admiral. No. 5. Messrs. Newell and Spalding to Admiral Cockburn. CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Mar. 11, 1815. SIR: We have to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 11th instant, containing a list of slaves and other property which had been origin No. 6. Mr. Spalding to Admiral Cockburn. CUMBERLAND ISLAND, March 13, 1815. SIR: It is with much regret I have to state that of the slaves which you have ordered to be restored, as having joined the British forces under your command, after the ratification of the Treaty of Peace by the President of the United States, several of them, now on board the Regulus, Captain Ramsey, have not been delivered. These slaves are two of Mr. Armstrong's, (January and Mary Stubs,) one of the slaves of Mr. Miller, and the four of Mr. Copp, which were yesterday directed to be given up." I have to add, that two of the three slaves delivered up to Mr. Armstrong, the very night they returned home made their escape, and will unquestionably attempt to reach your ships. I must therefore request that any of the above persons that can be found, or any other slaves that may join your fleet, from the United States, before they quit this station, may be delivered over to Captain Massias, at Point Petre, or to his officer at Dun&c. geness. I am, sir, respectfully Admiral COCKBURN, Albion. D. SPALDING. the Secretary of State. ally found on Cumberland island, and which were Extract of a letter from Thomas Spalding, Esq., to remaining on the island at the ratification of the Treaty of Peace by the President. Against this construction of the first article of the Treaty of Peace we must still protest; and we must still contend, sir, that all the property and all the slaves that were on Cumberland island, or in the rivers and waters adjacent to the same, at the ratification of the treaty, in the spirit of amity in which that article was concluded, should have been restored; and this construction of the first article of the treaty was the more important to the people of the United States, as a great proportion of the property taken, and a great proportion of the slaves received, were sent from the waters of the United States, or from the island of Cumberland, as late as between the period of the 2d and the 5th of March, and no inconsiderable number of slaves have been sent on board your shipping in the offing, even since we have had the honor of addressing to you our first note, of the 7th instant. But, sir, to have pressed our construction of the treaty after your letter had been approved of by the Commander-in-Chief, (Sir Alexander Cochrane,) and he had retired from the station, would have been something more than useless. We have then, sir, no alternative but to prefer this affair to our Government. We cannot, however, conclude this correspondence without acknowledging the pleasure we feel at the facilities which you have offered to all claimants of slaves to obtain their voluntary return-facilities which, we are sensible, would have been productive of more effect had more time been allowed to operate. And we are, sir, &c. Admiral COCKBURN. T. NEWELL, | ST. GEORGE'S, (BERMUDA,) May, 1815. We sailed from Savannah on the 10th of May, While I and arrived on the 19th at Bermuda. was yet doubtful whether to apply to Governor Cockburn, of the Bermudas, (as I soon understood there were but few American slaves remaining in his Government, except what were in the naval arsenal at Ireland, and under the control of the naval commander,) I received from Admiral Griffith, through a lieutenant of the British navy, an intimation that he was desirous of seeing the agent who was understood to have arrived from the United States to make some demand of slaves and property. I waited, therefore, upon the Admiral on the 20th instant, and found him very sick. I presented to him General Pinckney's authority, purporting to be derived from the President of the United States. He received me politely, appeared to me to be a mild and gentlemanly man; expressed much regret at the circumstance that led to the necessity of making this demand, but declared his inability to afford any relief; confirmed to me what I had before learned, of most of the slaves having been sent to Halifax. He desired me, to-morrow, to address him in writing; that he would transmit my communication to his Government, which was all that was in his power; spoke something of giving me facilities on board of his ships to see and obtain the voluntary return of slaves. Finding that he was ill, and much exhausted, I took my leave, and promised to address him a letter as soon as I could prepare one. Governor Sir James Cockburn arrived at St. Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. "George's on Saturday evening, and on Monday, whatsoever, taken from either party during the the 22d, at an early hour, I called upon him, still war, or which may be taken after the signing of undetermined in my own mind whether to make this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter my application to him on the subject of my mis-mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and sion or not, until I knew, at least, that there was without causing any destruction, or carrying something in his power to grant worth asking away any of the artillery or other public propfor. I, however, as I believed it to be my duty, erty originally captured in the said forts or in the event of having something to request, places, and which shall remain therein upon the presented to him General Pinckney's letter of au- exchange of the ratifications of this treaty; or thority. He instantly lost his temper; denied any slaves or other private property." my authority contained in that letter; declared he would receive nothing from any one but the Secretary of State. After giving such explanations as I believed to comport with my duty, I found his irritation increased rather than diminished. He would not permit me to proceed to detail any of the reasons for my mission, though very ready, as he said he was bound in candor to do, to declare against the American interpretation of the first article of the treaty; and vehemently added, that he would rather Bermuda," and every man, woman, and child in it, were sunk under the sea, than surrender one slave that had sought protection under the flag of England. I could add more in this spirit, but more is not necessary. I withdrew from the Governor, and transmitted my letter, which was then ready, to the Admiral, and which is enclosed, (No. 1.) I noticed the Governor came down to the wharf within a few moments after my leaving him, and embarked in a boat. I was then apprehensive the Admiral's communications would change their complexion; and this I found to be too true, as the enclosed letter, (No. 2,) which I received late on Tuesday, the 23d, will show. No. 1. Mr. Spalding to Rear Admiral Griffith. After a careful perusal of this article, it very naturally and forcibly occurs to the mind that this article contains two separate and distinct principles-a restoration of public property; a restitution of private property; that there is a manner of restitution liberal and enlightened; there is a manner of restitution illiberal and unfriendly, which the British Commissioners, in the spirit of amity which dictated this article, were determined to guard against, by saying. that all territory, places, and possessions, taken during the war, should be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any artillery or other public property, which shall remain therein after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty." These conditions can, from their nature, have no relation to private property; they cannot be applied to it but by a strange perversion of language, and, by being so applied, the whole quality of the article becomes changed; and instead of being liberal and friendly, becomes limited, illiberal, and unfriendly. The Government of the United States was, therefore, greatly surprised to find that on a demand, at the Chesapeake, at Cumberland island, and in Louisiana, of public or private property, or slaves that were remaining within the limits of the United States at the ratification of the ST. GEORGE'S, BERMUDA, May 22, 1815. Treaty of Peace, the commanding officers everySIR: I am appointed by the President of the where adopted the extraordinary principle, that United States the agent, and instructed by him if either public or private property, or slaves. to proceed in the first place to Bermuda, and were removed a single mile from the place of from thence to any other of the colonies of His capture, they were not restorable, though still Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of demanding within the limits of the United States; though the restoration of all public or private property, even under the eye of the Commissioners who and particularly of all slaves, which have been were instructed at the several points to demand taken from the United States after the ratifica- the restoration, and, in many instances, in the tion of the treaty, in contravention (as my Gov-presence of the original proprietors, many days ernment conceives) of the first article. after the ratification of the treaty had been notiIt is not my desire, nor is it the desire of my fied to the officers commanding. Public and priGovernment, to enter into any discussion on the vate property and slaves were shipped in a period justice or policy of taking private property, or of of restored peace, in many instances to the ruin receiving slaves during the continuation of the of the beholders, from the limits of the United war; but that war having terminated happily States, because, as the commanding officers said, for both nations, in peace, the object of that "the property or slaves were not taken at the peace unquestionably is to heal the wounds that particular point which the British forces occuthe hand of war has inflicted. To do this effec-pied at the moment of the ratification of the tually, there must certainly be on both sides a liberal and enlightened construction of every article of the treaty; but, above all, of that article in which individual as well as national right is concerned. I will now beg leave to in'vite your attention to the words of the first article of the treaty; which are "That all territory, places, and possessions treaty." So that all that was necessary to make the first article of the treaty, as far as regarded private property or slaves, a complete nullity, as the British commanders were morally certain of receiving the earliest intimation of the contents of the treaty, they had only to draw in their outposts, and to contract their limits to points where no property and few slaves had been taken. This Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. was conspicuously the case in Georgia. Much property was taken at St. Mary's, and some negroes; at St. Simon's some cotton and other property, and many hundred slaves; from St. Simon's the British forces were withdrawn but four days before the ratification of the treaty, and two hundred British troops occupied St. Mary's for a day and a night even after the ratification of the treaty. Yet, sir, because these two places had not remained in the uniform possession of the British forces to the very moment of the ratification, all the property and all the slaves taken at either, and placed in deposite at Cumberland, were considered without the pale of its operation. Here I flatter myself I might rest, with assurance of your according in the justice of the construction which the Government of the United States has given to the first article of the treaty, in expecting that all public or private property, or slaves, which had been taken or received by the British forces during the war, and which remained within the limits of the United States at the ratification of the Treaty of Peace, whether on the land or within the acknowledged waters, would be restored. But, not to be wanting to myself, and not to be wanting to my Government, I must reluctantly trespass upon your time while I enforce the distinction I drew in the first part of my letter, between public property, to which the limitation in the first article of the treaty relates, and which enlarges and liberalizes its operation, and its application to slaves and private property, which would limit and make null its operations. There may be, and often is, a strong motive for destroying public, when there can be none for destroying private property. It frequently happens, in surrendering territory by a treaty of peace, that the party withdrawing stipulates a right to destroy the fortifications in its possession, and to carry away or destroy the artillery and munitions of war in them; but it is believed that no example can be found of a stipulation to authorize the destruction of private property of any kind, especially slaves. Equally strange would a stipulation be not to destroy them. The terms of the article preserve this distinction between public and private property in a guarded manner. All territory, places, and possessions, (with a particular exception,) shall be restored, without destroying or carrying away any of the artillery or other public property, originally captured in the said forts or places, and which remain there upon the exchange of ratifications. So far, the stipulation acts upon proper subjects, and conforms to usage. Extend it to slaves and other private property, and how inconsistent and unnatural the application! Had it been intended to put slaves and other private property on the same ground with artillery and other public property, the terms "originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein on the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty," would have followed at the end of the sentence after "slaves and other private prop erty." In that case, both interests, the public and the private, would have been subject to the same restraint. But, by separating them from each other, and putting the restrictive words immediately after "artillery and other public property," it shows that it was intended to confine their operation to those objects only, excluding from it "slaves and other private property." I will now close my letter to you by stating, that at the ratification of the Treaty of Peace, on the 17th of February, forty thousand dollars worth of cotton, tobacco, rice, other produce, and other goods, were on Cumberland island, or in the ship Countess Harcourt and others, taken at St. Mary's and in its vicinity; and that those ships lay at that time in the Cumberland river, within a short distance of the shore; that the Countess Harcourt and the ship Maria Theresa had taken refuge in His Catholic Majesty's province of East Florida; they depended upon the neutrality of their situation for protection, and made no resistance; that about seven hundred out of seven hundred and thirty negroes that joined the British forces from Georgia were on Cumberland island, or in the ships so taken and then lying in Cumberland river. The first of these negroes, excepting a few that had departed in ships of war, left the United States in the Countess Harcourt on the 19th of February; that many hundreds of them left Cumberland island on the night of the 6th of March, and after I had had myself the honor of demanding them, on the part of the United States, from Admiral Cockburn. I have not yet been furnished by my Government with a list of slaves or private property that were either at Tangier island or in Louisiana, liable to restitution under the first article; but from the public papers we are assured of the fact, and a few days will put me in possession of the necessary evidence of the property and slaves so situated. The documents in support of the facts in relation to the property and slaves from Georgia, I shall be ready at any time to present to you. And I beg you, sir to believe that, if in any part of this letter I have used strong language, it is far from my intention to offend, for I feel fully assured my Government rejoices at the restoration of the relations of peace, and fondly hopes that neither time nor circumstance will again alienate two nations that manners, and customs, and language, and mutual interest should unite. I am, &c. THOMAS SPALDING, Agent U.S. Rear Admiral GRIFFITH, &c. No. 2. Admiral Griffith to Mr. Spalding. HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP BULWARK, Bermuda, May 23, 1815. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22d instant, informing me that you are appointed by the President of the United States the agent, and instructed by him to proceed, in the first place, to Bermuda, and from thence to any other of the colonies of His Bri |