Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. ship's answer, in which the undersigned trusts that some error of a copyist has left its meaning imperfectly expressed. "It is certainly possible that one party may propose an alteration, with a mental reservation of some construction of his own, and that he may assent to it on the firm persuasion that the construction continues to be the same; and that, therefore, he may conciliate, and yet concede nothing by giving his assent." civilized nations, lawful prize, and, by the capture, become the property of the captors. It was never asserted by the American Government that the stipulation in question could mean that, in evacuating the places taken, within the territorial jurisdiction of either party, the other should be precluded from carrying away his own property. But as, by the same usages of civilized nations private property, is not the subject of lawful capture in war upon the land, it is perfectly clear The only sense which the undersigned can that, in every stipulation, private property shall discover in this sentence, as it stands, is that a be respected, or that, upon the restoration of places party may conciliate, and yet concede nothing, taken during the war, it shall not be carried by assenting to an alteration insidiously proposed away; the meaning of the expressions is defined by himself. Impossible as it is that such could by the subject-matter to which they relate, and have been Lord Bathurst's real meaning, the un- extends only to the property of the party from dersigned is equally unwilling to believe that his whom the place was taken, or of persons under Lordship intended to insinuate that, in the case his allegiance. But in the present case it will not of the stipulation now in question, an alteration be pretended that the slaves, whose removal is was, on the part of the United States, proposed complained of as a breach of the compact, were with a mental reservation of a construction not the property either of His Majesty, of the naval then avowed, which was assented to by Great officers in his service who carried them away, or Britain with a firm persuasion that, under the of any of his subjects. They were the property alteration, the construction would remain the of citizens of the United States-precisely the same. The undersigned must be allowed to say species of property which it was expressly stiputhat there was nothing in the transaction referred lated should not be carried away; and, far from to which could justify such an insinuation; that setting up now, as is suggested in Lord Bathurst's the article, as originally drawn by the American note, a construction not thought of when the Plenipotentiaries, and presented to the British treaty was formed, the American Government Government, was plain and clear; that it ad- do but claim the performance of the stipulation mitted of no other construction than that for in the only sense which could be applied to it at which the American Government now contends; that time. That the British Government gave that it avowedly and openly contained a stipula- it then any other construction, was not only tion that, in the evacuation of all the territories, never communicated to the Government of the places, and possessions to be restored, no slave United States, but was impossible to be foreseen should be carried away; that an alteration was by them. When Great Britain had solemnly proposed by the British Plenipotentiaries, which agreed, without hinting an objection, to the prinwas accepted only in part; that in this partial ciple of restoring captured slaves, it could not be acceptance the British Government acquiesced-foreseen that the engagement would be narrowed the undersigned will certainly not say with a down to nothing by a strained extension of them— mental reservation to make up, by a subsequent of a condition limited, by the words of the treaty, construction of their own, for the part to which the United States did not assent; but he does deem it his duty to say, that when Great Britain proposed an alteration to that, of the meaning of which there could be no doubt, and when the alteration was accepted conditionally, and under a modification to which she agreed, she was bound to perceive that the modification, thus insisted upon by the other party, was not a mere verbal change in the phraseology of her proposal, but, so far as it extended, a substantial adherence to the original draught of the article. to another species of property. It was impossible to anticipate a construction of an important stipulation which should annihilate its operation. It was impossible to anticipate that a stipulation not to carry away any slaves would, by the British Government, be considered as faithfully executed by British officers in carrying away all the slaves in their possession. The undersigned concludes with the earnest hope that His Majesty's Government, reviewing the subject in the spirit of candor and of justice, will accede to the proposal which he has been instructed to offer, and make provision to indemnify the owners of slaves which were carried away in contravention to the engagement of the treaty. He has the honor of renewing to Lord Castlereagh the assurance of his high consideration. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. It is further urged, in Lord Bathurst's answer, that the construction contended for by the American Government is inconsistent with another article of the treaty; for that it would require the restoration of the merchant vessels, and their effects, captured on the high seas, even if they should not be within the limits of the United States at the time of the exchange of the ratifications. The undersigned is not aware how such Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams to Mr. Monroe, an inference can be drawn from anything that has passed between the two Governments on the subject. Merchant vessels and effects captured on the high seas are, by the laws of war between dated LONDON, March 13, 1816. I now enclose a copy of the note sent to Lord Castlereagh, concerning the slaves taken from Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. Mr. Downman, by the violation of a flag of truce sent by Captain Barrie. You will have seen, by Lord Bathurst's note, a copy of which was transmitted to you immediately after it was received, that Captain Barrie disclaims all knowledge of the fact that the slaves were taken. As it appears by the documents that one of the slaves escaped from Bermuda and returned to his master, it may probably be in Mr. Downman's power to furnish many further particulars which may be of essential use in the prosecution of this inquiry, such as the name of the vessel to which they were first sent from the flag; how, and by what vessel, and when, they were afterwards sent to Bermuda, and into whose charge they were delivered there; perhaps, even the name of the officer who bore the flag; and whether Jeffery, the surgeon's mate, for whom the flag was sent, was on board the Franklin while the slaves were there; or whether they had already been sent on board another vessel before he embarked. Barrie's statement and Lord Bathurst's note seem intended to cast doubts upon the very fact of the slaves having been taken. [N. B. A copy of the above was sent to Mr. Downman, but no answer has been received.] Mr. Adams to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Department of Foreign Affairs. want of respect paid to British flags of truce, upon occasion of one of his own having been fired upon. The undersigned might deem it sufficient to say, that this was not the subject upon which Captain Barrie was called for information. As the Captain does not recollect the violation, by his own people, of the flag sent by himself, he did not mean to allege it as a retaliation upon that of which another flag sent by him had been the sufferer. Yet he avows that, if slaves, fugitives from their masters, had been received on board a flag sent by himself, he would not have restored them to their owners without an express order from his Commander-in-Chief: a tenderness for a flag of truce upon which the undersigned forbears to comment. Of the particular incident asserted by Captain Barrie, the undersigned has no cognizance; but, so far as this part of that officer's narrative may be understood as intending an imputation upon American officers or the American Government, of disrespect to the sacred character of a flag, the undersigned will only remind Lord Castlereagh of the repeated offers made by the Government of the United States during the war, and by the American Plenipotentiaries at the negotiation of liberal laws of war, on their part, and to indempeace, to punish every infraction of the most nify, as far as possible, every sufferer under them. It was in the power of Great Britain to have accepted these offers, on the single condition of reciprocity. The correctness of two of the documents transmitted by the undersigned to Lord Bathurst, and marked A and B, is admitted by Captain Barrie. He declares that he never re 13 CRAVEN STREET, March 12, 1816. The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, has the honor of inviting the attention of Lord Castlereagh to a letter which, on the 7th of October last, the undersigned address-ceived the document marked D—a circumstance ed to Earl Bathurst, in relation to eleven slaves, the property of Raleigh W. Downman, a citizen of the United States, alleged to have been taken and carried away by the violation of a flag of truce sent by Captain Barrie, commander of His Majesty's ship Dragon. With this letter were enclosed copies of Mr. Downman's memorial to the President of the United States, representing the facts, and of several other documents to substantiate them; to all which the undersigned now begs leave to refer Lord Castlereagh. acknowledged in Mr. Downman's memorial, and accounted for by the statement, that before a vessel could be procured to bear the flag with this letter, the British vessels had left the Chesapeake. With regard to the violation of the flag of truce, and taking and carrying away of the slaves, Captain Barrie states, in general terms, that he has no recollection of any slaves ever having been received on board any flag of truce, during the time he was intrusted with the command of the Chesapeake squadron; and that if such a circumac-stance did occur, it was without his knowledge. or authority. The undersigned had the honor of receiving from Lord Bathurst an answer to this letter, quainting him that Captain Barrie himself had been immediately referred to for such particulars as he might be enabled to give upon this subject, and communicating the substance of his report upon this reference. There are many particulars in this statement of Captain Barrie, which, appearing to have no bearing upon the special object of inquiry, and tending rather to draw the attention from it to other points of discussion, might with propriety be left unnoticed, but for the insinuations that they convey. He remarks, for instance, that, at the period in question, the violation of a flag of truce was a very tender subject with him; and he refers to a previous correspondence in which he had been engaged with the commanding officer of the United States forces at Norfolk, on The fact of the violation of the flag, and of the taking and carrying away of the slaves, is testified in the papers transmitted to Earl Bathurst, by the depositions, upon oath, of four witnesses; and His Majesty's Government did not consider the transaction as duly investigated, or that justice had been done to the complaining party, merely because Captain Barrie had stated the fact not to be within his recollection or knowledge. It was mentioned in Lord Bathurst's note that a communication would forth with be made to Admiral Cockburn, for the purpose of obtaining further information upon the subject, with which, it is added, he must have been acquainted, as it appears that he had arrived in the Chesapeake before the surgeon's mate was restored. Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. Lord Castlereagh to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, March 26, 1816. ing Mr. Adams's note of the 11th instant, respectThe undersigned has had the honor of receiving the slaves asserted by Mr. Downman to have been carried away from his estates by a flag of truce, contrary to the usages of war. The undersigned can urge no objection to any source of information to which His Majesty's Government may deem it expedient to resort for ascertaining the facts to their own satisfaction; but he thinks it proper to suggest that there are other sources which might also tend to the elucidation of the facts. Perhaps Captain Barrie could indicate the name of the officer by whom he sent the flag. Mr. Jeffery, the surgeon's mate, mitting to him a report which has been recently The undersigned has now the honor of transwhose restoration was the object of the flag, and received from Rear Admiral Sir George Cockwho actually returned with it, might give some burn; and as soon as the further reports which light upon the subject. The captain and officers the Admiral has promised to make upon the arof the Havana must be supposed to know some-rival of Captain Hamilton at the anchorage off thing of the affair. But, independently of the re- St. Helena shall be received, the undersigned will collection of all officers, themselves so materially not fail to communicate it to Mr. Adams, being and so pointedly interested in the result of the not less anxious than himself upon a case in which inquiry from the documents transmitted by the a flag of truce is stated to have been violated. undersigned, it appears that one of the slaves made his escape from the island of Bermuda, and the assurance of his high consideration. The undersigned begs to renew to Mr. Adams returned to his master. Information respecting the others might, then be easily obtained by the British Government from Bermuda. That the slaves were taken, the undersigned believes cannot admit of a doubt. How they were disposed of, is a question interesting to the solicitude which His Majesty's Government have felt upon an allegation which has been considered as implicating the character of British officers. The violation of a flag constitutes, in this instance, an aggravation which seems to call, with peculiar energy, for a complete and unequivocal investigation. The undersigned is persuaded that His Majesty's Government will feel it to be due to the complaint of the individual, to the honor of their officers, and to their own sense of justice. He has the honor of renewing to Lord Castlereagh the assurance of his high consideration. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams to the Secretary of State, dated LONDON, March 30, 1816. CASTLEREAGH. JOHN Q. ADAMS, Esq., &c. Admiral Cockburn to Mr. Croker. NORTHUMBERL'D, (St. Helena Roads,) February 9, 1816. SIR: With reference to Mr. Barrie's letter (No. 15) of the 3d of November, and its enclosures, respecting certain slaves stated to have been carried away from the American shore within the Chesapeake, by a British flag of truce, in the month of December, 1814, I lose no time in begging you to acquaint their Lordships that I have no knowledge whatever of such transaction, nor is mention made of any such in my various documents of that period, though His Majesty's ships then in the Chesapeake, and on the adjacent coasts, were all acting under my immediate orders, and, consequently, made all their reports to me. Mr. Downman's memorial to Mr. Madison induces me, however, to mention to their Lordships I have the honor to enclose copies of a note March, 1813, until the conclusion of the war, the that, from my first entering the Chesapeake, in which I have received from Lord Castlereagh, said inland navigation was never left without with a report from Sir George Cockburn to the several of His Majesty's ships; and when I quitSecretary of the Admiralty, Mr. Croker, con- ted it in December, 1814, with a part of the squadcerning the taking and carrying away of Mr. ron, I left there three frigates and two sloops unDownman's slaves. You will not fail to perceive der the orders of Captain Clavelle, of the Orlando, that the admiral, like Captain Barrie, disclaims with whom communications from the land were all knowledge of the transaction whatever, and held by means of flags of truce, from one extremthat the effort and tendency of both their lettersity of its shores to the other, as will appear by is to excite doubts with regard to the truth of Mr. Downman's statement in his memorial to the President. I have no doubt it will be easy, and beg leave to suggest it may be very important to Mr. Downman, to furnish additional evidence of the facts and particulars which may lead to the disclosure how and why the transportation, in broad day, of eleven slaves, to the British squadron, and by them to Bermuda, could be effected without the knowledge of either of the British commanding officers. SECRETARY OF STATE. J. Q. ADAMS. two of the paragraphs extracted from letters I received about the same period from that officer, (herewith enclosed ;) and the first paragraph will show (in reply to a part of Colonel Chawning's letter) that it was not uncustomary to trust the tender in question (which was the one attached to and manned from the Havana) up the Rappahannock river with hostile views. After the proclamation, which was issued on this subject, the slaves were constantly coming, at all risks, to our ships, tenders, and boats, &c., for protection, which occasioned our squadron to be visited by Americans under flags of truce, asking the restoration Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. of these unhappy people, under various pleas; and I cannot help thinking that, if the transactions in question had really taken place, as set forth by Mr. Downman, it would have come before me, either through Captain Clavelle or through some other channel, previous to quitting the station, as I continued not only upon the coast, but actually on shore in America, until after the ratification of the Treaty of Peace, and was to the last in the habit of receiving letters on such subjects from all parts of the country, Washington not excepted. The Havana being now upon this station, and it being possible that some of the officers and people who were in the tender may be still on board the frigate, I will, whenever she returns to this anchorage, cause Captain Hamilton to make every inquiry and report to me thereupon; and I shall not fail to transmit it to their Lordships by the earliest opportunity afterwards, at which time I will also return the several papers which have been transmitted to me referring thereto. I have the honor to be, &c. GEORGE COCKBURN. Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams to the Secretary of State, dated LONDON, April 15, 1816. degree of limitation from that conveyed in the words immediately preceding. His Majesty's Government have always been ready to admit the most liberal construction of the article in question. They have never pretended to resist the claim of the United States to indemnification for slaves or private property belonging to their citizens, which can be proved to have been in places directed to be restored by the Treaty of Ghent, at the date of the exchange of the ratifications, and to have been afterwards removed. But they do, and must ever deny that the United States can have any claim to property not actually in the places which, by the stipulations of the treaty, were to be restored at the time specified therein; because such a claim is utterly inconsistent with the provisions of the treaty, and is equally unsupported by anything which passed in the discussion of that treaty, or even by the original projet of that treaty, as offered by the American negotiators. That projet, indeed, required that the places should be restored, without carrying away any private property. If it had been, then, intended to provide for the restoration of all private prop erty originally captured in the places, instead of prohibiting its removal, the article would have positively enjoined the restoration. What had been previously removed could not become the subject of the prohibition; for not being in the place to be restored, it could not be carried en-away. Under this projet, therefore, a removal previous to the ratification of the treaty was admitted, to bar the claim of the United States, Since this interview with Lord Castlereagh, I have received from him a note respecting the slaves carried away from the United States after the ratification of the peace. A copy of it is closed. To reply to it at present would be to no purpose. I shall wait for your further instruc tions. Copy of a letter from Lord Castlereagh to Mr. Adams. APRIL 10, 1816. The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Adams's note of the 17th of February, claiming, on behalf of the United States, all such slaves belonging to their citizens as had been carried away by the naval commanders of the British forces from places within the United States, subsequently to the peace between the two countries. without reference either to the distance to which the property had been removed, to the actual state of the property, whether on shipboard or on British territory, or to the length of time which had elapsed since its removal. The undersigned, therefore, considers it impossible to maintain that the insertion of the words "originally captured in the said places, which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty," (words which must be admitted, at least, of a restrictive nature,) can have given to the original proposition of the American Plenipotentiaries a greater latitude than it originally possessed. The grounds upon which His Majesty's Gov- The undersigned trusts that the Government of ernment felt themselves compelled to withhold the United States will, upon these considerations, their acquiescence in the claim of the United not be disposed further to urge the general claim States, as preferred in Mr. Adams's former note to indemnification which was the subject of Mr. of the 9th of August, have been already fully ex- Adams's former notes. Animated with a sincere plained by Lord Bathurst in his communication disposition to act towards all Powers with the of the 2d of October. It does not, therefore, ap-strictest justice and good faith, His Majesty's pear to the undersigned to be requisite again to Government will be most happy to attend to any discuss at any length the construction of the first representation on the part of the United States article of the Treaty of Ghent. Agreeing en- which may have for its object the restoration or tirely in the arguments urged by Earl Bathurst indemnification for the loss of property of her on this subject, the undersigned can never admit citizens actually removed from places within the that construction of the article to be the true one, territory of the United States subsequent to the which would apply to the restoration of slaves a ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. But, at the different rule from that applicable to private prop- same time, the undersigned cannot consider any erty; or which, admitting that the restoration of property which had been, previous to the ratifiprivate property, slaves inclusive, is to be sub-cation of the treaty, removed on shipboard, as jected to some limitations, applies to it a different property forming a subject of such representation. State of the Finances. The undersigned begs to renew to Mr. Adams as my colleagues shall be reassembled, to bring the assurances of his high consideration. the various subjects referred to in your note under their deliberation. CASTLEREAGH. I request you will accept the assurance of the Extract of a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. high consideration with which I have the honor Adams, dated MAY 21, 1816. Should the British Government persevere in its construction of the first article of the late Treaty of Peace, respecting slaves carried off in violation, as we presume, of its obvious import, the President is willing to refer the question to the decision of some friendly Power, which you will propose. A reference is suggested, by provisions in the treaty, applicable to anticipated differences in other instances; indeed, where such differences exist, no better mode can be adopted for settling them in a satisfactory manner. In this instance the interest is too important to be neglected. It is impossible that the opinion of the British Government can be more decided than that of the United States. There is no reason, therefore, why the United States should yield to the opinion of Great Britain, more than that Great Britain should yield to that of the United States. to be, &c. CASTLEREAGH. JOHN Q. ADAMS, Esq., &c. STATE OF THE FINANCES. [Communicated to Congress, December 3, 1816, by the President of the United States in his annual Message, of which the following is an extract.] finances, with a view of the measures pursued by "For a more enlarged view of the public the Treasury Department previous to the resignation of the late Secretary, I transmit an extract from the last report of that officer. Congress will perceive in it ample proofs of the solid foundation on which the financial prosperity of the nation rests, and will do justice to the distinguished ability and successful exertions with which the duties of the Department were executed, during a period remarkable for its difficulties and its pe Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams to Lord Castle-culiar perplexities." reagh, dated SEPTEMBER 17, 1816. "4th. Slaves carried away from the United States by British officers after the peace." As the construction given by His Majesty's Government to the first article in the Treaty of Ghent, in reference to the slaves carried away from the United States by British officers, after the ratification of peace, is so directly at variance with the construction which the American Government think alone applicable to it, the undersigned has been further instructed to propose that this question should be submitted to the decision of some friendly sovereign. This reference is suggested by provisions in the Treaty of Ghent itself, applicable to the contingency of differences in other instances; and it is conceived that, when such differences exist, no better mode can be adopted for settling them in a satisfactory manner. Viscount Castlereagh to Mr. Adams. SEPTEMBER 28, 1816. SIR: I very much regret that the absence from London, at this season of the year, of several of the Prince Regent's Ministers, will preclude me from returning as early an answer to your note of the 17th as I should wish, under the sense I entertain of the great importance of the several objects to which it invites the attention of this Government. Extract of a report of the late Secretary of the Trea sury to the President of the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury has the honor to submit to the President of the United States the following general sketch of the finances, with reference to the 1st of August, 1816, comprehending I. A view of the sources of revenue, and the objects of public expenditure; I. II. A view of the fiscal measures during 1816. A view of the sources of revenue, and the objects of public expenditure. REVENUE. The return of peace enabling the Legislature to alleviate the burdens imposed by the necessities of the war, Congress, during the last session, discontinued or reduced the following duties and taxes: 1. The acts imposing duties upon articles of domestic manufacture were repealed. 2. The act imposing duties on furniture and watches was repealed. 3. The duties imposed on licenses to retailers of foreign merchandise, &c., were reduced. 4. The duties imposed on spirits distilled within the United States were reduced, and the collection modified. 5. The rates of postage were reduced. 6. The direct tax was reduced from $6,000,000 to $3,000,000, and imposed for one year only. I have myself obtained the permission of the Prince Regent to make a short excursion to Ireland on my private affairs; but I shall certainly 7. The double duties on merchandise imported return to London by the middle of November, were discontinued, and a new tariff established. and shall lose no time, as soon after that period. The discontinuance and reduction of the duties |