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Mapa, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratioa. Thoae too large to be entirely included in one expoaure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, aa many framea aa required. The following diagrama llluatrate the method: Lea cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimiia A dea taux de rMuction diff^renta. Loraque le document eat trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un aaul cliche, il eat film6 A partir de Tangle aup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'imagea n^ceaaaire. Lea diagrammea auivanta llluatrent la mithode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 MEMORANDA OF A RESIDENCE AT THE COURT OF LONDON. # A t< f ) if ' I K - ».- ^^ MEMORANDA OF A RKSIDKNCE AT Tin: COURT OF LONDON. PHILADELPHIA: CAREY, LEA dc BLANCHARD. 1833. 1 i'. J -f Cy. \\ 268920 no*TO33, Entered, Juno' TO33, according to Act of OingrcsB, by Richard Rush, in the Clerk's Office, of the District Court, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. n \ ■-■^\f'-V . .nii^t. •\ ) V .-^ \ Thomas Kite tc Co^ Printers. \ To the Voyage Landing First in anccs Iiitervici from I — equ Memb London ^ street, Dinner a matic < morela Interview the tre; theUn mouth CONTENTS. •x.. To the Reader, . . CHAPTER I. Voyage and arrival at the Isle of Wight, CHAPTER II. Landing at Portsmouth and journey to London, CHAPTER III. Tupe IX 21 31 First interview with Lord Custlereagh. First appear- ances of London, . . . . .45 CHAPTER IV. Interview with Lord Castlercagh — slaves carried away from the United States contrary to the treaty of Ghent ^-equalization of tonnage duties — West India trade. Members of the British and American cabinets, 51 CHAPTER V. London east of Temple bar. Lonn >n north of Oxford street, . . i . . . CHAPTER VL Dinner at Lord Castlereagh's. Members of the diplo- matic corps. The tirst visit. Dinner at Lord West- moreland's, ...... CHAPTER VII. 70 78 Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Slave question under the treaty of Ghent — North-western boundary between the United States and British possessions — Post at the mouth of Columbia river, . . • .92 VI CONTKNIS. CIIAPTKIl VIII. Rocoj)ti(»n by the Prince Uogrnf. Tlu.' Lcvco. Royal Family, . . . . . .101 CHAPTER IX. Attempt upon the life of the Duke of Wellington. Old customs uhotit the court. Dinner at the Danish minis- ter's. I'rivute audience of the Queen. The Drawing Room. Dinner at Lord Castlereagh't!, . . 11') CIIAP'I'I'Jl X. Emigration. Literary institutions. Clubs. Booksellers' shops. St James's jKilacc — party at the Dutchess of Cumberland's — at the Russian ambassador's — at the Marchioness of Sfaflljrd's — at Lord Melville's. The Duke of Sussex. Dinner at the Mansion House, . UiO CHAPTER XL Visit to Mr. West. Dinner at Mr. Lyttlcton's — at Lord Holland's. A day at Deptford and (Jroenwich. Din- ner at the Austrian ambassador's — at Earl Ratliurst's. Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth. Dinner at Lord Bagot's, . . . . . .150 CHAPTER XH. Interview with Lord Castlereagh. General negotiation proposed on the West India trade, Maritime questions and Impressment. Nature of the last question. The Slave trade. Offer of British mediation in the afluirs of the United States and Spain. Dinner at Mr. Wil- berforce's — at the Earl of Hardwicke's. Almacs — late hours — Cuvcnt Garden Theatre, . . . 178 CHAPTER XIII. Wager of battle. Interview with Lord Castlereafdi — Impressment — course of Great Britain and the United , States as between Spain and lier colonies — affairs be- twee tic c dintK 'i'lie da my. down DintH The Un the ( Britis Lord Dissoluti Engia ment- Dinne with I trade. Chanc Interview proposi mediat Mr. \ with L tion uc Robins( Comnic Sinclaii dor's. Great ] her coh twcoii tin; Unitoil Stntcs nnrros|>on(l(Mico. TIk; Drawing Kuuiii. Mirtli tlay dinner at Lurd C.'a8tlerea\vnu^s. I'iVuning cntortainuiunt at (.'arlton ll(. Dinner at Dr. I'inckurd's, Ml •jO'i •J-JO CIIAi'TKIl XV. The United Stutes and Ionian Island-s. AtFairs b< twcen the Uniteri States and Spain. Monunu'nt to Hums. Hritiiih T.istitution, Pall Mull. Dinner at Mr. Canninir's. Lord Erskine, ..... 244 CHAPTER XVI. Dissolution of Parliament. Revenue and resources of England. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Iin|)res3. inent — the Slave trade — commercial convention of 1815. Dinner at the Marquis of Stafford's. Further interview with Lord Castlereagh on Impressment and the Slave trade. The hustings at Covent Garden. Dinner at the Chancellor of the exchequer's, . . . 205 CHAPTER XVII. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — general negotiation proposed — commercial convention of 1815. — European mediation between Spain and her colonies. Dinner at Mr. Villiers's. The Quarterly Review. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — proposal for a general negotia- tion accepted — Mr. Gallatin to take part in it — Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goulburn, the British negotiators. Commercial convention of 1815. Dinner at Sir John Sinclair's — at Mr. Bentham's — at the French ambassa- dor's. Interview with Lord Castlereagh— course of Great Britain and the United States towards Spain and her colonies. Affair of Pensacola, . . . 297 VUl CONTKNTS. ^Jr CIIAI'TKR XVni. Iiitorviow with lionl Cusllcn'agli. Iinprcssinciit— raMCn of Arbutlinot utid Ainbristcr. Mr. (lullatiii arrives in Lomlon. Preparatory coiifereiico at North C'ray, Kent, the Neat of Lord Castlcrcagh, where the iicgotiatorH (lino and pans the night. Appearances of the country. Opening of the negotiation — the points recapituhitod. Last interview with Lord Castlereagh on Impressment, prior to his departure for Aix la Chapello, CHAPTER XIX. Progress of the negotiation. A convention conchided. Questions arranged hy it ; viz. that of the fisheries — north-western boundary line — Columbia River and ter- ritory west of the Rocky Mountains — commercial con- vention of 181.5 — Slaves carried off contrary to the treaty of Ghent, . . . . . CHAPTER XX. 3*29 353 Subjects which the negotiation leA unsettled, particularly the West India trade and Impressment, . . 381 CHAPTER XXI. The English in the autumn. Inaguration of the Lord Mayor. Death of the Queen, . . . 415 CHAPTER XXII. Americans abroad. Cases of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Opening of Parliament. Royal speech, by commission. Dinner at Mr. Wellesley Pole's. Chesapeake and Shan- non, . 435 TO THE READER. H5 When I first took the pen to prepare the following sheets for the press, it was with the intention of going through the full term of my mission ; hut finding them run on to their present number in using the materials of little more than a year, I have, for the present, given over that intention. I am the more admonished to this course, as negotiations with which I was charged at later periods, were more elaborate and full than any recorded in this volume. Miss More, in noticing Pope's precept, that the greatest art in writing is " to blot,'''' says that there is still a greater — the art to stop. The contents of the chapters may startle at first ; but I trust only at first. I am as deeply sensible of the impropriety of making an ill use of the incidents of private life, as it is possible any one can be, and flatter myself that what I have TO THE HEADER. said in this connexion, will be clear of all excep- tion. I would otherwise burn the sheets. I would burn them if I thought they contained a line or word to create a moment's uneasiness in any one person whose name is mentioned. In giving an account of conversations other than official, I have drawn upon my notes sparingly ; not that I heard things improper had all been told, but that a thou- sand things pass in conversation not adapted to print, any more than intende 1 for it. Reports then or narratives given under restraints from which I never could be free, may be found mea- gre ; and in such cases I am the one to blame, de- siring always to err on the side of abstinence where indulgence would be criminal. Doubtless also there has often been a falling off in my Umit- ed reports of what was said by others, from the better manner in which it was said by the persons themselves. Here too I am the one responsible. In many instances I have been happy to render acknowledgments for the kindest hospitalities re- ceived in England. Should the work be continued, this list would be much enlarged by names not hitherto reached. There are questions involved in the negotiations I have recorded, of the deepest prospective inter- est to both the United States and Great Britain. TO THE READER. XI )t If I have explained these so that they may be rightly understood, and send them into the world under a companionship that may add to the chances of their being at all read in both coun- tries, I believe that I shall not have written alto- gether in vain. When I say in hoth^ I confess that I chiefly mean Britain ; for with all the power of intelligence and information in that country upon public as all subjects, I am satisfied that the Ame- rican questions are less generally inquired into than many others, and less generally understood than in this country. I have written in the spirit of good feeling towards Britain which may be che- rished by every American compatibly with his superior love for his own country, and which I believe few An ?ricans fail to cherish who stay there as long as I did. A residence of nearly eight years, corrected many erroneous impressions I had previously taken up ; as a residence of like time in this country by Britons, almost invariably imbues them with totally different feelings and opinions respecting the United States, from those adopted by their hasty, and too often uninformed and uncandid travellers, who come among us. Enough has been written and said on both sides, to irritate. My desire is, and such my effort, to soothe. President Jackson, in his last annual Xll TO THE READER. message to Congress, has spoken of the value of a good understanding between two countries, " cemented by a community of language^ manners and social habits, and by the high obligations we owe to our British ancestors for many of our most valu' able institutions, and for that system of representative government which has enabled us to preserve and improve thcmJ'^ In pubHshing negotiations which I conducted for my country, and other official communications, it is proper I should say, that I violate no duty. It is known to be as well the practice as the prin- ciple of the government of the United States, to publish such documents for general information ; and in fact I publish nothing that has not hereto- fore had publicity in this manner, though piece- meal and at detached intervals. I know of no exception, certainly of no material exception, unless the cases of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. These constitute a transaction too marked to remain un- known in its diplomatic progress,the result having long been known. My more ample account of it all, at the time it arose, was transmitted to the department of state, and rests in its archives. Even the European rule sanctions the publica- tion of negotiations when no longer pending, and this is the case with all I present. I have only TO THE READER. XIU d y given them in connecting links, and under forms somewhat different. Often I have omitted par- ticulars already published by the government ; whilst sometimes I have brought to light what may serve as new explanations. In this, as other parts of the work, I venture to claim for it as the only title to an indulgent reception, essential fide- lity in its contents; repeating, that I am charge- able with all imperfections merely verbal. I might have thrown into separate works, the parts official and parts personal. But 1 preferred their junction. No public man, whatever the ex- tent or magnitude of his duties, leads a purely official life, detached from personal scenes and feehngs interwoven with it. Some view of these may even serve on occasion to elucidate better the true movement of official acts, by exhibiting the latter in a broader connexion. I have also thought that it might not be wholly unacceptable to the American community, to know something of the personal reception of their minister in England, in virtue of the trust he bears ; not simply that which awaits him in the common forms when he first arrives, but more generally afterwards. The same motive will open to his countrymen some views, imperfect indeed and few, but still some views, of the social tone prevailing in classes amongst which XIV TO THE READER. his public trust necessarily, and, if his residence be protracted, largely throws him. Brief reflections which I may now and then have hazarded on the institutions and character of Eng- land, are of little moment. They will pass only for what they are worth with those who may be at the trouble of reading them. Far from my pur- pose has it been to scan all her institutions and character, (a mighty task!) but rather to speak cursorily of portions falling under my own imme- diate observation in some among the many spheres of her society and population. Other portions have been abundantly described by her own and foreign writers ; and here, portraits unlike each other may each be true to the original. Even an individual in whom great qualities meet, may often be described under different colours, each being just according to the point of sight whence he is beheld. Who then shall undertake to concentrate in a single picture, a great and mighty nation ? The opinions in which I feel most confidence, and which are most important, are those which relate to the wealth and power of England, and their steady augmentation. Those, of whatever nature, in which I have indulged, have reference, with scarcely any exceptions, to the dates that belong to them. I am aware that great political changes TO THE READER. XV is te ;ir th have taken place since ; but I do not, at my dis- tance, believe thai any essential changes will yet have been produced by them, in tlie character or habits of the nation. These, when the growth of ages, alter slowly in any country. In England they will come about more slowly than in most countries. Of current politics, I have said nothing. Who looks for party spirit therefore in these pages, will not find it. They are merely intended to be histo- rical and descriptive, if, in very humble ways, they may at all lay claim to such characteristics. It will scarcely be supposed that, even as far as they go, they embody all the scenes, social or oflicial, of my mission. Of the first there are only occa- sional notices ; and of the second only such have been selected as are decidedly national, and not all these. The whole business oft private claims, requiring appeals to the British government, I have of course passed by, as well as a great variety of incidental duties. These are of constant recur- rence in countries between which there is so large and active a commerce as the United States and Great Britain. The consuls take charge of many of them ; but the cases are still numerous in which they find their way to the minister. The latter is also charged with supervising, quarterly, the ac- XVI TO THE READER. counts of all the consuls of the United States in Great Britain and Ireland, for expenditures for the relief of destitute or distressed American seamen ; and it is on his drafts alone that funds are advanced for this object. So it was in my time, and formed a burdensome, and not very appropriate, • part of the minister's duty ; expenditures on this account within the British dominions being equal to those in all other foreign countries put together — a fact that in itself attests the extent of our commerce and navigation with Great Britain. I went to England again on a short visit in 1829. An interval of but four years had elapsed ; yet I was amazed at the increase of London. The Regent's Park, which, when I first knew the west-end of the town, disclosed nothing but lawns and fields, was now a city. You saw long rows of lofty buildings, m their outward aspect magnifi- cent. On this whole space, was set down a popu- lation of probably not less than fifty or sixty thou- sand souls. Another city hardly smaller, seemed to have sprung up in the neighbourhood of St. Pancreas' church and the London University. Belgrave square in an opposite region, broke upon me with like surprise. The road from Westmin- ster Bridge to Greenwich, exhibited for several miles compact ranges of new houses. Finchley comr cotta tion gone to Pa or an this n pulled could have 1 and fa descri the mc' excuse contaii palace polis J Liverp that I have ir In t] that I ( and po bank in recenth is alwa TO TIIK READER. XVI 1 of ral ley common, desolate in 1819, was covered with neat cottages, and indeed villages. In whatever direc- tion I went, indications were similar. I say noth- ing of Carlton terrace, for Carlton House was gone, or of the street, of two miles, from that point to Park Crescent, surpassing any other in London, or any that I saw in Europe. To make room for this new and spacious street, old ones had been pulled down, of which no vestige remained. I could scarcely, but for the evidence of the senses, have believed it all. The historian of the decline and fall of the Roman empire remarks, that the description composed in the Theodosian age, of the many stately mansions in Rome, might almost excuse the exaggeration of the poet ; that " Rome contained a multitude of palaces, and that each palace was equal to a city." Is the British metro- polis advancing to that destiny? Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and other provincial towns that I visited, appeared, on their smaller scales, to have increased as much. In the midst of it all, nearly every newspaper that I opened, rung the changes upon the distress and poverty of England. Mr. Peel's bill banishing bank notes under five pounds from circulation, had recently passed. There was great clamor. There is always clamor at something among this people. 4 XVUl TO THE READER. Prices had fallen. Trade was said to be irrecov- erably ni'mcd, through the over-production of (roods, I have since seen the state of things at that epoch better described perhaps, as the result of an under- production of money. Workmen in many places were out of employ. There were said to be four- teen thousand of this description in Manchester. I saw portions of them walking along the streets. Most of them had struck for wages. I asked how they subsisted, when doing nothing. It was an- swered, that they had laid up funds by joint con- tributions among themselves whilst engaged in work. In no part of Liverpool, or its extensive environs, did I see pauperism; the paupers for that entire district being kept within the limits of its poor house ; in which receptacle I was informed there were fifteen hundred. I passed through the vale of Cheshire ; I saw in that fertile district, in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicester- shire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, appearances of wide-spread prosperity, in the lands, houses, canals, roads, public works, domestic animals, people ; in every thing that the eye of the merely transient traveller took in. I stopped at Kcnil worth, and Warwick castle ; enchanting spots, which English literature has almost rendered classic ! Rooks were fluttering about the mouldering ruins TO THE READER. MX ch C IS of the former. I had invitations to Trentham-hall, Apthorpc, Ilagley, Ockham, Langewin, Grange Park, Digswell ; from going to which I was prcvcnt- I ed by objects confining me to the metropohs. But I seize this opportunity of marking my sense of the kindnesses intended me by the proprietors of those beautiful seats. Nor can I let it pass without comprehending in my grateful acknowledgments my valued American friends, George Marx, and Joshua Bates, Esquires ; who, with their amiable families, kept London from being a dull place to me during the autumn and part of the winter, by their warm-hearted hospitalities. I have the same to say of a friend of longer date. Colonel Aspin- wall, consul of the United States at London, then residing with his amiable family at Highgate. I cannot close these preliminary lines without the remark, that since the volume was written, events have transpired in our own country, calcu- lated at first to give uneasiness to those who dearly love it. But may we not hope that all danger is past ; and that the Union which made and can alone preserve us a Nation, will derive from them new strength and glory ? JR. R. SYDENHAM, near PHILADELPHU. AniiL, 1833. R On barke( extrao the Ui ship vf round board, of mui the C\ ourseh the hg] toward MEMORANDA OF A RESIDENCE AT THE COURT OF LONDON. CHAPTER I. Voyage and arrival at the Isle of Wight. On the nineteenth of November, 1817, I cm- barked at Annapolis in the FrankHn 74, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States, to the court of London. The ship was new, built at Philadelphia, and ordered round to Annapolis to take me and my family on board. The anchors were weighed to the sound of music. We were three days in getting down the Chesapeake, and on the twenty-third, found ourselves at sea. The evening sun shone upon the light-house as we left the capes, which jut out towards each other, looking, from the ocean, hke ^ 22 R Vai DENTR AT TH I' [1817. II linn natural iratc-way to the entrance of this part of our country. I will not stop to dcscriho the miiuitc occur- rences of the voyage, thoujj^h a lar<;c num-of-war abounds with them, ns they strike upon the ol)ser- vation of a person who has never before been at sea. The crew consisted of upwards of seven luindred men. The sliip was of two thousand tons, and althou.^li rated a 71, mounted ninety guns. If silence and cleanhncss be proofs of thsciphnc, the ship's company was entitled to that praise. We liad one storm, a severe one ; so it seemed to a landsman. As it was coming on, the sails were taken in, and even whilst it raged, the top-gallant yards sent down, and masts struck, with a quick- ness that appeared wonderful. " C(til a hundred men off,'*'' said the officer on the quarter deck to a midshipman, when something urgent was to be done. In a moment, a lumdred men were there. Occasionally the trumpet was used ; the straining of the voice through which amidst the roaring of the winds, had a hideous sound. When the storm began to abate, I fell into con- versation with Commodore Stewart. We were holding on to one of the guns, that had been run into the cabin. " Commodore," said I, " this is a new scene to me ; what could you do if we wera ]j;;i7,] (oruT or i,oNiH)N. 23 at >vai Hiul nn ciuiiiy of i'(jual forco hove in sioht'" " C/tasc him,'' lio said, ^rnivi'ly. ** Wliat tlicn," I replied; "you could not. cii^airo 1 suppose? lor ten li< iirs your hhip lias been tempest-tost ; all your exertions seem to have In^en recpiired to re- sist the storm." " True," he said, '' hut we could keep the enemy in si«2rht." *' JJut certainly you could not li«^ht him," 1 again remarked. '* We could not," he rejoined, " now j but we should watch each other, and ^o to it when the storm was over,'' " What, all exhausted with the labour it has cost, all dismantled as your ship is t" " Yes, as quick as possible," he answered ; " there would be no time to lose ; the rij^'ging must go up faster than it came down." Such is war. The elements cannot stop it. Their very raging seems akin to it. This was no vain boasting. The commodore was a modest, unassuming man ; but faithful to his duty in the battle or storm. An incident occurred that may be worth men- tioning from its possible bearing upon the theory of the currents along our coast. We left the capes of Chesapeake on a Sunday, steering for England. On the following Friday, to the surprise of all on board, we saw land. It proved to be the Island of Bermuda. But how came we there ? Our cap- tain had no intention of running down to that Jat- it ! 24 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. itiide. From the first few hours after leaving the capes, tlie winds had been hght, chiefly from the north and north-west, and the weather thick. No accurate observations could be taken. We were aware that the ship had fallen to the south before entering the gulf stream, but had counted upon its current, which sweeps from south to north, bring- ing us sufliciently back again. It happened that when we entered it, the wind freshened and carried us across very fast, dying away soon afterwards. Thus the current had but little time to act, in drifting us again to the north. This seemed to be, in part, the way of accounting for the situation of the ship. Yet the fact was strange, that she should be so far south, as no very strong winds had blown from the north, or any quarter. I am sensible that to present this fact with nautical accu- racy, the precise state of the winds, with the ship's reckoning for each day, ought to be given, which I have not the means of doing. Humboldt, who overlooked nothing connected with the pheno- mena of nature, remarks in his personal narrative upon the small portion of knowledge which we possess of the absolute position and breadth of the gulf stream, as well as of its prolongation towards the coasts of Europe and Africa ; and as the true knowledge of it would be of the highest import- m •7 I I rue 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 25 ance in shortening voyages, he hints that it might be useful if vessels furnished with the best instru- ments were instructed to cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Atlantic, between the thirtieth and fifty-fourth degrees of north latitude, expressly with a view to determine at what distances and in what precise directions the stream is found in dif- ferent seasons, and under the influence of different winds. The same navigators, he remarks, might have instructions to examine whether this great current constantly skirts the southern bank of Newfoundland ; and on what parallel between 32 and 40 degrees of west longitude, the waters which run from east to west, are nearest to those which flow in an opposite direction. The commo- dore, who was considered by those who knew him best, to be as skilful a navigator as he was an accomplished officer, inclined to the belief I thought, that the currents of the ocean,, the theory of which we do not yet fully understand, had ex- erted some agency in bringing the ship into the situation described. On the evening of the twenty-eighth, after hav- ing had Bermuda in view for a few hours, and noticing some signals made to us, the wind spring- ing up, we gladly bade it adieu, and laid our coursQ for England. It was on the Sunday following M ^ !' 26 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. that we had the storm. From that time the ship went swiftly onward under boisterous winds. On the fourteenth of December we were in the channel. The nights were long and dark ; the days gloomy. We could get no good observation from the sun or stars. We spoke no vessels, saw none ; nor any sign of a pilot. The New England pilot boats and those of the Chesapeake, our officers said, would run out to sea twenty and thirty miles to look for vessels ; but here, in the English channel, such a highway for vessels, no pilots were to be seen, and at a season when most wanted. It was somewhat remarkable, that neither the commodore, who had been twenty years in the navy, nor any of his lieu- tenants, though seven in number, and some like himself familiar with almost all se as, had ever before been up the English channel ; nor had the Bailing master, or mate. Cowes or Portsmouth, was the port we desired to make. Our midship- men, two in particular, whose names I remember, young Powell of Virginia, and Cooper of New York, would climb up to the truck of the main- mast ; but neither land, nor light-house, nor pilot- boat, nor any thing could be descried. All was a dreary waste. Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth, the commodore's anxiety was very great, especially by night, for the weather was rough, 181 Ii| 5r» in- )t- 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 37 and he believed we were close by the coast. The ship was chiefly steered by soundings ; her situa- tion being ascertained from the appeara*^ es of the soil which the lead brought up ; a resou. when other guides of navigation fail, but tedious and apt to prove deceptive. At length, early in the morning of the sixteenth, all uneasiness was dispelled. The first gleams of light disclosed land. It was a long blue-looking ridge, rising out of the water. A gun was fired, which brought a pilot. We learned, as he stepped on board, that the land before us was the Isle of Wight, and that we were near Cowes. All eyes were upon him as he passed along the deck. The first person that comes on ship-board after a voy- age, seems like a new link to human existence. When he took his station at the helm, I heard the commodore ask how the Needles bore. " Ahead^ north,^'' he answered. Do you take the ship through them ? " Aye,'''^ Does the wind set right, and have you enough ? " Aye.'''' This closed all dialogue, as far as I heard. He remained at his post giving his laconic orders. In good time we approached the Needles. The spectacle was grand. Our oflicers gazed in admiration. The very men, who swarmed upon the deck, made a pause to look up to the giddy height. The most exact steering % I! n ! 2S RESIDENCE AT THE flSlT. seemed necessary to save the ship from the sharp rocks that compress the waters into the narrow strait below. But she passed easily through. There is something imposing in entering England by this access. I afterwards entered at Dover, in a packet from Calais ; my eye fixed upon the sen- tinels as they slowly paced the heights with their gleaming muskets. But those cliffs, bold as they are, and immortalized by Shakespeare, did not equal the passage through the Needles. There was a breathless curiosity also in the first approach, augmenting its intrinsic grandeur. In a little while we anchored oflf Cowes. If the Needles were a grand sight, the one now before us was full of beauty. Castles, cottages, villas, gar- dens, were scattered on all sides. When we left our own country, the leaves had fallen and the grass lost its green ; but now, although the season was more advanced, and we had got to a higher latitude, a general verdure was to be seen. This was doubtless the effect in part of exquisite culti- vation, and in part of the natural moisture and mildness of the climate of this part of England. As we looked all round, after so immediately emerging from the gloom of the ocean, it seemed like enchantment. Boats came off from the shore, to look at our ship ; the persons in them, their i I 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 29 dress, countenances, the minutest thing, fixed our attention. Our consul at Cowes came on board, and some officers of the port. Three pilots also came. Between these and our pilot, words were soon heard. The cause was remarkable. It turn- ed out that our pilot was, in fact, no pilot. He had been one, but his branch was taken away for habitual drunkenness. Coi.tinuinfj to own his boat, he sailed about this part of the channel at his pleasure, like the old man of the sea. Hearing our gun, he came on board, and, making the most of our being a foreign ship, cunningly resorted to the exercise of his old craft. The disappointed pilots declared, and our consul rather con- firmed what they said, that, at the moment of their dispute, he was in a state of intoxication ; so that, we were then first made acquainted with the fact of having been brought through the Needles by a drunken steersman! It appeared singular that such an occurrence should have happened in the English channel ; yet so it was. It was hinted that he had so good a tact in his business, and knew that part of the coast so well, that he would generally steer right even when drunk. Such was the lucky accident in our case, and, being ignorant, we were not uneasy. His drunkenness taking the form of taciturnity, he escaped detection in the 30 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. eyes of strangers, though his sulkiness had not been unobserved. The others stoutly denied his right to any fees ; but as the fact of service per- formed was in his favour, and no one else could claim on that ground, the commodore did not think that it rested with him to settle points of law. Our Palinurus certainly had the advantage in alert- ness, over the sleepy set who would have robbed him of his reward. " Cassio, \ forgive thee ; But never more be officer of mine." i,;' I . x* 1817.] COURT OF LONDON. 31 CHAPTER 11. Landing at Portsmouth, and journey to London. I STAID on ship-board two days, waiting the pro- per order from London, for which the consul had written, to have my baggage passed. During this interval the surrounding scene lost none of its interest. It was further enlivened by visiters coming on board the ship. We got the London newspapers wet from the press. It is a remark of Humboldt, that no language can express the emo- tion that a European naturalist feels when he touches for the first time, American land. May not the remark be reversed by saying, that no language can express the emotion which almost every American feels, when he first touches the shores of Europe. This feehng must have a spe- cial increase, if it be the case of a citizen of the United States, going to England. Her fame is constantly before him. He hears of her states- men, her orators, her scholars, her philosophers, !l it h 32 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. her divines, her patriots. In the nursery he learns her ballads. Her poets train Iiis imagination. Her novelists carry him into the scenes and loca- lities of social life. Ilcr lancruaire is his, with its whole intellectual riches, past, and forever newly flowing ; a tie, to use Burke's figure, light as air, and unseen; but stronger than links of iron. In spite of political difffcrences, her glory allures him. In spite of hostile collision, he clings to her lineage. After Captain Decatur's capture of a British frigate, some one askod him if his forefa- thers were not French. " No, I beg pardon," he an- swered, with some emphasis, " they were English,''^ In that spirit, would his countrymen generally answer. Walking the deck with two of our lieu- tenants while sounding up the channel, " Think,''^ said one of them, " that we may he in the track of the Armada;'''' and they talked of the heroine-queen, at Tilbury. These are irrepressible feelings in an American. His native patriotism takes a higher tone from dwelling on the illustrious parent stock. Places and incidents that Enghshmen pass ly, fill his imagination. He sees the past in conjunction with the present. Three thousand miles, said Franklin, are as three thousand years. Interven- tion of space seems to kindle enthusiasm, like in- tervention of time. Is it not fit that two such I 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 33 nations should be friends ? Let us hope so. It is the hope which every ministfc from the United States should carry with him to England. It is the hope in which every British minister of state should meet him. If, nevertheless, rivalry is in the nature of things, at least let it be on fair prin- ciples. Let it be generous, never paltry, never malignant. The order for my baggage not arriving at the time expected, I landed without it. Preferring to land at Portsmouth, the boats were prepared, and on the nineteenth I left the ship. The commodore and some of his officers accompanied me. A salute was fired as on embarking ; the usual ceremony when our ministers are received on board, or land- ed from, the national ships. Approaching Ports- mouth, we passed numerous vessels of war, some lying in ordinary, some ready for sea. There were docks, and arsenals, and store houses, and batteries, and fortifications. The day was fair, and wind fresh. This gave animation to the har- bour scene, swelling the sails of vessels in motion, and streaming out the colours of those at anchor. It was a fine naval panorama. Besides formida- ble rows of line of battle ships and frigates, we saw transports crowded with troops. I had before seen ports alive with the bustle of trade; but 5 ;• 4 \i 34 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. never one so frowning and glistening with features and objects of war. When we reached the shore, tide-waiters ad- vanced to take possession of my baggage. They were informed of my pubHc character. This did not turn them from their purpose. The national ship from which I had debarked, was in view ; her colours flying; the very salute had been heard. Still they alleged, that having received no or- ders to the contrary, they must inspect my bag- gage. I said to Commodore Stewart that, strictly, they were right, and directed my servant to deli- ver it. There was but little, the principal part having been left on board to await the permit of exemption. It might have been supposed that these anxious guardians of the revenue would have satisfied their sense of duty by a merely formal examination of what was delivered so readily. Not so ; carpet bags were ransacked ; the folds of linen opened, as if Brussels lace had been hidden in them; small portmanteaus peered into, as if contraband lurked in every corner. Nothing was overlooked. A few books brought for amusement on the voyage were taken possession of, and I had to go on without them. I should have been dis- posed to make complaint of this mock official fidelity and subaltern folly, but from an unwilling- 1817.1 COURT OF Li N'DON. 35 ness to begin my public career with a ron )laiiit ; and I remembered to have heard Mr. Ada s <^ay, that when the allied sovereigns visited England after the battle of Waterloo, their baggage was inspected at Dover, the order for exemption having, by an inadvertence, not been sent. There is no privilege, by positive law, of a foreign minister's effects from custom house examination ; but by universal coifiity, it is forborne. The exercise of such a claim with the privity of a government, w'ould become an affront. I must add, that the order for the full delivery of all mine, with every immunity, arrived at Cowes soon after I left the ship. I proceeded to the George Inn in Portsmouth, where the commodore and his officers were to give me the favour of their company to dinner. Arrived there, we had every attention from the master and his servants. Comfortable apartments had been provided, and we found throughout that careful anticipation of our wants and orderly arrangement of every thing, for which we had understood English inns were remarkable. Whilst seated round our fire in the even- ing, fatigued by the excitements we had gone through, and waiting the summons to dinner, we heard bells. It was a fine chime, to which we ^ III 35 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. all listened, my wife being particularly fond of* their music. Sometimes the sound grew faint, and then, from a turn in the wind, came back in peals. We knew not the cause. It passed in our thoughts, that the same bcl's might have rung their hurras for the victories of Hawke and Nelson : " Pcr/wjos," said one of the party, ^^for Sir Cloudslcy Shovcfs tooJ*^ Thus musing, an unexpected piece of intel- ligence found its way into our circle. We were given to understand, that they were ringing on the occasion of my arrival ; a compliment to my station to which I had not looked. Wo went in to our first dinner in England, under a continuation of their peals. The cloth removed, we had a glass or two to our country and friends, after which we returned to our sitting room. When reas- sembled there, I had an intimation that " The Royal Bell-ringers" were in waiting in the hall, desirous of seeing mc. They did not ask admit- tance, I was told, but at my pleasure. I directed them to be shown in at once, beginning now to understand the spring to the compliment. Eight men with coats reaching down to their feet, hereupon slowly entered. They ranged them- selves, one after another, in a solemn line along the wall. Every thing being adjusted, the spokes- man at their head broke silence, with the following 1817 I r 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 37 • address. lie said that they had come " with their due and customary respects, to wish mo joy on my safe arrival in old EntrJand, as amhussador extraordinary from the United States, liopin;j; to receive from me the usual favour^ such as tliey had received from other ambassadors, for whicii they had their book to show,'''* Their book was a curiosity. It looked like a venerable heir loom of office. There were in it, the names of I know not how many ambassadors, ministers, and other func- tionaries, arriving from foreign parts, throughout the lapse of I know not how many ages, with the donations annexed to each. Mas;na charta itself was not a more important document to the liber- . ties of England, than this book to the Royal Bell- ringers of Portsmouth ! I cheerfully gave to the good-humoured fraternity, the gratuity which their efforts in their vocation appeared to have drawn from so many others under like circumstances. So, and with other incidents, passed my first day in Ekigland. On the following morning, Admiral Thornbo- rough, the admiral in command at Portsmouth, Sir James Yeo, captain in the British navy, and Sir George Grey, chief commissioner of the dock yard, called upon me. They offered their con- gratulations on my arrival. The admiral said, I ^ ! 33 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. that if Commodore Stewart required any supplies for his^ship, every facility which the yard afforded wouMwe at his command. He added, that he would be happy in the opportunity of showing him the hospitalities of the port. Sir George Grey expressed his regrets that he had not known of my intention to land at Portsmouth, saying that he would have sent the admiralty yatch to the Franklin to bring me, my family and suite, on shore ; the more 20, as the day was blustering, and he feared we had suffered from exposure in the ship's boats, the distance being several miles from Cowes to Portsmouth. I made the acknow- ledgments which these courtesies demanded. If but the natural offspring of the occasion, they tended to show, that whatever had been the con- duct of the subordinates of the custom house, those who stood higher were likely to be actuated by different feelings towards an official stranger. I estimated properly Sir George Grey's offer, but had a silent feeling that would have made me prefer, under any circumstances, the landing from the ship's boats, with my country's flag at the stern. At noon I set out for London. My family con- sisted of my wife, four small children, young Mr. Tayloe of Washington, attached to my legation, I 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 39 whose name I cannot mention without an allusion to his amiable and gentlemanly qualities, and three servants. As the post chaises drew up, the master of the inn returned me his thanks for my custom. The servants also formed a line on each side of the entry, thanking us as we passed along. I am aware that this had all been paid for ; still, there is a charm in civihty. Money owing, says the moralist of Tusculanum, is not paid, and when paid, is not owing; but he who pays gratitude possesses it, and he who possesses, pays it. So, civility for the small thi^igs of life, is a species of gratitude which we like. We were soon out of . Portsmouth, and went as far as Godalming that day, a distance of thirty-eight miles, over roads like a floor. I was surprised at the few houses along or near the road side. I had been full of the idea of the populousness of England, and although I must needs have supposed that this could not be the case in every spot, it had not occurred to me, that along such a high road I should find the first and so remarkable an exception. We rarely met wagons, carriages, or vehicles of any sort, except stage coaches. We did not see a single person on horseback. The stage coaches illustrated what is said of the excellence of that mode of travelling 40 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. in England. These, as they came swiftly down the hills, or were met in full trot upon the plains, the horses fine, the harness bright, and the inside and out filled with passengers, not only men but women, all well dressed, crowding the tops, had a bold and picturesque appearance. The few pea- sants whom we saw, were fully and warmly clad. They wore breeches and stockings, a heavy shoe, which, lacing over the ankle, made the foot look clumsy ; a linen frock over the coat, worked with plaits, and stout leather gloves, which they kept on while working. They were generally robust men, short, and of fair complexions. We passed a wagon of great size. It had no pole, but double shafts, with a horse in each, and a line of four horses before each shaft horse, making ten in all, of enormous size. Their tails were uncut, and long shaggy hair, hung about their pasterns. The wagon was loaded with bales pile upon pile, higher than I had ever seen. Our postillions call- ed it the Portsmouth heavy wagon. We after- wards saw^ others of like size and construction, drawn by like horses, loaded with the produce of agriculture. Whilst the draught horses were thus enormous, and rough, and the stage coach horj.es sleek and beautiful, our post horses were small, gaunt and unsightly, but w ith great capacity to go 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 4I fast. I was looking for a favourable change in their appearance at every relay, without finding it. In good time I discovered, that the principle of subdivision applied to horses with as much strict- ness as to every thing else, in England, there being every variety for work and luxury. In regard to population, I had subsequent op- portunities of perceiving, that there were other parts of England, and of greater extent, where it was much more thin than was generally the case from Portsmouth to Godalming. London, and a circuit of twenty miles round, give more than two millions of inhabitants ; Yorkshire gives one million, and Lancashire about one million. Hence, these three portions of territory, so small when compared with all England, embrace nearly one- third of her population. This concentration in particular districts, seems to have left others rela- tively bare. It is difficult to believe under such facts, whatever theories we meet with, that Eng- land is at present over-peopled. Hef soil, it would seem, must be open to further meliorations, which, with improved systems of policy and agriculture, and further means of internal communication, great as are already the latter, will in time not distant carry her population as far above what it now is, as it now exceeds what it was at the period 6 It:. I : 1 Ill ¥n 42 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. of her early kings. If we take Holland as an example of successful industry and art, where a nation has been compelled to struggle against the disadvantages of a stinted soil, there are great portions of territory in England still like a desert, which after ages may behold productive. At Godalming, we lost our mocking-bird. We had brought it as a mark of remembrance from Mr. Crawford, for nerly minister of the United States in France, to Lady Auckland, for some kindnesses received from her in E^igland. We nursed it with all care during the voyage. It drooped however at sea, and the night be- ing cold at Godalming, it died. This bird is small, and has no beauty of plumage. Its notes are as melodious as the nightingale's, and of more variety ; but I doubt if they can ever be drawn out in their full extent and richness, except in i ^ native cHmates. Mr. Fox, as we learn in the in- troduction to his James II., thought the notes of the nightingale sprightly rather than plaintive, and refers to the " Floure and Leafe" of Chaucer, as showing him to have been of that opinion, when he speaks of its merry song. Mr. Fox even calls Theocritus to his aid, who makes the yellow night- ingale "/nV/ her minstrelsey^^ in notes responsive to the cheerful blackbirds. Could this British states- 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 43 man, who in the midst, of his graver pursuits was so alive to the beauties of poetry and nature, have heard the American mocking-bird "warbling its wood notes wild," he would at one moment have been cheered by their sprightliness ; the next, soothed by their melancholy. On the morning of the twenty-first, we proceed- ed on our journey. Every thing now began to wear a different aspect. The change was more decided after passing Guilford, the county town of Surry. We saw evidences of a more abundant population, and advanced state of husbandry. The season did not show the country in its best dress ; but we were enabled to see more of it by the very absence of the foliage. Farms and com- mon dwellings, with fields beautifully divided and enclosed ; country seats, with lodges and stately gates of iron marking the entrance to them ; lawns fresh and verdant though it was the winter sol- stice; parks and pleasure grounds munificently enclosed; ancient trees in avenues, standing in copses, or shooting up among the hedges, with shrubbery tastefully arranged in gardens, and vines and flowers clustering about the houses, were among the objects that rose in succession as we passed along. We put frequent questions to the postillions, but they could tell us little. The eye 44 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. was constantly occupied. None of us had ever before been in Europe. As we got nearer to Lon- don, indications multiplied of what had been effect- ed by time, to fill up its vast environs. Unlike the approaches to Rome, some of which are said to be at the present day through partial desolation, all within our view grew more and more instinct with life ; until at length, evening coming on, at first villages, then rows of buildings, and people, and twinkling lights, and all kinds of sound, gave token that the metropolis was close by. We entered it by Hyde Park corner, passing through Piccadilly and Bond street, beholding the moving crowds which now the town lights revealed. Ano- ther turn brought us into Conduit street, where rooms had been engaged for our accommodation. In a little while we proceeded to the house of Ross Cuthbert, Esquire, in Gloucester Place, a gentle- man of Lower Canada, married to one of my sis- ters, at whose hospitable table we dined ; where also it was my fortune to meet another sister, wife of Major Manners of the British army. .^.. * 1 1 1817.] COURT OF LONDON. 45 1 > \ CHAPTER III. First interview with Lord Castlereagh. First appearances of London. December 22. Address a note to Lord Cas- tlereagh, the English secretary of state for foreign affairs, informing him of my arrival. I ask when I may have the honour of waiting upon him. He immediately replies, that he will be happy to see me at the foreign office, in Downing street, to-morrow at four o'clock. sis- rife December 23. Went to the foreign office. A sentry was walking before the door, i was ad- mitted by a porter, and shown by a messenger into an ante-room. Another messenger conducted me upstairs to Lord Castlereagh's apartment. First salutations being over, I said that I should be happy to learn at what time I might have the hon- our of delivering to his royal highness the Prince Regent, my letter of credence from the President, I'M ' 4Q RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. constituting me envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, at his royal highness's court. I handed his lordship a copy of the letter. He replied that the Prince was at Brighton ; that he himself was going there on the day following, expecting to be absent a week; that ho did not know precisely when the prince would leave Brighton, but was sure he would ap- point an early day for receiving me, after he came to town. I said, that his royal highnesses pleasure on the occasion, would be mine. His lordship begged I would consider myself free to call upon him, immediately after his own return to town ; remarking, that he would consider my reception by the prince as having taken place, if there were any subjects I desired to broach beforehand. He added, that his wish would invariably be, to give every facility to the transaction of business be- tween us, in the hope of results satisfactory to both countries ; for all which I thanked him. He also said, that perhaps he might wish to converse with me, on matters of business, before my formal reception. He made inquiries for Mr. Adams, my predeces- sor in the mission, and President Monroe, whom he had also known in England. He spoke of the prosperity of the United States, which he said he -* 1817.] COURT OF LONDON. 47 heard of with pleasure ; remarking, that the pros- perity of one commercial nation, contributed to that of others. His whole reception of me was very conciliatory. There was a simplicity in his manner, the best and most attractive characteris- tic of a first interview. It lasted about twenty minutes. December 24. Go through several parts of the town ; Bond street, Albemarle street, Berkeley square, Piccadilly, St. James's street and Park, Pall Mall, St. James's square, the Strand, and a few others. Well dressed persons, men and wo- men, throng them. In the dresses of both, black predominates. It is nearly universal. This pro- ceeds from the general mourning for the Princess Charlotte, late heiress apparent to the throne, who died in November. The roll of chariots and car- riages of all kinds, from two until past four, was incessant. In all directions they were in raotifon. It was like a show — the horses, the coachmen with triangular hats and tassels, the footmen with cockades and canes — it seemed as if nothing could exceed it all. Yet I was told that the sight in Hyde Park, any day in May or June, was more striking ; and that if it happened to be on the same day with the Epsom or Ascot races, which keep :t\: 48 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. the roads alive for ten miles with London car- riages, a stranger misses nbne from the Park. Sometimes, with this glitter of private equipages, you saw a stationary line of hacks, the worn-down horses eating out of nose-bags ; and sometimes, at a slow, tugging ^alk, immense wagons filled with coals, in black sacks, drawn by black horses, large and shaggy and fat as those in the Ports- mouth wagodi vl tin/^isappointed in the general exteribr^jjie dvfejwg houses. I had anticipated sometlmgjljett^l^t the west end of the town; more symmetry; buildings more by themselves, denoting the residences of the richest people in the richest city in Europe. But I do not yet see the ?e. I see haberdasher's shops, poulterer's shops, the leaden stalls of fishmongers, and the shughtering blocks of butchers, in the near vicinity of a noble- man's mansion and a king's palace. This may be necessary or convenient, for the supplies of a capi- tal too large to admit of one or more concentrated markets ; but the imagination at a distance pic- tures something different. Perhaps it is to give a hint of English liberty. If so, I ought to be the last to find fault. Being the day before Christmas, there was more display in the shops than usual. I did not get back until candle light, when the whole scene began to be illuminated. Altogether, ^^ -.■?ft 1817.1 COURT OF LONDON. 49 what a scene it was ! the shops in the Strand and elsewhere, where every conceivable article lay be- fore you ; and all made in England — which struck me the more, coming from a country where few things are made, however foreign commerce may send them to us ; then, the open squares and gar- dens, adorned with shrubbery and trees ; the parks with their spacious avenues and ancient trees ; the palisades of iron, or enclosures of solid wall, wher- ever enclosures were requisite; tMfe people; the countless number of equipages and fine horses ; the gigantic draught horses — what an aspect the whole exhibited ! what industry, what luxury, what infi- nite particulars, what an aggregate ! The men were taller and straiter than the peasant* I had seen. The lineaments of a race descend like their lan- guage. The people I met, constantly reminded me of those of my own country ; I caught the same expression — often it glided by in complete iden- tity — my ear took in on all sides accents to which it was native — but I knew no one. It was like coming to another planet, familiar with voices and faces, yet encircled by strangers. December 31. The fog was so thick that the shops in Bond street had lights at noon. I could not see people in the street from my windows. I 50 RESIDENCE AT THE [1817. am tempted to ask, how the English became great with so little day light. It seems not to come fully out until nine in the morning, and immediately after four it is gone. King Charles's saying of the English climate, is often brought up ; that it inter- rupts out-door labour fewer days in the year than any other. Did he remember the fogs, and how very short the day is, for labour, during a portion of the year ? 1818, Intervic the I zatioi thcB Jam eleven James' receive near th books before proved conduc Lord C mer coi the hea with th( don hac Heii and del] 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 51 1 CHAPTER IV. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — slaves carried away from the United States contrary to the treaty of Ghent— equali- zation of tonnage duties — West India trade. Members of the British and American cabinets. January 3. Waited on Lord Castlereagh at eleven in the morning, at his private residence, St. Jameses square. It was by his request, in a note received yesterday. I was shown into a room near the hall. Family portraits were on one side, books on another, and two white hull dogs lying before the fire. Contradicting their looks, they proved good-natured. In a few minutes, a servant conducted me into a room adjoining, where I found Lord Castlereagh. He received me with his for- mer courtesy, renewing his obliging inquiries for the health of my family after our winter's voyage, with the expression of a hope that the fogs of Lon- don had not alarmed us. He informed me that he had been to Brighton, and delivered to the Prince Regent the copy of my ;. i 'I ■• r 52 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. letter of credence, and that the prince would re- ceive me as soon as he came to town. In the meantime, he had his royal highness's commands to say, that I must look upon myself as already, in effect, accredited. He proceeded to say, that if there were any subjects of business I desired to mention, he would hear me. He remarked, that it had been his habit to treat of business with the foreign minis- ters in frank conversations ; a course that saved time, and was in other ways preferable, as a gen- eral one, to official notes. He intimated his wish to do the same with me. I replied, that nothing could be more agreeable to me than to be placed upon that footing with him. The way being opened for business, I entered upon it. I said there were two subjects that my government had charged me to bring to the notice of his majesty's, without delay. The first had reference to the slaves carried off by English ships from the United States at the close of the late war, in contravention, as we alleged, of the treaty of Ghent. This subject, already discussed between the two governments without prospect of an agree- ment, was exciting, I remarked, an interest in the United States, to be expected where the property and rights of a large class of their citizens were at I I ■■: 1 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 53 Stake. It had therefore been made my earliest duty to renew the proposition submitted by my government, and believed to point to the best, if not only mode of satisfactory settlement. The proposition was, that the question be referred to a third power, to be chosen as umpire between the parties. This course was recommended by the example of provisions in the treaty of Ghent, on other subjects as to which differences of opinion had existed between the two nations ; my govern- ment therefore had the hope, that Great Britain would accede to it in this instance also. His lordship said, that he had been much on the continent whilst the discussions on this subject were going forward, and inquired if we had pre- cise information as to the number of slaves carried away. I replied, not in hand, but that it would be afforded at the proper time. He next asked, if their dispersed situation would not be an impedi- ment to restitution. This was met by saying, that the owners would look to a pecuniary equivalent. Conversation was continued on the general ques- tion. In conclusion, he promised to bear it in mind. The next subject grew out of the commercial convention between the two countries, of the third of July, 1815. This convention had established a reciprocity of duties and charges of all kinds, upon ! in f ii ' 54 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. the vessels of the two nations in each others' ports. Its operation was, by its terms, to begin from the day of its date. The rule of reciprocity ought therefore to have attached, practically, at that time ; instead of which, each nation continued for a while to levy the duties existing before the con- vention, and Great Britain had not yet abolished them all. My government desired, I said, to car- ry back the operation of the convention to the day of its date, and was ready to give this rule effect by retrospective measures, hoping to find a corres- ponding disposition in his majesty's government. This subject being new to his lordship, he g^ no opinion upon it, but promised, as in the oth r case, to seek the necessary lights for forming one. I may state, that, in the end, it was adjusted to the satisfaction of both nations. The foregoing being the only topics which it fell within my purpose to bring to his lordship's notice at this time, he, in turn, drew my attention to a subject on which he desired information. It related to the four articles submitted by the British government to my predecessor, for partially opening the West India trade to the vessels of the United States. His lordship wished to know, what probability there was of my government agreeing to them. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 55 As this trade enters much into future negotia- tions between the two countries, the first mention of the subject calls for a succinct explanation of the general question. Politicians understand it, but there are others, and well informed persons, who have often heard of it without having any precise idea of its nature. It stands thus, according to the statement on the side of the United States. They contend for a free intercourse in their vessels, with the British West India Islands, and British colonies on the continent of North America, whenever the trade to either, is opened at all by Great Britain to their flag ; else they say, that, by navigation acts of their own, they will be obliged to prohibit the trade altogether. The steady policy of England has been, to secure as large an employment as possible of her own tonnage, in carrying on her commerce with the rest of the world. Her cele- brated navigation acts, commenced in Cromwell's time and adhered to in principle ever since, what- ever occasional departures there may have been from them in practice, have all had this end in view. They provided, that the whole trade between Eng- land, and the continents of Asia, Africa and Ame- rica, should be carried on in English ships, manned by English sailors. They also embraced regiila- 55 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. tions that placed the trade between England and the European nations, upon nearly the same foot- ing. It was against the previous monopoly of Dutch tonnage that these navigation acts were levelled. What more natural, than that other nations should be unwilling to witness the same monopoly in the tonnage of England, that she objected to in that of the Dutch ; more especially since the foreign and colonial dominions of the former have swelled to an extent that could scarcely have been conceived in the time of Crom- well ? The West India islands being part of the British empire, her right to interdict all trade be- tween them and any foreign country, could not be denied ; and was not. As a general rule, she did interdict it. But there were junctures when, to ad- vance objects of her own, she would throw the trade open to the United States. When she did this, she confined it to her own ships, manned, as by law they must be, by her own sailors. What the United States claimed was, that, whenever the trade existed at all, it should be carried on in their vessels, manned by their sailors, as well as with the vessels and sailors of England. The trade once opened, the United States were parties to it ; and thence urged their right to a voice in its regu- lation. This was their doctrine. It had been the the 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 57 niiiintaiiicd since the days of President Washing- ton. It contemplated no interference with the colonial rights, or monopoly, of Great Britain. It left her at full liberty to prohibit the importation into her colonies of whatever articles she thought fit, from the United States ; and in like manner to prohibit exportations. It only asked, that the commercial intercourse, of whatever nature it might be, that was once opened for her benefit, or that of both countries, should be placed upon a footing of ccjuality as to the vessels and sailors of both. This had lately been done in the trade be- tween the United States and the European domin- ions of Britain, by the convention of July 1815. That convention itself, unless the reciprocity were extended to the West Indies, would give undue advantages to British vessels. The latter could sail, under its enactments, from Liverpool to New York, for example, paying, in New York, none other than American duties. Thence, under the English colonial system, they could sail to the English West Indies, and back again to England ; making profit from this threefold operation. Ame- rican vessels, on the other hand, were confined to the direct track between New York and Liverpool. The British ship, as was well expressed by a dis- tinguished American senator, could sail on the 8 !,. IJ ; i 5g RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. three sides of the triangle ; the American, only on one. Britain on her part alleged, that she had the right to regulate the trade between her colonies and the rest of the world in all respects as she saw fit. This she declared it was proper she should do, not only as regarded the commodities entering into the trade, but the vessels carrying them. She said, that to assent to the basis of reciprocity in her trade between these islands and the United States, would give to the latter inherent advan- tages owing to their proximity to the islands. That she maintained the islands at great expense for their civil governments and military establish- ments, and that on these grounds, as well as that of her general sovereignty over them, not only had the right, but held it necessary to her just interests to employ, chiefly, if not exclusively, her own ves- sels and seamen in the trade, whenever opened, no matter to what extent, or on what inducements. Such, briefly, was the British doctrine. It will come into view again. I will subjoin a brief commentary upon the ori- ginal navigation act of England, as passed by the Commonwealth parliament, in 1652. It is by Jen- kinson, from his work on treaties. "Critics in commerce reason variously," says he, "on the be- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 59 nefits or disadvantages of this act. Those who argue in its disfavour, reason on the general prin- ciple of its being an error in politics tj interrupt the free course of commerce by any kind of prohi- bitions whatsoever ; which is generally true, and would be always so, could one be assured of con- stant universal amity^ But as that is very far from being the case, the c: ception to the general rule in this case holds good, since nothing is more clear, than that those who employ most ships will have most seamen, and consequently be best enabled to command the sea. It was but too evident by this short war [Cromwell's with Holland] how near a match for us the Dutch were, and continued so for some years after ; and had not this act been made, would very probably before this time have been too potent for us, as they would have had the gross of the European seamen in their service ; so that the act, notwithstanding some inconveni- ences it might produce in point of commerce, was a very happy thought in the making, and shows our judgment in its being continued." This celebrated act may be said to have chang- ed the maritime condition of the world. It con- tinues to this day to affect the legislation of the United States. The four articles of which Lord Castlereagh ♦ 1^1 i I) I fi M QQ RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. spoke, reduced to their essence may be described thus: — The first extended to the United States, the provisions of certain Free Port acts, as they were called, authorizing a trade in the articles which they enumerated, between certain specified ports of the British West Indies and the colonies of European nations, in vessels having only one deck. The second made a special provision for the trade between the United States and the island of Bermuda, in a larger list of articles, and with- out limitinjr the size of the vessel. The third al- lowed cotton and tobacco to be imported from the United States in their own vessels to Turk's Isl- and, and salt to be taken away from that island, also in their vessels. The fourth aimed at regu- lating the intercourse, though under many restric- tions, between the United States and the British continental colonies in America, adjoining the dominions of the former. To his lordship's inquiry as to the probability of my government agreeing to these articles, I re- plied, that the President, when I left Washington, had them under consideration ; but I owed it to candour to say, that there was httle likelihood of their being accepted, so far did they fall short of the reciprocity desired. He afterwards inquired of what nature would be our counter-projet, in the V I 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. gj event of their rejection. I said, one that would open this trade fully, and, above all, give to British vessels no privileges of any kind whatever, direct or incidental, over the vessels of the United States. The latter were ready to grant, in their ports, to British vessels coming from the islands, all the pri- vileges which their own vessels enjoyed ; and could not be content with less to their vessels, in the ports of the islands. His lordship here spoke generally of the colonial system of Britain. He said it was interwoven with her whole commercial code, and code of navigation ; and that she owed it to interests which she believed to be important in both connexions, to adhere to the system in the main, however willing to submit to occasional or partial relaxations. I rejoined, that, with whatever reluctance the United States would adopt the poli- cy of closing the trade altogether, in the continued absence of the reciprocity for which they contend- ed, they would at last be compelled to adopt it, in ritcessary justice to their own commercial and navigating interests. I referred him to some acts of Congress already passed with that intent. He wound up by remarking, that Britain, considering the nature of her colonial system, had no right to complain of measures of that character on the part of the United States, however she might i 1 ■' I 52 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. regret them ; nor would she complain. She had maintained it so long, that she would find it diffi- cult on that as well as other accounts, to change it. Such was the general outline of what fell from him. Before I came away, he said, that the Christmas holidays had scattered the members of the cabi- net ; they were chiefly in the country ; on the re- turn of some of them to town, he would avail him- self of an early opportunity of enabling me to make their acquaintance by meeting them at dinner at his house. I will here give the names of those who com- posed the cabinet. They were as follow: — the Earl of Liverpool, first lord of the treasury, and prime minister ; Lord Eldon, lord chancellor ; the Earl of Harrowby, lord president of the council ; the Earl of Westmoreland, lord privy seal ; Lord Sidmouth, secretary of state for the home depart- ment; Lord Castlereagh, secretary of state for foreign affairs ; Earl Bathurst, secretary of state for the colonial department ; Mr. Vansittart, chan- cellor of the exchequer ; Lord Melville, first lord of the admiralty ; the Earl of Mulgrave, master general of the ordnance ; Mr. Canning, president of the board of control for the affairs of India ; Mr. Wellesley Pole, master of the mint, and Mr. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. (J3 C. B. Bathurst, chancellor of the duchy of Lancas- ter. These comprehended the whole list on my arrival in England. No other officers of the go- vernment, however high in station, were then of the cabinet. The secretary of war, was not ; nor the attorney general. The absence of the former, I could not well explain, although the colonial sec- retary acted in the concerns of war at cabinet councils, seeing that the navy had a stated repre- sentative in those councils. Was not the army entitled to equal consideration ? I could even less explain the exclusion of the attorney general. No acts of government, in a free country, are inde- pendent of law. Hence, I should have inferred, that this officer would have been one of the prima- ry adtisers of the crown. I was aware of the high legal functions of the lord chancellor ; but in the complicated and daily workings of the machine of free government throughout a vast empire, 1 could still see room for the constant presence of the attorney general in the cabinet. During my residence of more than seven years at the English court, this administration remained unchanged. There were resignations that led to new appointments, and some transpositions. The Duke of Wellington was made master general of the ordnance, on the resignation of Lord Mulgrave. li A S' g4 RESIDENCE AT THL [1818. Lord Sidmouth retired from the home department, and was succeeded by Mr. Peel. Mr. Wellesley Pole ^ave up the mastership of the mint, for a sit- uation nearer the person of the king, and was created Lord Maryborough. Mr. C. B. Batlmrst went out of the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, into which Mr. Vansittart passed ; the latter being also called to the peerage, under the title of Lord Bexley. Mr. Robinson, after^iards Lord Goderich, was appointed to Mr. Vansittart's place. Mr. Canning became secretary of state for foreign affairs on the death of Lord Castlereagh, which occurred soon after the latter succeeded to the title of Marquis of Londonderry. Mr. C. W. W. Wynn was made president of the board of control, in place of Mr. Canning. Mr. Wallace, afterwards Lord Wallace, became master of the mint ; and Mr. Huskisson, appointed president of the board of trade, was called to a seat in the cabinet, his office not having before been of that dignity. None of the new appointments were understood to have grown out of want of concord in the body. The policy, as the premiership, of Lord Liverpool, was maintained. He was placed in that post by the Prince Regent, in 1812. The age and infir- mities of the reigning monarch, had led parliament. IQIJ^I COURT OF LONIM)N. (j^ two years before, to establish a re^^ency in the person of tiic Prince of Wales. The Ile<^ont found, and kept, Mr. Percival at the head of affairs, until he perished by assassination. It was then that Lord Liverpool was called to the lulni. History will view his administration as one of renown to England. In the exertions of Europe against Napoleon during the memorable period from 1812 until IHL"), the part which she acted by her arms and pc( uniary resources, is before the world. I^oth were directed by this : ministry, un- til the achievement at Watcrlo'; closed the mo- mentous struggle. It was thjre thn tiie Duke of Wellington, after nt me "ous victories in In- dia, in Portugal, in Spain, that had earned the reiterated thanks of parliament and applauses of the nation, ascended to the pinnacle of military glory. One of the English ministers on entering the House of Commons, bearing in his hands the treaties of peace which the triumphant battles of this great comni' ler had done so much towards securing, was enthusiastically cheered by all ihe membevs. L was the spontaneous burst of public joy. Party differences were forgotten in deeds so overpowering. The same minister, it was Lord Castlereagh, afterwards declared in one of his speeches, that the " British empire had twice dic' 9 ■•If:. • IS 56 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. tated the peace of Europe in the capital of France.'''' The fame of such deeds naturally established in the confidence of the British public, the ministry on whose banner they were incribed. Lord Liverpool was not a man to lose confi- dence so acquired. Splendour of genius was not his characteristic ; but among his talents, was that of knowing how to assemble able men around him. His cabinet already strong, was enriched, as we have seen, with the names of Wellington, and Peel, and Robinson, and Huskinson ; lastly with that of Canning, whom he brought into the foreign oflfice, vacant by the sudden demise of a powerful incumbent. These, though diflTering in important points among each other, and from the premier, remained in harmony under him as leader. Each was made efficient in his sphere, and the power of the whole augmented. If Lord Liverpool was not the ablest man of the body, he was essentially its head. With a sound judgment improved by pub- lic affairs upon a great scale, he was well fitted for the business of a nation. What he did not take in by promptitude, he mastered by perseverance ; not that he was deficient in the former, but that he paused upon his first conclusions. Systematic and grave, educated in maxims which he conscientious- ly approved, however others may have dissented \i 1818.] from t onal cl tion fc upon J that, d ver he ministr plation left in his sov( try to sures ii was th( duct n€ mission, It wa I entere rememb governn recogniz service, lents. J youthful of Trent governnn ness of 1 home an |g]8-| COURT OF LONDON. (J7 from them ; courteous yet inflexible ; with a per- onal character eminently pure, and a high reputa- tion for official probity, his influence, as it rested upon practical qualities, went on to increase; so that, during the whole term of my residence I ne- ver heard, and do not believe, that a change of ministry was for one moment seriously in contem- plation. Such was the premier whom I found and left in power. He enjoyed the full confidence of his sovereign ; and had the confidence of the coun- try to an extent that made him sure of his mea- sures in both houses of parliament. Such, too, was the entire ministry with which I was to con- duct negotiations, and all other business of my mission. It was with a full sense of responsibility that I entered upon its duties. I was sustained by remembering who were at the head of my own government. In President Munroe, his country recognized a patriot and sage. Time and long service, had consecrated his virtues and ta- lents. A chivalrous officer of the Revolution, his youthful blood had been poured out on the plains of Trenton. To the careful study of history and government, he added a participation in the busi- ness of legislative halls, and that of diplomacy, at home and abroad, always carrying a heart as pure \ h : M 68 RESIDENCE AT THE I" 1818. as his judgment was sagacious. Perfectly ac- quainted with the foreign policy of the United States, as with their domestic concerns ; elevated in all his principles ; just, magnanimous, self-con- trolled, few countries ever possessed a chief mag- istrate better qualified to administer its affairs with wisdom, or more exempt from passions to mislead. First of his cabinet as regarded every thing foreign, stood Mr. Secretary Adams j a states- man of profound and universal knowledge. He had received the best education that Europe and his own country could bestow, and from early life been practised in public affairs. Minister at several of the courts of Europe, favourable op- portunities were before him of studying their po- licy, and a superior capacity enabled him to improve his opportunities. Thus gifted and train- ed as a statesman, he was accomplished as a scho- lar, fervent as a patriot, and virtuous as a man. For the remainder of the cabinet of the United States, there were, Mr. Secretary Crawford of the treasury department, Mr. Secretary Calhoun of the war department, Mr. Secretary Thompson and afterwards Mr. Secretary Southard of the navy department, with Mr. Attorney General Wirt; men whose abilities gave further assurance to those in the foreign service of the country, that her fl i- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. gg interests would not be overlooked. Such were tbfi counsels whence my instructions were to flow. Ci this cabinet I may add, that two of its mem- bers have since been called by the people to the high posts of President and Vice President of the United States ; Mr. Secretary Adams to the for- mer, Mr. Secretary Calhoun to the latter. ^'1 I I. :■] i ■! ■■mi : ♦ '\ m hi: J I :!" 70 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. CHAPTER V. London east of Temple Bar. London north of Oxford street. January 7. Went tnrough Temple Bar" into the city, in contradistinction to the west end of London, always called town. Passed along Fleet street, Ludgate-hill, St. Paul's, Cheapside, the Poultry, Cornhill, and other streets in the direction of the Tower. Saw the Bank, Royal Exchange, Lord Mayor's house, Guildhall, India house, the Excise buildings. If I looked with any feeling of wonder on the throngs at the west-end, more cause is there for it here. The shops stand, side by side, for entire miles. The accumulation of things, is amazing. It would seem impossible that there can be purchasers for them all, until you consider what multitudes there are to buy ; then, you are disposed to ask how the buyers can all be supplied. In the middle of the streets, coal wag- ons and others as large, carts, trucks, vehicles of 181 eve are IS c ■■■<» n 181 8 J COURT OF LONDON. ^j every sort loaded in every way, are passing. They are in two close lines, like great tides, going reverse ways, and reaching farther than the eye can see. Thehorsescomeso near to the foot pavement which is crowded with people, that their hoofs, and the great wheels of the wagons, are only a few inches from the people. In this manner the whole proces- sion is in movement with its complicated noise. It confounds the senses to be among it all. You would anticipate constant accidents ; yet they seldom happen. The fear of the law preserves order ; moreover the universal sense of danger if order were violated, prevents its violation. I am assured that these streets present the same appearance ev- ery day in the year, except Sundays, when solitude reigns in them. I must notice as before the dress of the people. A large proportion were of the working classes ; yet all were whole in their clothing. You could hardly see exceptions. All looked healthy ; the more t-^ be remarked in parts of the city where they live in perpetual crowds by day and sleep in confined places, and can only be accounted for by a healthy climate in combination with cleanliness. The cus- tom house and black forest of ships below London bridge, I saw by a glimpse. That was enough to show, that the Thames was choked up with ves- sels and boats of every description, much after ^ 72 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. the manner that I beheld Cheapside and Fleet street to be choked with vehicles that move on land. I went into two shops. One, a silver smith's ; that of Rundel and Bridge, on Ludgate hill. Out- side it is plain ; you might pass by without noticing it; but, on entering, the articles of silver were piled in heaps, even on the floor. Going further into the building, the masses increased. In a room up stairs, there was part of a dinner service, in course of manufacture. The cost of an entire service, varied from thirty to fifty thousand pounds sterling, according to the number of pieces, and workmanship. Sometimes it was much higher. A candelabra for the middle of a table, had just been finished for a customer, at fifteen hundred pounds. A dress sword for another customer was shown. The cost was four thousand guineas. Other specimens of luxury might be mentioned, in- cluding ambassador's snuff* boxes, set with a profu- sion of diamonds. The proprietors were extr^-^i^y civil ; for I gave trouble only through curiosity. If you purchase but a pin for a few shillings, they re- turn thanks ; if you do not incline to take it av/ay yourself, they readily send it home, no matter to how remote a part of the town. The other shop was Shepherd's, for cut glass, near Charing Cross. r/ J 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 73 There too I had civiHty from the proprietor. In place of speaking of his wares, I will relate what he said of the Emperor Alexander. His imperial majesty it seems, when on his visit to England with the allied sovereigns, honoured his shop with a call. Pleased with his articles beyond any of the kind he had seen in Europe, he gave an order for a magnificent list for one of his palaces. The pieces arrived in St. Petersburgh. Immediately a ukase issued, prohibiting the future importation of cut-glass into Russia. Whether the emperor most desired to encourage the home manufacture of so beautiful aware, or enhance the gratification of his imperial taste by keeping it exclusive, were questions that I had no right to propound . Of all the sights, the one in the middle of the streets, bespoke to me most of causes and eflfects. Being afterwards in Paris, I saw more of archi- tectural beauty, at first ; more of brilliancy. The Boulevards, the Palais Royal, the Rue Rivoli which looked into the Tuileries through golden tipped palisades, and a few other places, were not to be matched by any thing I saw in London. But their compass was small, and soon exhausted. The space between Northumberland house and Bishopsgate, disclosed more of transportation, more of the operations that proclaim circulation 10 ; i I i \ § H' 74 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of capital, more of all that laid at the roots of commerce at home and throughout the world, more of all that went to the prolific sources of riches and power, than I was able to discover in going about Paris, again and again, in every direc- tion. I am aware how much larger London is, than Paris ; but the bustle of business seemed to abound in the English metropolis in a proportion tenfold greater than its superior size. January 19. I have taken a ho'ise. It is situated in Marylebone parish, north of Oxford road, as I hear the latter called by some, probably from its having been an open road within their recollection. Now, it is a street, fully built up, and among the longest and widest in London. North of it, lies a part of the town different from any I have hitherto seen. The streets are generally regular, but with some handsome deviations. All are of good width ; some a hundred feet and more. Many of them, as Harley street, Wimpole street. Baker street, Devonshire-place, Portland- place, and others, present long ranges of houses so built as to give them a metropolitan aspect. Through some of the streets, you look, as through a vista, into the verdant scenery of the Regent's Park. This commences almost at the point where If 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 75 the buildings, which are lofty, end ; so that you seem to step at once into the country. An air of gloom hangs over these streets, from the dark brick of which most of the houses are built, or which coal smoke gives them ; the case I may add with nearly every part of London. This part is quite secluded, if so I may speak of a town district of more than a hundred thousand inhabitants. You hear little noise beyond the rumble of equipages, beginning at two o'clock, abating in the evening, and returning at midnight. Its quietness and the number of ready-furnished houses to be hired in it, are probably the inducements for its being much chosen by the foreign ambassadors for their resi- dence. I found that the Russian, Austrian and French ambassadors, had here fixed their domicils. Every house has its area, enclosed with iron pali- sades topped with spikes. The front door steps are all of brown stone with iron railings, topped in the same manner ; so that the eye traced in all directions long lines of bristling iron work. If you add, that on the broad pavements of flag you per- haps saw nobody before noon, unless a straggling servant in morning livery, or a butcher's boy with tray in hand issuing here and there from an area, you have the main external characteristics of this region when first I beheld it. There is another li ■•' 11 ill ■'1 ' 76 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. town district a mile or two cast, made up of well built streets about llussel square and in tbat di- rection, tliat bad an appearance somewhat similar. It contained I was told another one hundred thou- sand inhabitants, London dissected showing these various circles. The entire metropolis, says Gibbon in his memoirs, is '* an astonishing and perpetual spectacle to the curious eye; each taste, each sense may be gratified by the variety of objects which will occur in the long circuit of a morning walk." Of the part I have been describing in its external aspect, I must notice the complexion within. A great number of the houses were to let, and I went through them. From the basement to the attics every thing had an air of comfort. The supply of furniture was full, and more or less costly, according to the rent. The stair cases were of white stone. The windows and beds in servants' rooms, had curtains. No floor or passage w^as without carpeting. In many instances, libraries made part of the furniture — a beautiful part. The rents varied from four hundred to a thousand guineas a year. In some of the squares of the west-end, I learned, that the rent of a furnished house was as high as sixty and eighty guineas a week. Houses of the first class with the abundant and sumptuous furniture to suit, are not to be hired hed IS a ! 1 -i 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 77 at all. These, belonging to the nobility or other opulent proprietors, are left in the care of servants when the owners are away. The house I took was in Baker street, at four hundred and fifty guineas a year. The policy of my government being to give to its public servants small salaries, the latter act but in unison with this policy in having their establishments small. It is not for those honoured by being selected to serve the republic abroad, to complain. Nor, with the English, do I believe, that the consideration at- taching ♦^^o foreign ministers, is dependent upon the salaries they receive. However large these may be, and sometimes are, in the persons of the representatives of the imperial and royal govern- ments of Europe, they are still so much below the wealth of the home circles in London, as to be no distinction, supposing distinction to be sought on that ground. The surpassing incomes in the home circles and habit of expenditure, with the ample accommodations by which the many who possess them live surrounded, incline their pos- sessors to regard such official strangers, as objects, rather than agents, of hospitality. It may be otherwise in capitals on the continent, but this is the general relationship which the diplomatic corps holds to society in London ; the result of its own state of manners as well as its riches. hf 78 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. CHAPTER VI. Dinner at Lord Castlereagh's. Members of the diplomatic corps. The first visit. Dinner at Lord Westmoreland's. January 20. Dined at Lord Castlereagh's. The company consisted of Lord and Lady Cas- tlereagh, the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Mel- ville, Lord Mulgrave, Mr. Wellesley Pole, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Burghersh, the ambas- sador of France and his marchioness, the Austrian ambassador, the Portuguese ambassador and his countess, the minister plenipotentiary from Bava- ria, the Marquis Grimaldi of Sardinia, and a few others. Of the foregoing, some were strangers, to whom, as to myself, it was a first dinner. The invitation was for seven o'clock. Our names were announced by servants in the hall, and on the landings. The company had chiefly assembled when we arrived. All were in full black, under the court mourning for the Princess Charlotte. I am wrong — one lady was in white 1818 1 COURT OF r.oxDON. 79 satin, a singularity that would have been painfully embarrassing, but that her union of ease and dig- nity enabled her, after the first eflusion, to turn her misfortune into a grace. Salutations were in subdued tones, but cordial, and the hand given. Introductions took place at convenient moments. Before eight, dinner was announced. The dining room was on the floor with the drawing rooms. As we entered it through a door-way surrounded by a hanging curtain that drew aside, the eflfect was beautiful. A profusion of light fell upon the cloth, and as every thing else was of silver, the dishes covered, and wines hidden in ranges of silver coolers, the whole had an aspect of pure white. Lord Castlereagh sat at the head. On his right, was the lady of the French ambassador, with whom in going in to dinner, he had led the way. Lady Castlereagh was on the side, half way down. On her left, was the Duke of Wellington, with whom she came in. Between the duke and the Earl of Westmoreland was my wife, who came in upon the arm of the latter. Opposite, was the lady of the Portuguese ambas- sador. She entered with the French ambassador, and sat next to him. I was between Lords Mel- ville and Mulgrave. The former gratified me by the manner in which he spoke of the United PM go RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. States ; the latter by what he said of President Monroe, who was minister in England when he was secretary for foreign affairs. He had ever found him, he ?a:d, conciliatory in business, whilst stead- fast in his duty. Being near to these two noble- men in coming in, I paused to give place to them, having understood that cabinet ministers preceded ministers plenipotentiary on these occasions ; but they declined it, and I went first ; Lord Melville remarking, " We are at home." There were twelve servants ; the superior ones not in livery. The general topics related to France, and French society. The foreigners spoke English; nevertheless, the conversation was nearly all in French. This was not only the case when the English addressed the foreigners, but in speaking to each other. Before dinner, I had observed in the drawing room, books on the tables. As many as I glanced at, were French. I thought of the days of Charles II., when the tastes of the English all ran upon the models of France. Here, at the house of an English minister of state, French literature, the French language, French topics, were all around me ; I add, French entrees, French wines ! I was unwilling to beheve that the paral- lel to the days of Charles II. held throughout. By my longer residence in England I discovered, that 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. g^ the enlightened classes were more ready to copy from the French what they thought good, than the same classes in France, to copy from England. As regards language, the difference is striking. There is scarcely a well educated person in Eng- land, who does not speak French, whilst thousands among the best educated in France, are ignorant of English. In the competition between these great nations, this gives England an advantage. It is no answer, that French is the language of intercourse in Europe; the Frenchman may re- pose upon this, for not acquiring the English ; but it cannot take from Englishmen the advantage of being at home in both tongues. Equally have the English the advantage in travel. They go in great numbers to France; while few of the French, comparatively speaking, visit England. Soon after nine, the ladies left table. Before ten, the gentlemen followed. The company broke into knoi^, or loitered through the drawing rooms, whilst coffee was handed. In one, was a full length likeness of the Prince Regent, by Lawrence ; in ano- ther the celebrated portrait of Charles I., by Van- dycke, presenting three views of his face ; scattered about in all, were articles of vertu or munificence. Of the latter, were vases of massive porcelain, and other memorials, sent as presents to Lord Castle- 11 fl I ' ! 82 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. reagh by the crowned heads of Europe, after the treaties of Paris and Vienna. I had now conversa- tion, for which opportunities had not before offered. The Austrian ambassador told me, that his court had appointed Baron Sturmer consul general to the United States. He said, that it was the wish of his court to cultivate amicaWe relations with the United States j the more, as foreign commerce had become an object with Austria. I replied, that my government would receive the information with satisfaction. This was the first public offi- cer sent by Austria to the United States, and laid the foundation of commercial relations that had not before subsisted between the two nations. I remarked, that the commerce of Austria appeared to be doing well in the Black sea. " For a begin- ning," he replied. I added a hope, that the flag of the United States might find admittance into that sea ; but it was a point on which he was not pre- pared to speak. To Lord Castlereagh, I express- ed the pleasure I had derived from making the acquaintance"%f his guests; amongst them, the Duke of Wellington's. He then spoke of the duke. He ::.aid, that his achievements in war were known ; but that his ability in council, his caution, his con- ciliation in dealing with the complicated arrange- ments of the continent that had followed his bat- -I 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. §3 ties, were not so much known ; these formed not less a part of his character, and had gained for him, perhaps in a higher degree than centered in any other individual in Europe, the confidence of its cabinets and sovereigns. Before parting, his lordship said, that the Prince Regent would probably be in town by the middle of February, and that I might then expect my audience of reception. At eleven, I came away. The servants were at their stations, and passed the call for my carri- age, as when we were announced ; forms observed towards all the company. Having here met for the first time some of the diplomatic corps, I will subjoin the names of all who composed it, whilst I was in England. There was entire cordiality in the intercourse of its members. The period was one of peace, and no acts transpir- ed among nations, tending to abridge the harmony of private life among their representatives. From France there was the Marquis D'Osmond, among the best specimens of the old French court. From Russia, Count, afterwards Prince Lieven ; from Austria , Prmce Esterhazy ; from Prussia, Baron Humboldt, brother and rival in genius to the celebrated traveller ; from the Netherlands, Ba- ron Fagel, a name well known in his country's his- Is! I 11^ I g4 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. tory ; from Spain, the Duke of San Carlos ; from Portugal, Count, afterwards Marquis Palmella, maintaining under all vicissitudes, his reputation for abilities. These were ambassadors. The chief difference between the ambassador and minister plenipotentiary, in common speech often confound- ed, is, that the former is viewed as representing the person of his sovereign. In that capacity, he takes precedence in matters of form, and has also exaltation, personally, in various ways. For every national end, the attributes of the minister pleni- potentiary are the same. France changed her ambassador four times. She sent, after tiie departure of the Marquis D'Os- mond, the Marquis de la Tour Mauberg, the Duke D'Cazes, Viscount Chateaubriand, and Prince Polignac. The first, was the celebrated cavalry officer, not more known by his powers as a com- mander, than his gallant exploits in battle, parti- cularly at Liepsic where he lost a leg. His man'} form, thus maimed, was doubly interesting, by the habitual suavity of his manners. The second, was the distinguished minister of the interior under Louis XVIII. ; and at that time head of the French administration. The third, was the brilliant au- thor of France — and admired by the world; who brings at all times to his page the most elo- t 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. §5 quent and touching reflections, whether writing from the deep shades of American forests, from classic Italy, or the sacred banks of the Jordan ; who gives elevation to party strife, investing with instructive and elegant generalities, what in feebler hands degenerates into common details or coarse personality. The fourth, was the same who was afterwards president of the council and prime min- ister under Charles X. He w^as fatally conspicu- ous in the revolution of July 1830; but, to his personal accomplishments and worth, all bore tes- timony. The Netherlands changed hers once, sending, in place of Baron Fagel, called to the home service, Mr. Falk; whose activity in the cause of Holland has been witnessed at dates more recent. Prussia sent Baron Werter in place of Baron Humboldt; the latter also called to the home service. Spain substituted the Duke de Frias for the Duke of San Carlos ; and afterwards sent Mr. Onis (as minister plenipotentiary) in the time of the constitutional government of the Cortes. From Portugal, Count Villa Real succeeded the Marquis Palmella, Mr. Olivera interposing (as minister plenipotentiary) for a short interval, in the time of the constitutional government of that country. The ministers plenipotentiary were. Count 1r' 1 . ,r 1 ■!( f 'mj ■>', I- 1 i;; 86 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Munster from Hanover ; Mr. Bourke, from Den- mark ; Baron Stierneld, from Sweden ; Baron Just, from Saxony ; Mr. Pfeffel, from Bavaria ; Count Ludolf, from Naples ; Count D'Aglie, from Sardinia. The only change in this order, was from Denmark, in the person of Count Moltke for Mr. Bourke. The former was accompanied by his countess — an accession to the English as to any court. Italy had her season of constitutional governments, as Spain and Portugal ; but the Austrian troops overturned them too rapidly to afford Sardinia or Naples time to new-model their diplomacy. France marched her army across the Bidassoa more slowly, but not more decisively. She too overturned constitutional government in Spain ; an attack upon national independence which Britain, in her state papers and parliamen- tary speeches, officially disapproved without re- sisting ; and which the friends of freedom in both hemispheres joined in deploring. There were two ministers resident, an order below ministers plenipotentiary — Baron Langs- dor ff from Baden, and Mr. Haller from Switzer- land. There was a charge d' affaires from Wir- tenburg, Mr. Wagner, who was succeeded by Count Mandelsloh ; and one from Constantinople, Mr. Ramadani. The latter on official occasions 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. §7 appeared in his robes, turban and slippers ; a dress not more in contrast with all that surrounded him, than the institutions of his country with those of Christendom. The credentials of diplomatic agents of this class, are to the secretary of state for foreign affairs, not the sovereign. When Mr. Canning filled this office, plenipotentiaries arrived and were afterwards received from three of the new states of Spanish America ; Mr. Hartado from Columbia, General Michelena from Mexico, and Mr. Rividavia from Buenos Ayres. The embassies of the great powers were amply provided with secretaries, and had persons attached to them in other capacities. The entire aggregate made a large body. Not large, however, when com- pared with the embassies of other times. Sully brought to England a retinue c f two hundred gentle- men. Bassompierre, still earlier, speaks of an " equi- page of four hundred persons''* returning with him to France. The former on reaching London was saluted with three thousand guns from the tower. So, D'Estrades, ambassador to the states general from Louis XIV, tells us that he was met at Rys- wick by the deputies with a train of three score coaches. Compliments so profuse have wisely gone out of date. But, in all affairs, forms prev^ail. Goverments -. I I w if gg RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. never dispense with them. Having mentioned the members of the diplomatic corps, I will allude to some of the forms that regulated their intercourse. Once, the uncertainty of these led to difficulties ; even wars. The congress of Vienna in 1815 ex- tirpated them all, as far as questions of precedence were concerned ; and these had ever been found the most serious. It declared, that every question of that nature should be settled by the rule of time. He who has been longest at a court or government, is to be first. The relative power of the nation he represents, is to count nothing. This is a rule satisfactory to small states, and it is to the praise of large ones, that they established it. It applies to all intercourse where competition can arise, whether of business or ceremony ; and therefore regulates visits. The member of the corps last arriving, pays the first. The rule does not overleap classes, applying only to those of the same class. Its propriety has commanded univer- sal assent. Under its operation, we shall hear no more of personal rudeneses, no disturbances of the public decorum, no cutting of traces that one ambassador's coach may whip up before another ; none of the acts, ill-adapted to such functionaries, of which we c^tch the glimmerings, sometimes the details in works of diplomatic literature — in Finett, i I \r 18Jg I COURT OF LONDON. gg Digges, Melville, D'Estrades, Wiquefort ; even in the later pages of. Segur, much as his own good sense discountenanced them. The treaty of West- phalia tried to put a stop to these contentions by fix- ing the relative rank of the principal powers of Eu- rope ; but in vain. That of Utrecht had the same aim, in introducing the title of minister plenipotentiary, the contentions before, being confined to ambassa- dors. In vain also. It was reserved for the rule of Vienna, aided by modern manners, at last to get rid of what had so often .proved a hindrance to public business and injurious to individual concord. Although the United States had no agency in making that rule, their ministers share its benefits. But, as far as visits are concerned, it has turned out, that the certainty of the rule, leads to its being frequently disregarded. Jn obedience to it, I was prepared to pay the first visit to all the members of the corps who had arrived before me. But, from several, I had the favour of calls by an- ticipation, as was common in other cases. Fortu- nate change ! when the strife of courtesy sup- plants hostile strife. The right of precedence in treaties, is of a dif- ferent nature. These solemn instruments are executed in double original. This gives to each nation the opportunity of being named first-, and 13 I '' :i ": :ni 90 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. signing first, in the treaty to be deposited in its own archives. Such is the rule as between the United States and foreign powers. Formerly it was not so. In ihe time of President Madison, an occasion arising where the representative of a monarchy questioned the principle of coequality in the United States, on the asserted ground of republics being of secondary dignity, the rule was established, and has since been adhered to. January 31. Dined at the Earl of Westmore- land's, at his residence, Grosvenor square. Forms, were as at Lord Castlereagh's. The party was small — Sir John and Lady Ann Becket, Mr. and Mrs. Patterson of Baltimore, the Danish minister, and some members of Lord Westmoreland's family. The cheerful manner of his lordship promoted conversation. Much of it related to England. Duelling was spoken of. His lordship said, that among private gentlemen in England, it was very rare ; that if a person from this class had been engaged in a duel, and applied for admission to a club, composed of gentlemen, there would be a scrutiny ; and unless it appeared that he was not quarrelsome, he would be in danger of rejection ; but that, if he had been engaged in two, he believed he would certainly be black balled. His lordship 1811 did occa whei that dueh as a this, bani not u i 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 9 J did not condemn duelling. He only meant, that the occasions of it in private life were so few in classes where the restraints of good manners prevailed, that he whose misfortune it was to have had two duels on his hands, would find gentlemen shy of him as an associate in such institutions. It was upon this, he grounded his opinion. His lordship's ur- banity made the evening very pleasant, an. it waa not until a 1m *^^ hour that we got home. t-: Mt$., i f ; i I i up IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A J "^ z 1.0 I.I 11.25 liilM 125 150 ■^™ 2.2 us 140 i 2.0 U ii.6 /i ^> ^;^*' Photographic ^Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) S72-4503 s*- 92 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. CHAPTER VII. i: Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Slave question under the treaty of Ghent — North-western boundary between the United States and British possessions — Post at the mouth of Columbia river. February 1. Had an interview with Lord Cas- tlereagh. He began about the slaves ; expressing the rea- diness he would ever feel in endeavouring to bring to a satisfactory close all points in dispute be- tween the two countries. That in this spirit he had laid before the cabinet my proposal of the third of January upon this subject ; and had to inform me that it would be acceded to. But, as the treaty of Ghent had led to the proposal, the assent would be under the rules which that treaty had fixed in relation to other points. That to this end, he was prepared to give ef- fect, substantially, to my proposal, by saying, that his government was wilUng that the question 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 93 about the slaves should also go before commis- sioners ; and in the event of their not concurring, that resort should be had to an umpire, as pre- scribed by the fourth and subsequent articles of the treaty in reference to territorial claims. That an article between the two governments, supple- mental to the treaty, might be requisite to give the proper authority for this proceeding. That as regarded the commissioners, his government had no objection to devolving the service upon some of those already appointed under the treaty, unless mine should wish new appointments ; that, in short, the whole machinery of that instrument should be adopted in settling the conflict of opinion about the slaves. Finishing upon this point, he went to another. The present he said appeared to be a favourable time for putting in train for settlement, claims to territory, other than those comprehended in the treaty of Ghent. That it belonged to a proper forecast, to aim at extinguishing in a friendly way seeds of future controversy, while the subjects were of no great present importance, but liable to become so in future. That such considerations led him to hope, that the government of the United States would not be disinclined to measures hav- ing in view the final settlement of that part of the U i^ fr 94 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. north-western boundary lino contemplated in the old treaty between the two countries of 1783 ; he meant- the line from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods, to the Mississippi. Ac- cordingly he had to say, that the adoption of mea- sures for accomplishing this object, would be highly acceptable to the British government. The treaty of Ghent, he thought, would form a guide equally convenient for fulfilling the intentions of the par- ties in this instance also. Should his proposal be acquiesced in, another supplemental article might be added to the treaty, to gi^e it effect, and new commissioners be appointed ; or, as before sug- gested, those already appointed, perform the duty. Lastly, he came to the affair of the post at Columbia river. A despatch from Mr. Bagot, he said, had informed the British government that the United States were about to take possession of that post, by sending out an armed ship ; and he had to express the regret felt at this measure. It was to have been wished, he remarked, that before the ship sailed, notice had been given to his ma- jesty's minister in Washington of her destination, Great Britain having a claim of dominion over that territory. He proceeded to inform me, that Mr. Bagot had sent in a remonstrance upon the occasion ; to which, at the last dates, no answer It re 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 95 had been received. He closed by sayinjr, that it was the desire of his govenunent to submit a pro- posal that the question of title to this territory, should, as in the two other cases, go before com- missioners, and be governed as in all other re- spects by the precedent of the treaty of Ghent ; annexing to it a third supplemental article as the groundwork of contingent arbitration before some friendly sovereign. To his proposals and remarks, I made such re- plies as they seemed to call for ; and first as to the post on the Columbia. Nothing, I told him, could exceed the concern I felt at our act being viewed in the light presented by him, and nothing could have been less expected. The grounds upon which England claimed dominion, were unknown to me ; but granting that she had a claim, was the lawfulness of the step taken by the United States, to be questioned t That the post was in their possession before the war of 1812, was ad- mitted ; and also, that it had fallen by capture into the hands of Britain during the war. How then, under a treaty of peace, the first article of w hich stipulated the mutual restitution of all places re- duced by the arms of either party, was our right to restitution to be impeached ? I mentioned the cases of Nootka Sound, and Falkland islands. In t^ 96 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. both these, Great Britain, under circumstances far less strong, had asserted the principle of which we now claimed the benefit. His lordship admitted our right to restitution, and to be the party in possession, when negotia- tions for the title were going on. But the manner of obtaining it, he said, was to be lamented, from its possible tendency to interrupt the harmony subsisting between the two countries. He sin- cerely hoped it would not have that effect, and added, that to forestall all risk by precautions with- in his power, he had addressed a note to the lords of the admiralty, and one to lord Bathhurst as charged with colonial affairs, desiring that prompt orders might be issued for preventing all hostile collision, either at the post, or with British ships in its vicinity. He took from his files, copies of these notes and read them to me. I said that although it was scarcely to be ex- pected that I could yet have received ofiicial information respecting the measure, and although, in fact, none had reached me, I was entirely con- fident that it had originated in no unfriendly feeling. Nor was it believed that any thing es- sentially due to Great Britain, had been omitted. It had so happened, I remarked, that I had some knowledge myself, of the intentions of my govern- 1818.1 CX)URT OF LONDON. 97 ment at the time the measure was projected, which enabled me with the less scruple to speak as I did. I left Washington, it was true, before the departure of the ship ; but felt sure, that there could have been no alteration in the amicable views that had suggested her voyage to those seas ; and, above all, I knew, that the employment of force as a means of reinstating ourselves under the treaty had in nowise been in contemplation. These assurances appeared to have the proper influence in placing the transaction in its true hghts. The post came peaceably into our posses- sion, and the case was not subsequently revived as one of comprint. As regarded the north-western boundary line, I remarked, that this subject had no place in my instructions. An article to the effect of his pro- posal, had once been inserted in a convention be- tween the two governments, but expunged by that of the United States. The ground of objection was, that the only line that could be run in the direction proposed under the treaty of 1783, would not, as had been ascertained since the date of the treaty, strike the Mississippi ; and to run it lower down, would bring it through territory within the Hmits of the United States. Great Britain was free to renew the proposal ; all that I could do, 13 U I 1 if 93 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. would be to transmit it to my government, and it would be for his lordship to judge how far the past rejection, with the unchanged ground of it, was discouraging to another attempt. Finally, as to the slaves. I said, that I had no authority to assent to the proposal as modified from that of my predecessor, which I had done nothing more than renew. That much anxiety continued to exist on this subject in the United States, as might be inferred from the late resolu- tion in the Senate, submitted by Mr. Troup, of Georgia ; and that the fact of each government having adhered to its own construction of the treaty on this point, afforded little presage of a con- currence in opinion by commissioners to be chosen by each. Still, I had every reason to think that the President would view as friendly, the pri iciple of the proposal ; for whilst it did hold out a pre- liminary step of no very probable efficacy, it came at last to our own overture. I would gladly there- fore, transmit it for his consideration, assuming, as I did, that this subject of compensation for slaves would be acted upon by itself, in the event of obstacles being found to lie in the way of the two others. To this his lordship did not yield his assent. He hoped that I presupposed an imaginary case. 18 abi firs the of his mo trin cas< 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 99 abstaining in this way from a positive refusal at first. He afterwards, in effect, embodied one in the remark, that as each government had objects of its own in view, the three propositions ought in his opinion to be classed together, awaiting a com- mon assent or rejection. I combatted this doc- trine. The carrying off of the slaves, involved a case of palpable injury, and, as we also contended, of \iTong ; one that brought loss to all, and ruin to some, of the proprietors. The fundamental laws of the union guaranteed to our southern planters as sure a property in their slaves, as in their houses and lands ; and as well might the two last be taken from them as the first. The two other propositions rested upon ancient, undefined, claims ; not pressing in their nature, or an}' of their con- sequences. The case of the slaves, moreover, sprung out of the treaty of Ghent, and was pecu- liarly entitled to the benefit of if 'r^quitable exam- ple in settling controversies. 'Ihe other two subjects were wholly extrinsic. Whatever rights or expectations might even justly be coupled with them by Great Britain, it seemed proper that they should stand upon independent ground. It was so that I drew distinctions. But I perceived no change in what were at least his lordship's first impressions, that the three f ; 100 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. questions ought to be dealt with in the same way. The interview was extended to much length, and closed by his saying, that as all the proposals proceeded from his government, they would be forwarded to Mr. Bagot for the information of mine, in addition to the communication of them made to me. i> ' ' I 1818.] CX)URT OF LONDON. 101 CHAPTER VIII. Reception by the Prince Regent. Family. The Levee. Roynl Febn ary 9. Received a note from Lord Cas- tlcreagh, informing me that the Prince Regent had appointed Thursday the twelfth, for my reception, at Carlton House, at a quarter past two, previous to the levee. February 12. Had my reception. A compe- tent knowledge of the world may serve to guide any one in the common walks of life, wherever he may be thrown ; more especially if he carry with him the cardinal maxim of good breeding every where, a wish to please, and unwillingness to offend. But if, even in private society, there are rules not to be known but by experience, and if these differ in different places, I could not feel insen- sible to the approach of an occasion so new to me. My first desire was, not to fail in the public duties ^ 102 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of my mission; the next, to pass properly through tiic scenes of official and personal ceremony, to which it exposed me. At the head of them, was my introduction to the sovereign. I desired to do all that full respect re<|uired,'but not more: yet — the external observances of it — what were they ? They defy exact definition beforehand, and I had never seen them. From the restraints, too, that prevail in these spheres, lapses, if you fall into them, are little apt to bo told to you ; which in- creases your solicitudo to avoid them. I had, in some of my intercourse, caught the impression, that simplicity was considered best adapted to such an introduction ; also, that the Prince Regent was not thought to be fond of set speeches. This was all that I could collect. But simplicity, all know, is a relative idea. Often it is attainable, in the right sense, only through the highest art, and on full experience. I arrived before the hour appointed. My car- riage having the entre^ or right to the private en- trance, I went through St. James's Park, and got to Carlton House by the paved way, through the gardens. Even this approach, was already filled. I was set down at a side door, where stood ser- vants in the Prince's livery. Gaining the hall, persons were seen in various costumes. Among • if 1818.] them V COURT OF LONDON. 103 5rc yeomen of the guard with halbcrts in their hands ; they had velvet hats with wreaths round tliem, and rosettes in their shoes. From the court yard, whicli opened through tlje columns of a fine portico, bands of music were heard. Car- riages, as in a stream, were approaching by this access through the double gates that separated the royal residence from the street. The com- pany arriving by this access, entered through the portico, and turned off to the right. I went to the left, through a vestibule, leading to other rooms, into which none went but those havin^r the entre. These consisted of cabinet ministers, the diploma- tic corps, persons in chief employment about the court, and a few others, the privilege being in high esteem. Knights of the Garter appeared to have it, for I observed their insignium round the knee of several. There was the lord steward with his badge of office ; the lord chamberlain with his ; gold stick, and silver stick. The foreign ambas- sadors and ministers, wore their national cos- tumes ; the cabinet ministers, such as we see in old portraits, with bag and sword; the lord chancellor, and other functionaries of the law, had black silk gowns, with full wigs ; the bishops and dignitaries of the church, had aprons of black silk. The walls were covered with paint- .) ■ .: ii n ■V. ' I I 104 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. ings. If these were historical, so were the rooms. As I looked through them, I thought of the scenes described by Doddington ; of the Pelhams, the Bo- lingbrokes, the Hillsboroughs ; of the anecdotes and personalities of the English court and cabinet in those days. The Prince had not yet left his apartment. Half an hour went by, when Sir Robert Chester, master of ceremonies, said to me, that in a few minutes he would conduct me to the Prince. The Spanish ambassador had gone in, and I was next in turn. When he came out, the master of ceremonies advanced with me to the door. Opening it, he left me. I entered alone. The Prince was standing, with Lord Castlereagh by him. No one else was in the room. Holding in my hand the letter of credence, I approached, as to a private gentleman, and said, in the common tone of conversation, that it was, " from the President op THE United States, appointing me their envoy EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY AT THE COURT OP HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS ; AND THAT I HAD BEEN DIRECTED BY THE PRESIDENT TO SAY, THAT I COULD IN NO WAY BETTER SERVE THE UnITED StATES, OR GAIN HIS APPROBATION, THAN BY USING ALL MY ENDEAVOURS TO STRENGTHEN AND PROLONG THE GOOD UNDERSTANDING THAT HAPPILY SUBSISTED BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES." The Princo took the letter I MY )0D tEN ter 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 105 and handed it to Lord Castlereagh. He then said, that he would " ever be ready on his part to act UPON THE SENTIMENTS I HAD EXPRESSED: THAT I MIGHT ASSURE THE PRESIDENT OF THIS, FOR THAT HE SINCERELY DESIRED TO KEEP UP AND IMPROVE THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS SUBSISTING BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS, WHICH HE REGARDED AS SO MUCH TO THE ADVANTAGE OF BOTH." I replied, that I would not fail to do so. The purpose of the interview seeming to be ac- complished, I had supposed it would here end, and was about to withdraw ; but the Prince prolonged it. He congratulated me on my arrival. He in- quired for the health of Mr, Adams, and spoke of others who had preceded me in the mission, going back as far as the first Mr. Pinckney. Of him, and Mr. King, his inquiries were minute. He made others, which it gave me still more pleasure to answer. He asked if I knew the ladies from my country, then in England, who had made such favourable impressions in their society, naming Mrs. Patterson, since Marchioness of Wellesley, and her sisters, the Miss Catons of Maryland. I replied that I did, and responded to his gratifying notice of these my fair countrywomen. A few more remarks on the climate of the two countries, closed the audience. 14 106 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. It would be out of place in me to portray the exterior qualities of this monarch. The com- manding union of them has often been a theme in his own dominions. He was then in his fifty-sixth year ; but in fine health, and maintaining the erect, ambitious carriage of early life. I will only say, that he made his audience of foreign ministers a pleasurable duty to them, instead of a repulsive ceremony. The envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from Sicily and Naples, Count Lu- dolf, had his reception immediately after mine. When the Prince came from his apartment, called in the language of palaces his closet, into the entr6 rooms, I presented to him Mr. John Adams Smith, as public secretary of the legation, and Mr. Ogle Tayloe, as attached to it personally. Other special presentations took place ; amongst them, that of the Prince of Hesse Homberg, by Lord Stewart, both distinguished in the then re- cent battles of the continent. The Prince Regent moved about these rooms, until he had addressed every body ; all waiting his salutation. Doors hitherto shut, now opened, when a new scene ap- peared. You beheld, in a gorgeous mass, the com- pany that had turned oflf to the right. The open- ing of the doors was the signal for the commence- ment of the general levee. I remained with others 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. JQ? to see it. All passed, one by one, before the Prince, each receiving a momentary salutation. To a few he addressed conversation, but briefly ; as it stop- ped the line. All were in rich costume. iMen of genius and science were there ; the nobility were numerous; so were the military. There were from forty to fifty generals ; perhaps as many ad- mirals, with throngs of officers of rank inferior. I remarked upon the number of wounded. Who is that, I asked, pallid but with a countenance so animated ? " That^s General Walker,''^ I was told, " who was pierced with bayonets, whilst leading on the assault at Badajos ;" and he, close by, tall but limping ? " Colonel Ponsonby ; he was left for dead at Waterloo ; the cavalry it was thought had tram- pled upon him,'''* Then came one of like port, but deprived of a leg. As h6 moved slowly onward, the whisper went, " That'*s Lord Anglesea,''^ A fourth had been wounded at SeringgPpatam ; a fifth at Talevera ; some had suflered in Egypt ; some in America. There were those who had received scars on the deck with Nelson ; others who car- ried them from the days of Howe. One, yes one, had fought at Saratoga. It was so that my inqui- ries were answered. All had " done their duty ;" this was the favourite praise bestowed. They had earned a title to come before their sovereign, and M r IIP'* 1* ■ ■f ', - 1 ■ : i. ■ »- it -■( i Is ' m S M? I Qg RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, read in his recognition their country's approbation. The great number of wounded, was accounted for by recollecting, that httle more than two years had elapsed since the armies and fleets of Britain had been liberated from wars of extraordinary fierceness and duration in all parts of the globe. For, so it is, other nations chiefly fight on or near their own territory ; the English every where. Taking the whole line, perhaps a thousand must have passed. Its current flowed through the entr^ rooms, got onward to the vestibule, and was finally dispersed in the great hall, where it stood in glit- tering groups and fragments. Those who com- posed them, found themselves there, by a course reverse to that of their entrance, and went away through the grand portico, as their carriages came up. The whole ceremony lasted until past five. When it was o^r, I called upon each member of the royal family; a mark of respect omitted by no foreign minister after being received by the sove- reign. The call is made by inscribing your name in books kept at their several residences. The royal family were — of the male branches, — the Duke of York, the Duke of Clarence, (now Wil- liam IV.), the Duke of Kent, th« Duke of Cum- berland, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Cam-. ^■- 't 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. X09 bridge, and the Duke of Gloucester. Of tlie female branches — the Dutchv^ss of Gloucester, the Princess Augusta, the Princess Elizabeth, the Princess Sophia, and Princess Sophia Matilda. Prince Leopold, (present king of Belgium,) husband of the late Princess Charlotte, shared the same atten- tions ; as did the dutchesses of York and Cum- berland. How far it may be necessary for a distant republic, whose genius is entirely different from the ancient governments of Europe, to ex- change with the latter, diplomatic representatives of the higher class, may be a question ; but it can be none whetlier, when once sent, they shall offer all the appropriate marks of respect which the usages of the world accord to sovereigns and those in immediate connexion with them. To withhold or stint them, would be in conflict with the pur- poses of the diplomatic office. It was in this feel- ing that, during my residence, I thought it proper never to be absent from a levee, or pretermit in anywise attentions to the royal family paid by other foreign ministers ; and I will take occasion to add, that I did not find an insensibility to the just motives of such a course. It will be in unison with my narrative to insert a copy of the letter of credence I delivered to the Prince Regent. It followed the established for- 4 l\Q RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. mulary, when the United States send ministers to foreign courts. An eminent individual in England once asked nie what the form was, from republics to monarchies. The answer is easy. The head of a republic, however appointed or chosen, rep- resents, for the time being, its collective power and dignity. To foreign nations, he is the visible image of its sovereignty and speaks to monarchs, clothed with its attributes. The letter will afford at the same time a specimen of the peculiar style adopted by nations when speaking to each other through the personality centring in their executive heads. It is in these words : " James Monroe, " President op the United States of America, " TO his Royal Highness the Prince Regent op " the United Kingdom of Great Britain and " Ireland : Great and Good Friend : / have made " choice of Richard Rush, to reside near your Royal " Highness in quality of etufoy extraordinary and " minister plenipotentiary of the United States of " America, He is well informed of the relative in' " terests of the two countries, and of our sincere " desire to cultivate and strengthen the friendship " and good correspondence between us ; and from a " knowledge of his fidelity, probity, and good con- " duct, I have entire confidence that he will render " himself acceptable to your Royal Highness by his 1 8 1 8.1 CX)URT OF LONDON. m " constant endeavours to preserve and advance the " interests and happiness of both nations, I there- tofore re(juest your Royal Highness to receive him oofovourablyy and to give full credence to whatever " he shall say on the part of the United States, and " most of all when he shall assure you of their friend- " ship, and wishes for your prosperity ; and I pray " God to have your Royal Highness in his safe and " holy keeping. Written at the city of Washington " the thirty first day of October Anno Domini, one " thousand eight hundred and seventeen. By your " GOOD Friend James Monroe. John Quincy " Adams, Secretary of Staie,^"* The letter of credence from the King, or Prince Regent, of England, on sending a minister pleni- potentiary to the United States, is the same mu- tatis mutandis, in its formal commencement and conclusion ; and substantially the same through- out. My reception having established me in full offi- cial standing, with the British court, I left cards at the houses of the cabinet ministers and diplomatic corps. The former have precedence, over the latter (though in England they often vrave it,) because, sharing the confidence and administering the power of the sovereign, they become identified, so far, with his dignity. I visited also the lord r1 Hi j iJ ¥ H2 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. high steward, lord Chamberlain, the master of the horse, and a few others, personally attached to the royal household. The only one of the cabinet upon whom I had called previously, was lord Castlereagh. Cabinet ministers in England are exempt, owing to their constant engagements, from returning visits to foreign ministers, as to all others, — a rule of obvious good sense and propriety ; nevertheless, the courtesy of lord Castlereagh had spontaneously returned mine, which I took as a mark of respect to my country. It was so that I aimed at going through the obligations of ceremony, as I found them estab- lished at this court. I may have dwelled on them the longer because they were new to me ; but not too long. I do not discuss their importance. I give them as facts. The philosopher may rail at them ; but, in his philosoph}"^, he may discover, if candid, matter for raillery too. In the machinery of political as social life, the smallest parts are often those that give impulse to the greatest move- ments. If we visit a strange country, scan its general population, enter its farm houses, its cot- tages, its work shops, we are permitted to speak of appearances and habits that on all sides arrest the eye, and challenge the observation of the mind. May we not, with a guarded freedom, do the same of lin pa is iV. I at if ry re te- ts k- Ik St 1 8 J 8 1 ( OURT OF LONDON. J { 3 of the high places of the world ? In the modes of life prevailing in each, we behold the component parts of the grand whole. If the springs of power issue from the former, it is in the latter, under monarchies, that its agents dwell ; and perhaps if the real feelings that exist in each could be better known to the other, jealousies might be softened, more frequently than increased. It may be thought that the forms I detail, are the growth only of monarchical soils. Their roots lie deeper. If none but republics existed, other forms would arise, differing in circumstance, but laot in essence. In the genius of the latter gov- ernments, there is a sternness peculiarly opposed to giving up claims to outward reverence. The Roman senate took more offence at Cesar's refusal to rise on an occasion when they intended to do him honour, than at his passing the Rubicon or seizing upon the treasury. The title of majesty, is modern as applied to kings. The Romans used it with peculiar fondness, says Dryden, in reference to the people — Majestas populi Romani. The first treaty that Cromwell entered into with the United Provinces, had a stipulation that their ships should strike their flags in British seas, to the " Republic" of England. We have seen in our own day, with how prompt a sensibility Pre- 15 in N'l Ri I f » i J14 RESIDENCE AT TIIR [1818. sident Madison, whose life has hecii a model of dignity as of public and private virtue, stood upon the point of form, when treaties were to be signed ; nor was he less scrupulous, when complimentary salutes were to be exchanged with the vessels or batteries of foreign powers. It is not probable that President Jackson would yield any thing upon this, or any other established form in international intercourse. If the individual of just pride is he who respects himself whilst he respects others, nations will ever be still more quick to the same feehng, and to all its external manifestations. I |i' |i 1818.] COrRT OF LONDON. 115 CHAPTKR IX. Attempt upon the life of the Duke of Wcllinfiton. Old customs about the court. Dinner at the Danish ministers. Private audience of tiie Queen. The Drawing Room. Dinner at Lord Custlcreagh's. February IG. The late attempt upon the life of the Duke of WelHngton, in Paris, is a topic. He went there on business relating, as is believed, to the evacuation of France by the army of occupa- tion, of which the English forms a part. Return- ing to his hotel at midnight, a pistol was fired at his carriage. One of his aids was with him. No- body was hurt. The report collected people, and some gendarmerie went in pursuit. The duke made his coachman stop, got out, and looked around. Such is the account I hear. I learn that it was transmitted by a special messenger from the French king, to his ambassador at this court. The ambassador repaired to Carlton House, to express to the Prince Regent the concern felt by *^-"|h-^ t ! .1 ! -;:i ]|5 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, his sovcrcitiM ; >vitli nsHurnnccs that all incuns wouhl be used to discover the oHendcr and brin^ him to proper punishment. Tlie ambassador after- wards went to Apsley house, the residence of tlie Duke of WeIlin<4ton, to express to his family ap- propriate sentiments on the occasion. 18 ph fin f« M 'If m February 20, Since my reception, I have had calls from servants of official persons for ^^favours,^^ I learned the signification of this term at Ports- mouth. They had no warrant from their niasters, but came according to ancient custom. There have also been to me, fraternities more nearly allied to the Portsmouth Bell Ringers; as the " Palace drums and Jifos,'*^ the " Royal wails and music,'''* and, a third, the derivation of which I could not understand, and which no external symbols that 1 saw denoted — the " King^s marrovj-boms and cleavers.'*'' Each presented me with a congra- tulatory address. Each had a " book to show,'''' All had something to do with out-door arrangements at levees. Contributions from such sources upon the diplomatic stranger, awakened, at first, my surpMse, but I afterwards heard what perhaps may serve as explanatory, or at all events, is fit to be stated. Ambassadors on leaving En- gland, always receive from the British govern- ment a present of a thousand pounds ; ministers a- IS 1818.] COURT OF LON DON. J J 7 plcnipoi'fJtiary, of tivo luindrcd. If llicii on their first arrival, and from tinio to tinio aftcrwardifi, applications nre made to them for "/«ro«rA" by those ilk menial and Huch-like sitnations abont the court or government, the latter, it nuist be owned, pays back again, and with no stinted hand. 1 do not hint that it docs so in the li<;ht of an indem- nity, but the customs go well together ! True, the minister plenipotentiary of the United States, never takes the five hundred pounds ollered to him, the constitution of his country forbidding it. But this is a point which it may be presumed he does not stop to expound to the servants of the foreign secretary, or the " Royal waits and music.'''' It would doubtless be to them a novel plea in bar, for not putting his hand in his pocket ! When- ever he pays for music, he must consider himself as having an equivalent in its " silver sounds ;" as in the case of the Portsmouth bells, in their ani- mating peals ! If I had calls like these, I am bound to mention others. A great number of persons of the court and other circles, paid me visits. Their names I need not recount. Of the list, were those whose acquaintance any one might regard as a source of gratification. In me, the feeling was heightened, as it marked the estimation in which my country was held. Intercourse to which the door thus t.rl. (' 2]g RESIDExNCE AT THE [1818. opened in my favour, was afterwards extended, leading to hospitalities that can neither pass from the memory, nor grow cold upon the heart. ! . lis It , February 23. At a dinner at the Danish minis- ter's, we had half a dozen gentlem .n ; among them. Sir Humphrey Pavy. There were also ladies. One of the latter spoke of Franklin ; he was a captivating writer — so much nature — so much ge- nius ; Mr. Jefferson had said that to see the junc- tion of two of our rivers where one breaks through a mountain, was worth crossing the Atlantic ; but she would think the voyage better undertaken to see Franklin's old china bowl and silver spoon his wife bought for him ; she hoped both were kept ; it would be sacrilege to let them perish. I was charmed at her manner of saying all this. Sir Humphrey took his share in the conversation. At the first words of this great chemist and philoso- pher, I was all attention ; but he talked of neither chemistry nor philosophy. He agreed to what was said of Franklin. He spoke of the expedition pre- paring for the north pole ; it was fitted up he said with every thing but a philosopher ; whether the sailors would have no such non-descript on board, or none would consent to go, he could not say ; the ocean was a noble dominion for nations, but a 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. HQ bad place for landsmen; worst of all for philoso- phers. He spoke of the case about wager of bat- tle, pending in the king's bench ; the very argument was so like a burlesque, that he thought the par- ties had better be allowed to fight it out at once, " the fancy'''' forming a ring, while parliament and the judges looked on. His elocution was remark- ably prompt and smooth. In society he seems as pleasing, as in the lecture room he is profound. He told me that the widow of Garrick was alive, at an advanced age, and lived not far from the house I had taken. Mr. Bourke, our kind host, had been much among the courts of Europe. In- clination and opportunity had improved his taste in the arts. In the drawing rooms after dinner, pictures were talked of, his walls showing some fine ones. He said, that in distinguishing the various productions of the different masters, of all the schools, there was no more difficulty, where the eye had been practised among large collec- tions, than in distinguishing the faces and hand- writing of your living acquaintances. February 25. Having brought from my gov- ernment, a letter of credence to the queen, I was this day presented to her. It was called a private presentation, and took place at Buckingham pal- I i 1 <■ \: •y ,11 i, J 20 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. ace. An exchange of notes with the master of ceremonies, had made me acquainted with the previous arrangements. Lord Castlereagh had also apprized me of them. I got to the palace before the hour fixed. Ser- vants were at the door, and in the hall. Ascending an ample staircase, the master of ceremonies re- ceived me in one of the rooms of a suite, all open, but no one else in them. When five o'clock came, he conducted me to the audience room, which I entered alone. Immediately before me was the Queen. On her right, was one of the princesses, her daughter ; on her left another. Near them, were two ladies in waiting, the Countess of Macclesfield, and Countess of Illchester. All were in full court dresses, and all standing. In another part of the room were her majesty's chamberlain, and the Duke of Mont- rose. These made up the assemblage. All was silence. Approaching the queen, I said : — " Hav- ing been accredited by his royal highness, the Prince Regent, as envoy extraordinary and minis- ter plenipotentiary from the United States, I have now the honour to present this letter to your ma- jesty. In executing the duties of my mission, I have it in charge from the President so to bear myself, as to give hope of gaining your majesty's u IS- ve a- I ir 's 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 121 esteem ; and this I beg to assure your majesty will be my constant ambition." She received the letter. As she took it she said, that the s^'^Xi- ments I expressed were very obliging, and ente. ^ into conversation. Learning that I was from Philadelphia, she asked questions about it, and others respecting the United States ; all put in a very kind spirit. The interview lasted about fif- teen minutes. The Queen was then seventy six. Her birth day, was on the day following. As I entered the room, and during the whole interview, there was a benignity in her manner, which, in union with her age, her sex and her rank, was both attractive and touching. The tones of her voice had a gentleness, the result in part of years ; but full as much of intended suavity to a stranger. The scene as it first broke upon me, its novelty, its quiet, yet impressive, stateliness, became, almost immediately, by her manner, one of naturalness and ease. My immediate predecessor, Mr. Adams, when presented to her, made an allusion to qualities in her character, which, as I came to learn through a good source, was advantageously remembered at the English court, I will here repeat. His mission commenced in 1815, directly after the war between the two countries. He said, that the political re- 16 !•' i f i1 \U'\''^ ■|:; J22 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. lations between them, had been subject to the vcrsatihty that attended all human affairs ; that dissentions had arisen, which however had been removed, and, he ardently hoped, permanently removed ; but that the reverence commanded by her majesty's private virtues, had been subject to no such change ; it had been invariably felt by his government, and he could utter no wish more pro- pitious to the happiness of both countries, than that the future harmony between them might be equally unalterable. The allusion was happy, because it was just. Throughout a long life she had been uniformly distinguished by her private virtues, and her efforts to imprint them upon the times. I saw her sinking below the horizon ; but the serenity that I saw, betokened, that as the splendours of her day were setting, she had a con- sciousness that it was not for those alone she had hved. February 27. Yesterday her majesty held a draw- ing room. It was in celebration of her birth day. My wife was presented to her, by Lady Castlereagh. Besides being a birth day celebration, it was the first drawing room of the season, and the first since the death of the princess Charlotte. The weather was fine; the sun brilliant, A permit ii 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 123 had been sent from the board of green cloth for my carriage to pass into St. James's Park through the gate on Constitution hill. Going through Hyde Park, I found the whole way from Tyburn to Piccadilly, (about a mile,) filled with private carriages, standing still. Persons were in them who had adopted this mode of seeing those who went to court. Tenfold the number went by other approaches, and every approach, I was told, was thronged with double rows of equipages, also filled with spectators. I was to be set down with the rest of the diplomatic corps, and others who had the entre^at a door assigned, within the court yard of the palace. Arrived in its vicinity, my carriage was stopped by those before it. Here we saw, through the trees and avenues of the park, other carriages coming up, in two regular lines from the horse guards and St. James's. Another line, that had already been up, was turning slowly off, towards the bird cage walk. Foreigners agreed, that the united capitals of Europe could not match the sight. The glitter of the carriages, was heightened by the appearance of the numerous servants in glowing livery, there being generally two and often three footmen behind each carriage. The horses were all in the highest condition, and, under heavy, emblazoned harness, u 1 \ •#ife 1 I i *■ I ■I I,. I il' i i r ■; I A ^i 1 1 ' i': I'll J24 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. seemed, like war horses, to move proudly. Trum- pets were sounding, and the Park and Tower guns firing. There were ranks of cavalry in scarlet, with their bright helmets and jet black horses ; the same we were informed, men and horses, that had been at the battle of Waterloo. Their appear- ance was in a high degree martial and splendid. The hands of the men grasped their swords in gloves of white buckskin, reaching half way up to the elbow — a prominent part of the equipments that made up the exact uniformity and military beauty of the whole array. We were soon set down, and entered the great hall. What a contrast ! The day before, I had gone up the same staircase alone. Now what did I see ? We were not out of time, for, by appoint- ment, my carriage reached the palace with Lord Castlereagh's ; but whilst hundreds were still arri- ving, hundreds were endeavouring to come away. The staircase branched off at the first landing, into two arms, and was wide enough to admit a partition, which had been let in. The company ascending, took one channel; those descending, the other, and both channels were full. The whole group stood motionless. The openings through the old carved balusters, brought all under view at once, and the paintings on the walls were all seen ;|gj8-j COURT OF LONDON. 125 at the same time. The hoop dresses of the ladies, sparkling with lama ; their plumes ; their lappets ; the fanciful attitudes which the hoops occasioned, some getting out of position as when in Addison's time they were adjusted to shoot a door; the various costumes of the gentlemen, as they stood pinioning their elbows, and holding in their swords; the common hilarity created by the common di- lemma ; the bland recognitions passing between those above and below, made up, altogether, an exhibition so picturesque, that a painter might give it, as illustrative, so far, of the English court at that era. Without pausing to describe the incidents dur- ing our progress upwards, it may be sufficient to say, that the party to which I was attached, and of which lady Castlereagh towering in her bloom, was the leader, reached the summit of the staircase in about three quarters of an hour. Four rooms were allotted to the ceremony. In the second, was the queen. She sat on a velvet chair and cushion, a little raised up. Near her were the princesses, and ladies in waiting. The general company, as they reached the corridor by one arm of the staircase, passed on to the queen. Bowing to her, they regained it, after passing through all the rooms, b}^ an outlet that led to the other arm ; which they descended. When my ii '3 ti? 126 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. wife was presented, her majesty addressed some conversation to her, as a stranger. This she could not do to all, time not permitting. The Prince Regent was there and royal family ; cabinet min- isters and their ladies ; foreign ambassadors and ministers with theirs. These, having the entre|;^ remained, if they chose, in the room with the queen. A numerous portion of the nobility were present, their wives and daughters ; with others distinguished in life, though bearing neither title nor station. Conversation you got as you could, in so great and rich a throng. If the scene in the hall was picturesque, the one up stairs transcended it in all ways. The doors of the rooms were all open. You saw in them a thousand ladies richly dressed. All the colours of nature were mingling their rays, under the fairy designs of art. It was the first occasion of laying by mourning for the Princess Charlotte ; so that it was like the bursting out of spring. No lady was without her plume. The whole was a waving field of feathers. Some were blue, like the sky ; some tinged with red ; here you saw violet, and yellow ; there shades of green ; but the most were of pure white, like tufts of snow. The diamonds encir- cling them caught the sun through the windows, and threw dazzhng beams around. Then, the I \ 1 8 ] 8 1 COURT OF LONDON. J 27 hoops ; these I cannot describe. They should be seen. To see one is nothing ; bu^ *o see a thou- sand, and their thousand wearers, on such a day ! I afterwards sat in the ambassadors' box in West- minster hall at a coronation. That sight faded before this. Each lady seemed to rise out of a gilded little barricade, or one of silvery texture. This, topped by her plume, and the ** face divine" interposing, gave to the whole an effect so unique, so fraught with feminine grace and grandeur, that it seemed as if a curtain had risen to show a pageant in another sphere. It was brilliant and joyous. Those to whom it was not new, stood at gaze, as I did; Canning for one. His fine eye took it all in. You saw admiration in the gravest statesmen ; Lord Liverpool, Huskisson, the lord chancellor — every body. I had already seen in England signs enough of opulence and power. Now I saw, radiating on all sides, British beauty. My own country, I believed, was destined to a just measure of the two first ; and I had the inward assurance that my countrywomen were the inheri- tresses of the last. Matre pulchrd jilia pulchrior. So appeared to me the drawing room of Queen Charlotte. The ceremonies of the day being ended as far I' It 128 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. as myself and suite were concerned, we sought the corridor to come away. In good time we reached the licad of the descending channel. Will it be believed ! both channels were as full as ever of hoops and plumes. There was something in the spectacle from this position that presented a new image. Positively, it came over the eye like beautifid architecture ; the hoops the base, the plume the pinnacle ! The parts of this dress may have been incongruous ; but the whole was har- mony. Like old English buildiiisrs, and Shakes- peare, it carried the feelings with it, triumphing over criticism. We got down stairs in about the same time it took to get up. As we waited in the hall for our carriage, military bands were playing in the court yard, somo mounted on the superb cavalry, some on foot ; amidst the strains of which we drove off. In the evening I dined at Lord Castlereagh's. It was a dinner in honour of the birth-day. The foreign ambassadors and ministers, and several of the English ambassadors at European courts, at home on leave, were at it, all in official costume. Among the topics, was the beautiful scene of the morning. All gave their voice to its attractive- ness. I will say no more of the dinner. Lord • I J 8181 C»(JRT OF LONDON. |' t Castlcrcngli, anxious for the pleasure of his i^uep «, diffused his attentions in ways to promote it. We sat down at eight, and rose at ten. JJy eleven, the company dispersed. m% 17 H^ 130 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. CHAPTER X. I'i I V m Emigration. Literary institutions. Clubs. Booksellers' shops. St. James's palace — party at the Dutchess of Cum- berland's — at the Russian ambassador's — at the Marchion- ess of Stafford's — at Lord Melville's. The Duke of Sussex. Dinner at the Mansion House. March 1. I receive many letters from persons on emigrating to the United States. The writers seek information and advice, neither of which I afford. The bad subjects of Britain we do not want ; the good, it is no part of my province to be instrumental in drawing away. If, however, the majority of the applicants be what they profess to be, they would prove an acquisition to any new country ; where, land being abundant and labour dear, men are the best of all imports. One, a farmer, represents himself to have six thousand pounds ; two of the same class say, that they each would carry over about half as much. I learn that another of the applicants, a manufacturer, i^ I 'I 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 131 reputed to be worth thirty thousand pounds. The naturalization laws of the United States, give less encouragement to eniigrants than is generally sup- |)0sed ; less than some of their citizens think wise. I'or one, I regard them as unwise. They (lo not confer citizenship upon terms as favourable as Russia and Holland have formerly done, and arc believed to do still ; as England did formerly, for she even ofiered bounties to certain classes of foreign- ers on coming to her shores ; and as France has done at periods when even her population in pro- portion to her soil, was ten-fold greater than that of the United States at present. The latter require a full residence of five years, with regulations that put further clogs upon the privilege. If every clog were removed, it would stand, in my opinion, as the wisest law in our code for ages yet to come. I should nil many pages were I to detail applica- tions of another description ; I mean from authors of new projects. One has an improved plan for making rockets ; another thinks he has discovered a mode of building ships that will make all sail alike ; a third has a model of a gun carriage, by which a sixty-four pounder can be worked as easily as a swivel ; a fourth, a fire macliine to explode under water, with more destruction to every thing above than Fulton's torpedo. The rA ^ M 1 1 IM i i* J^ ' ifi b«i: 232 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. projectors all desire patronage from the government of the United States, and will go over, on proper encouragement from me. It will be inferred, that if I leave farmers and manufacturers to think and act for themselves, I abstain from all interference in the cases of these ingenious persons. In truth, we want them less. Most of their inventions are for destroying life ; as if means enough were not known already. March 2. Visited the Royal Institution in Al- bemarle street. Its objects are scientific and literary. A lecture room, with apparatus, is an- nexed, where Sir Humphrey Davy, and professors Brande and Milligan deliver lectures. It has a large library and is furnished with the current periodical publications. I speak of it merely as one, though of much repute, among numerous similar establishments in London for rendering the acquisition of knowledge easy. Another was mentioned to me — the London Institution in Moor- fields — founded a few years ago at an expense of upwards of fifty thousand guineas obtained by subscription among private individuals in that range of the city. The clubs also have libraries, and tables for the periodical works. It is so at the Alfred, near the Royal Institution. The club 'i 2818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 233 houses appear to be among the largest in town, judging from those in St. James's street. Let me here relate what I heard a member of one of them — White's — the great tory club in this street, say. Somebody spoke of the lights kept burning there all night ; yes, said he, " they have not been out, I should think, since the rngn of Charles IL''"' The London clubs of the higher order, attest the di- versified society, as well as the wealth and great- ness, of this metropolis. They are not associations for mere conviviality, but for intercourse upon a far broader scale, political, literary, scientific, dramatic, and objects more various. At a subse- quent day I visited several, and had the freedom of some bestowed upon me. I was honoured with that of the United Service club, the Alfred and the Traveller's. The first, for extent and complete- ness, I may almost add splendour, surpassed any that came under my observation, though all were more or less striking. None of its members are below the rank of field officers in the army, or captains in the navy. Through the good offices of Sir Humphrey Davy, I had the privilege of resorting to the library and reading rooms of the Royal Institution. My gratitude is due for the facilities accorded to me at all times for reading and consulting books there, and attending the lectures. I A>li .'k Mi T 'fi f? M' ! It! 134 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. I have been to several of the great booksellers' shops; that of Payne and Fosse, in Pall Mall, whose collection is said to be very choice ; some in Paternoster Row, and Lackington's, corner of Finsbury square. A bird's eye view of them, shows the great amount of capital employed in this branch of business, the more imposing as it proclaims intellectual as well as monied capital. The mere external arrangement at Lackington's seemed the best, and I should have inferred, but perhaps erroneously, as I did not see the whole extent of some in Paternoster Row, that their collection was largest. One of the firm told me, that the number of volumes in two descriptions of books, Shakespeare and the periodical writers, amounted, as nearly as he could say, to about one hundred thousand. I should have conjectured that the entire collection could scarcely have fallen short of a million of volumes. Opening cursorily some of the catalogues, Lackington's appeared to contain the greatest number of works on America ; especially on the early colonial history of the United States. The catalogues are made out with great care, giving the prices, and formed well sized octavo volumes. Lackington's ran on to a thousand pages. Of books, we expect catalogues. But it is much< 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. J 35 the habit of Enghsh shopkeepers generally, to have printed lists of their articles. Stepping into a hardware shop, the proprietor handed me a stout pamphlet which presented his whole assortment in print, with the prices annexed to each item, no matter how minute. Haberdashers send out their inventories in print, and the dealers in a thousand other things, theirs; their packets come to my house in I know not what quantity — through the two-penny post or by errand boys — to the advan- tage of the paper maker, job printer, and other handicrafts in the system of subdivision in a great metropolis. March 4. Went the evening before last, to a party at the Dutchess of Cumberland's, St. James's palace. This is among the oldest buildings in London. It presents on the street, a fortress-like aspect. To what order it belongs, would be hard to say, the whole being an irregular pile. But the very confusion in its plan, with its antiquity, and the sentinels pacing day and night about its purlieus, minister to the fancy, making amends for its want of good architecture. So says one, who, unac- customed to the sight of edifices that go far back into time, finds this the ingredient which seizes M i| :'I. ■ ■?' I ill i 235 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. most upon his first feelings. I remembered this palace, historically, as the one from the windows of which George III. showed himself to the people when rejoicings were going on for the capture of Quebec. We drove under a gatehouse leading to a paved court yard. Here we wore set down at the en- trance to the Duke of Cumberland's apartments. Directed by servants who lined the way, we passed up to the rooms of entertainment. The company was not very large. In a rich arm chair at the opening of a wide door-way between two of the rooms, sat the Prince Regent ; on one side of him the Dutchess of Cumberland, on the other the Marchioness of Hereford. The rest of the com- pany stood. When we entered, all were listening to music. Members of the royal family, cabinet ministers, the foreign ambassadors, with their respective ladies, and others, formed the groups. I observed among them the lord chancellor, Sir William Scott, and Mr. Canning. On a pause in the music, there was conversation. The Dutchess of Cumberland, spoke kindly of my country, and individuals belonging to it ; particularly Mr. and Mrs. Adams, whom she had known at the court of Berlin. The duke talked to me of the United States, embracing in his inquiries, language ; with 1 a cIl st Is 1 i^' r 1818,1 COURT OF LONDON. J 37 a desire to learn how far, if at all, we fell into changes in idiom or pronunciation from the parent stock. I had introductions to several persons. Whilst in conversation with the Earl of Hardwicke, a gen- tleman stood within a few paces of us. I did not know him. On separating from Lord Hardwicke, he advanced towards me, saying, " Vm going to bring a bill into parliament making it indictable in any stranger, whether ambassador from a republic, kingdom, or popedom, ever to leave his card, in London, without his address upon it ; how do you do, Mr, Rush, how do you do ; Fve been trying to find you every where — Fm Lord ErskineJ'"' In this manner commenced my acquaintance with this gifted man. There was no one in England of whose fame I had oftener heard, or whom I more desired to know. He continued — " / had a letter for you from my brother the Earl of Buchan, but you made me carry it so long in my pocket, that I lost it ; it had no secrets ; it was only to congratu- late you on your arrival ; he was long a correspon- dent and friend of your father'' s, and wants to transfer his feelings to you, thaVs all ; so you can write to him as if you had received itJ*^ I assured him of my gratification at making his acquaintance, and made due apologies for the omission on my card. 18 I :;1 ,'i ! ' J. ii-' 133 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. He inquired for President Monroe, Mr. Pinkney, and others ; said he had always loved the United States, and hoped to visit them yet, as he was an old sailor, and cared nothing for storms. Such was his sprightly strain. He must have been seventy or near iv ; but, as Sir Francis Burdett said of him, he illustrated the fable of youth peep- ing through the mask of age. It was a treat to see so nmch genius with so much playfulness; such a social flow from one whose powerful elo- quence had been felt by the English nation, and helped to change, on some fundamental points, the English law. He sauntered about with me, and looked at the paintings. There was a full length likeness of George II.. another of George III., and one of Mary of Scots ; a " royal jade" he feared, " but very pretty." We ended in a room, at the extremity of the suite, where was a table set out with golden urns for tea, and other light refreshments ; to which those went who were inchned. At one o'clock, we came away. The music was by professional performers. Not only are the first musical talents of England, engaged for private entertainments at houses of distinction, but the best from Italy, France, and other parts of the continent ; the Fodors, the Pastas, the A mbro- gettis, the Catalanis, who may always be seen in London. le t e e in 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 139 March 10. Dined at the Russian ambassador's. This distinguished diplomatist is understood to enjoy in a high degree the good will of his sove- reign, and, by all other titles, is prominent in offi- cial and court circles. To the social assemblages of each, the Princess Lieven, his lady, brings dignity, intelligence and grace. From this em- bassy, we experienced at all times the kindness in unison with the good relations subsisting between the United States and Russia. The guests con- sisted of the diplomatic corps, their wives, and some other foreigners. General conversation was kept up at table, and revived in smaller circles in the drawing rooms afterwards. I had some with the minister plenipotentiary from Naples. He directed it to the affairs of the United States. Of their commerce and marine he had been observant, particularly in the Mediterra- nean. With the interests of the countries on this sea, he seemed familiar. He had been minister at Constantinople ; his father had been in the same post before him, and now, it was filled by his son. He asked if my government did not contemplate opening diplomatic intercourse with the Porte, which led us to talk of the commerce of the Black sea. He doubted if we could derive benefit from it, unless as carriers, should we even be admitted ■f; a 111! ■ 1 n ■ "i !■ \ h!! r J40 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, there. All that we desired, I said, was the oppor- tunity of doing what we could. The nations to whom it was open were, he said, Russia, Austria, England and France. Naples enjoyed it not ; she was unwilling to pay what the court of Constanti- nople asked. Prince Lieven expressed to me his hope, that the late appointment by the emperor, of Mr. Pole- ticca, as minister plenipotentiary to the United States, would improve the friendship between our two countries. I joined in the hope ; the more, as Mr. Poleticca had been favourably known in the United States since the days of Count Pahlen's mission. Ke spoke of Mr. Adams, and the re- spect in which he was held when minister in Russia. I said, that his titles to respect at home, had been increased by his correspondence whilst at St. Petersburgh. Here I stated, that in 1812 and 1813 his despatches relating to the great movements in Europe, were frequent and full; that he proved himself master of them all, antici- pating the political combinations, and military results of that era, with remarkable precision; above all, confidently predicting the failure of Napoleon's grand expedition to Moscow, from the roused and warlike patriotism of Russia, and her abundant resources. Such had been the uniform 1 1 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. JH tenor of his communications. They were on the archives of the American government, as monu- ments of the writer's capacity to handle pubHc affairs of magnitude, with judgment and forecast. The ambassador heard with satisfaction my nar- rative. March 12. Last night we were at the Mar- chioness of Stafford's. The rooms were full. The Prince Regent, royal family, many of the nobility, and others thronged them. It was past eleven when we arrived ; yet fresh names were every moment announced. All were in black under an order for a new court mourning for the late King of Sweden, Charles XIII ; who however did not die king, Bernadotte — the remnant of Napoleon's royal creations — occupying the Swedish throne. The rooms abounded in ornamental articles which wealth had amassed and taste arranged. The paintings, commanded admiration. Under light judiciously disposed, they made a magnificent ap- pearance. There is said to be no such private collection in Europe. It comprehends the produc- tions of the first masters of the different schools. A considerable number are from the Orleans col- lection, procured in France by the late Duke of Bridgewater, from whom the estates of the Mar- Mt il; \ \ ' I l' ii 1 'M J42 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. qiiis ol' Stafford in part descend. These works of genius glowing from every part of the walls, formed a hijjh attraction. It was the beginning of many hospitalities we had from this family. The marquis is known to his country by the public character his peerage gives him, and the posts he has filled. The mar- chioness is not less known by her rank, for she is of the oldest of the realm. But this is adventitious. She is known also by her cultivated mind, her taste in the arts, her benevolence to her tenantry ; by virtues unostentatious and refined, that com- mend her to the love of domestic and social circles, and endear her name to strangers. 1 t 1 i ■ ' Mil 'I ■ \ :">• ,,| r I: March 17. Dined at Lord Melville's. Lord and Lady Melville, Lord and Lady Mulgrave, Lord Keith, the ambassador of the Netherlands, the Danish minister and lady, Mr. Barrow, and a few more, made the party. The polar expedition was talked of. Tlie pre- vailing opinion was against its success, but Mr. Barrow stood up for it. For every doubt, man of genius like, he had a solution, often in veins of pleasantry. I learned that he was the author of the article on this subject in the thirty-fifth num- ber of the Quarterly Review, which every body I . I 181 gl COURT OF LONDON. 143 liad read with pleasure, at least. Lord Melville said, that iiothin;^ would be omitted by the admi- ralty to ensure success to the expedition, as far as equipment was concerned ; but I saw that he was not sanguine as to results. I commended some delicious oranges on the table. His lordship asked if we had oranges in the United States. In the southern parts, I re- plied ; in other parts, we got them from the West Indies. Copying Mr. Barrow's good vein I said, that those from the English islands would have a better relish if his majesty's government would but allow us to bring them in our own ships ! In the same spirit his lordship answered, that, for one, he would be most happy to contribute to our enjoyments ; but must first hear what Lord Castlereagh had to say! In the dining roor;, hung the original paintings of the places seen by Cook in his voyages. In the hall, was one of Duncan's victory over the Dutch, off Camperdown. I asked if there was no collec- tion in England representing, in historical series, the victories of the nation gained in fleets, begin- ning with those in Cromwell's time. His lordship said, none. In the drawing room, was a large vase of ala- baster, about eight feet high, and of the finest pro- M -'""f i,« V .' J44 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. portions. It stood before a mirror, and on the CAtcrior surface, the whole story of Lucrctia was represented in ti<,nires of demi-rehevo. The work was exquisite. The vase was illuminated inside, castin":^ its softened shades through the room ; and by the reflections of the mirror, all the figures, though on a spherical surface, came under the eye at once. This classic and beautiful ornament, which the size of the room displayed to the best advantage, had been imported from Florence. lOngland, though carrying the manufacturing arts to so high a pitch, is filled with the costly produc- tions of other parts of the world ; the porcelain, the silk damasks, the or-molu, of France; the finest works in marble from Italy ; the table linen of Holland and Saxony ; the lace of Flanders ; the gems, the cashmeres, of India. No amount of duty shuts out such articles from her opulent classes. Their very costliness brings them into demand. i! March 18. The Duke of Sussex visited me. He had called when I was out. Seeing the sec- retary of legation at Almacs', he fixed to day for calling again, and I staid at home to receive him. An ardour for constitutional liberty pervaded his conversation. It rose sometimes to an elo- I t 1818.1 COrRT OF [.ONDON. |,J5 quont boldness. I had not been prepared lor (piitc as much in a prince of the blood, and prized it the more. Passing in review some of the speakers in parliament, ho specially commended Lords Grey, Holland, Lansdowne, Grenville and Erskine ; and, of the House of Commons, Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Brougham, and Sir James Macintosh. Gibbon was mentioned. He thought highly of his historical research, but preferred Addison's style. The latter never tired. It was adapted to all subjects. He spoke of Mr. Adams, called him his friend' , said he had known him on the con- tinent, where, as in England, he was esteemed by all to whom he was known. In paying a tribute to his talents, he mentioned his knowledge of languages. The French was spoken of as the language of conversation in Europe. His royal highness said, that he would not perhaps object to this, as it was now established ; but when used as the language of state papers and treaties, he was disposed to view the subject differently. The French was acquired by foreigners with sufficient precision for conversation, and general purposes of literature ; but in drawing up treaties, where the employment of words in their most exact sense, even in their 19 :^i I I' l> I i: ,1 |! I 'l\. ; :j;'-M r 14g RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. nicest shades of meaning, was often of national mo- ment ha who wrote in his native language had an advantage ; and however slight it might be, it was enough to lay the practice open to objection. He would suggest a remedy ; let treaties, and other solemn state papers to which two or more nations were parties, be drawn up in Latin ; this would put modern nations upon a par ; each would stand upon the scholarship of their public men. It was to this effect he spoke. I thought it in the natural feeling of an English prince. The language of France has been diffused by her social manners, the merit of her writers, the exile of her protestants, and the power of her monarchy. Some of these influences are past ; others are shared by contemporary nations. Is it right, that the monopoly of her language should last forever? I would be much inclined to his royal highness's remedy if there were no other, though open to difficulty, perhaps, from modern terms of art. But I venture upon the suggestion of another. Let the language most likely to be predominant throughout Christendom, be the com- mon vehicle of Christendom. If a living language is to be adopted at all, this would be the fairest criterion. The European dominions of Britain have a population of upwards of twenty-two mil- f- I- * I by the her ast; Is )uld his er, ern ion be m- ige lest tin ul- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. J 47 Uons ; the United States count more than twelve, to take no notice of the rapid increase of the lat- ter, or numerous colonies of the former. Here is enough to authorize the belief, that, already, there are more persons to whom English is the verna- cular tongue, than French ; and that it is destined to gain, not only upon the French, but German, Spanish and all others. There is another fact more applicable. The foreign commerce of Britain and that of the United States conjointly, probably exceed that of all Europe. This serves at the present day, to send forth the English tongue more extensively to all parts of the globe, than the French, or any of Christendom. Malherbe assert- ed the rights of his native language so strenuously against all foreign usurpation, that he gained at the French court the appellation of " Tyrant of words and syllables^ Very well, in a Frenchman ! But if treaties and other international papers are always to be written in French words and syllables, what becomes of the equal independence of English words and syllables? The French are too just to disparage the language of Milton, and Newton, and Locke ; and why should they insist upon the perpetual preference of their own ? or rather why should England acquiesce ? His royal highness, it must be added, is himself ' I M i; 1 1 . 4 J) 148 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. an excellent linguist. To his knowledge of the classics, he adds German, Italian, French, Hebrew and it may be others, of which I am not informed. March 23. Dined at the lord mayor's. It was not Lord Mayor'' s day ; but a city entertain- ment always given on easter Monday, at the man- sion-house. This edifice is sometimes called the city palace. In size, it resembles one, and in som.e points of architecture ; but is badly situated, being close to the bank and Royal Exchange. The streets are so narrow that you can see it but in part, and it is with difficulty that carriages approach it at all. Through the courtesy of the lord mayor, the diplomatic corps, are annually invited to this entertainment, which is always a gratifying one to them, for they see at it, the image of a great and powerful class in the empire — the commercial class. The royal dukes, some of the nobility, and per- sons in station, were present. These, with the diplomatic corps, occupied seats in a half circle at the upper extremity of the room, on an elevation or dais. The tables in the area below, were filled with the opulent citizens of London. It was a fine sight. They might be taken as a representative body from the great ocean of wealth between if ■ t y .:^I er- he at n d e e n 18;'8.1 COURT OF LONDON. 149 Temple bar, and London bridge. The room was the Egyptian hall, of ample dimensions and bril- liantly lighted. A band played as we entered. The lord mayor and lady mayoress sat side by side in the centre of the half circle, at the top of the dais ; the latter was in a full court dress, and by her position faced the whole company ; a try- ing situation which she bore with grace. After all the courses were over, toasts were given, the first I had heard in England. Music was kept up, the song rose, and every thing ministered to the fes- tive feeling. On one side of me was Sir Benjamin Bloomfield. At intervals, we conversed, princi- pally of the United States. He spoke in a very friendly spirit ; urging the benefit to both countries of mutual good will and good offices. I listened the more, as he was private secretary to the Prince Regent. The entertainment closed with a ball in another part of the building. Throughout the rooms, were insignia of the commerce and riches of London from an ancient day. The nation that commands the trade of the world, said Sir Walter Raleigh, commands its riches, and consequently the world itself. Whether the saying be true or not, the po- licy, the laws, the festive entertainments, the whole conduct of the English, attest that they never for- get it. I ?i :l *,«!* 150 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. ) ■'J- i 4 !' CHAPTER XI. Visit to Mr. West. Dinner at Mr. Lyttleton's — at Lord Hol- land's. A day at Deptford and Greenwich. Dinner at the Austrian ambassador's — at Earl Bathurst's. Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth. Dinner at Lord Bagot's. March 26. Visited Mr. West, president of the Royal Academy. I found him with his pencil in his hand. The most curious piece in his collection, was one painted when he was eight years old. It was small, and very imperfect he said, but added, that the primary colours, blue, red and yellow, were so justly blended, that he could not improve that part of the work. On asking if he had any previous instruction that enabled him to go right in so important a particular, he replied, no ; he could no more say how his judgment had been formed to it, than how he learned his mother tongue. The piece to which he pointed with most in- ft 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 15I terest, was the " Continence of Scipio." It had been instrumental in bringing him into notice, forty years before. George III. sent for it, and kept it for some time at his palace. At his ma- jesty's request, he had painted a series of historical pieces, from the New Testament. They were at Windsor, to be put up in a chapel the king con- templated building. The number of pieces in his rooms was very great. He had been computing the dimensions of a gallery, to contain all he had ever painted. Hj found that it would require one four hundred feet long, fifty broad, and forty high. The piece from Lear, in the Academy of Arts at Philadelphia, was, he said, among those with the execution of which he had been best satisfied. I spoke of his " Christ healing the Sick," in the Hospital at Phi- ladelphia, remarking how highly it was prized; all the town had flocked to see it. He spoke of a criticism upon it in Philadelphia, in the pamphlet form, that had come under his notice ; said it was written in a scholar-like manner, and with a per- fect knowledge of the subject. He knew not the author, nor could I inform him. This eminent and venerable artist, was then nearly eighty. A native American, born near Philadelphia, he adverted to scenes of his early :.' '■ . I III.* h 1 111 i 4 H: « 152 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. life. I was enabled to understand some of his local allusions. His patriarchal look and charac- ter, gave me something of the filial feeling. What am I to do, I asked, as our conversation proceed- ed, to be able to judge of paintings ? Wherever I go, in England, I meet with them ; in palaces, private houses, every where ; engravings rest in port folios ; I see nothing but the works of your art, and all persons appear to have a knowledge of them; I the rather ask, as there is a growing taste for the arts in the United States ; republics have been celebrated for them ; we cherish the hope, that this may be our lot. He repHed, that he believed he could not do better than name to me the discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Those productions I said, but increased my despair j we knew them in Philadelphia ; I had read them ; they were ingenious, profound; but what a universe they opened — wider than the poet's in Rasselas ; it was boundless ; all kind of knowledge was ne- cessary to the painter, and could we, with less, and without superadding the practice of the eye, become judges of painting ? He agreed that the art was boundless ; said that he every day saw something to learn in it ; told the anecdote of the clergyman who preached one of Sir Joshua's dis- courses from the pulpit, omitting technical words. '4 lg]8l COURT OF LONDON. 153 as a proof of its foundation in the principles of man's general nature, and admitted that it could only be successfully studied in conjunction with practice ; in other words, that the eye could not gain a quick or sure perception of beauties and defects, but by familiarity with the best models. I said it was this which ':; ve to the English their facilities; foreign travtl was so common with them, that they saw the best models abroad, and then kept the eye in practice at home ; the Vati- can, the Louvre, the Museum at the Hague, the collections in the Low Countries, Spain, and else- where, persons whom you met every day had more or less seen. It was somewhat the same with books of travels. If you alluded to the latest respecting France, a gentleman by your side had been over the ground, and knew more than the book told you ; if you spoke of the Coliseum, or St. Peters, half the company had been at Rome ; and so of other places. He replied that it was true : Englishmen travelled a great deal ; all did not bring back useful information in the arts, but so many went abroad, that the number was still great who did ; hence there were more good judges of painting in England, than good painters ; it was rare to meet with a person of leisure and fortune who had not visited Italy and France, if 20 't- I if: I li 'U t^ 154 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, not more countries ; England also contained more paintings than any other country, not in public depositories, for there were none worth speaking of, but in private houses ; the rich bought up the best upon the continent wherever to be had j he would be glad to point out the private collections to 1 le ; those of Lord Stafford and Lord Grosve- nor stood at the head, but there were others scat- tered about town, and all over the country. He invited me to call whenever I had an hour to throw away, and saunter through his own collec- tion for all that it might be worth to me, as he said, adding that he would saunter with me, being always at home. It was thus that he received and talked to me. Once there was a tear, that the early recollections of his native land seemed to have drawn down. I felt in his fame the interest of a countryman, and in his whole manner there was a cordiality which inspired personal attachment, even in a first inter- view. As often as I saw him afterwards, it was with renewed pleasure and advantage ; but it was not long, before I was summoned to bear his pall. M- March 27. We were entertained at dinner by Mr. and Lady Sarah Lyttleton. Mr. Lyttleton is in parliament, and heir presumptive to Hagley 1818.] CX)URT OF LONDON. X55 with the title of its possessor. I spoke of the let- ters published under the name of one of his family. He said that it was an admitted point that they had not been written by Lord Lyttleton. Sir Humphrey Davy was at table. The newsmen had been blowing horns about the streets on a false rumour of Bonaparte's death. " When that hap- pens," said Sir Humphrey, " Europe will jly up compression being o^." We had also Lady Davy, Miss Fanshawe, Earl Spencer, Lord Folkstone and Mr. Luttrel. There was a flow of that kind of conversation that gives charm to a dinner party, our reception having been as friendly as courteous by this accomplished pair. March 29. Dined at Lord Holland's. His lordship and Lady Holland, the Marquis of Lans- downe. Lord Morpeth, Lord Maitland, Sir James Macintosh and Mr. Tierney were of the company. Lord Holland spoke of the institutions of the United States. Our system, he said, appeared suited to our circumstances ; he hoped that we would not put it to risk by a fondness for war ; but was there no fear that the excitements apt to arise under popular forms, and the courage that springs from freedom, might make us prone to war? I replied, that our reliance was in the ';i> J' i, i I ' ' 'i if 155 RESIDENCE AT TIfE [1818. checks which our Constitution raised up, and chiefly, that the people, wlio must suffer from war and pay its expenses, were the power who alone, by their representatives, could declare it. He bore testimony to the merit of President Munroe, whom he had known in personal and official rela- tions, saying, that in such hands our republic, as far as depended on the chief magistrate, might always be considered safe. I asked Sir James Macintosh, when we were to be favoured with the history the public had been led to hope he was preparing. He spoke doubt- fully. Hume was mentioned. He could not al- ways agree with him, he said, but commended the general spirit of his history ; the whole indeed was masterly ; the best portion, that which comprised the reigns of the Tudors, particularly Elizabeth's. He spoke of Robertson and Gibbon ; both were careful inquirers into facts ; Gibbon's research was profound, but he saw objections to his style. He spoke of Franklin's style with nothing but praise ; it was more than pure ; it was classic ; it was neither the style of Addison nor Swift ; it had the simplicity of theirs, but an original and grace- ful playfulness not carried too far, which neither of the others had in so great a degree. Lord Hol- land asked if it could be true that his works and t#. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 157 especially his style, were not popular in the United States ; he had seen late publications seeming to point that way. My own knowledge and observa- tion, I said, would lead me to a different conclu- sion as to the opinions and taste of my country- men. Holland house, where we dined, four miles from London, is a venerable building. Among other associations that go with it, is the name of Addi- son, who lived here, after his marriage to the Countess of Warwick. After dinner, we went into the room that had had been his library. It is now Lord Holland's. It is a very long one. Addison was not happy in his marriage, and the jocose tradition of the house is, that he kept his bottle at each end of this room, so that in his walks back- wards and forwards he might take a glass at each ! It was the room in which he wrote his despatches when secretary of state. The Spectator being mentioned. Sir James said that it had lost its value as a book of instruction, but as a standard of style would always last. I listened with interest to these and other remarks from him. His speeches and writings, read on the banks of the Delaware as those of the Thames, had taught me to regard his mind as kindred to Burke's; the same elementary power ; the same application of ■A .) i I5Q RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. the philosophy of politics and jurisprudence to practical occurrences ; the same use of history, never heavily but always happily brought in ; the same aptitude for embellishment, not so gorgeous, but always chaste ; the same expansion and uni- versality. I resumed the topic of his history. I said that when he got to the American revolution we should on our side of the Atlantic, open his pages with peculiar interest ; that wo believed the full and proper account of it, had not yet gone forth to the world ; that among us, were still left a few who were contemporary with it, whose minds were the repositories of facts and reflections which, if not rescued in time, would perish. I instanced, par- ticularly, Mr. Jefferson and the elder Adams. The life of each, hung by a thread ; but their faculties were unimpaired. If he thought it worth while to embark in a correspondence with these fathers of our country, who, like himself, could have no ob- ject but truth, I would be happy to be the medium of its commencement. Some light he might hope to glean ; and if, examining also for himself, he should find it the light of truth, would it not be worthy of both nations to establish this part of their common history on a basis that both might approve ? He caught at the suggestion and fol- ic ]8191 COURT OF LNODON. 159 lowed it up with inquiries, saying ho would avail himselfof it. But it was not acted upon. 1 do not believe that the omission arose from any diminished sense of the value of the aid ho would probably have derived, but other causes. His parliamentary engagements took up much of his time ; those at the India College had their claims, and shall I add, as another and natural hindrance, the claims of daily society upon hiii in the high*^st spheres, uniting as he did the ease of the man of the world to intellectual stores attractive an 1 inexhaustible. Such men grow to be favourites in these 'spheres in London. Chains are thrown aroun.' them, not easily to be broken. The conversation from which I have minuted a small part, took place after we had risen from dinner, and were in the library, where coffee was handed. At table, it was suited to the moment, and with the moment passing away. Of hospi- tality as dispensed by Lord Holland 1 had heard ; of its kindness, its ele.-^Hnce. His standing as a peer is known ; and not less, the many attainments which he makes subservient to the pleasures of society and friendrhip. In his house, opulence and refinement seem to lend their aids to invest letters with glory. The room in which we dined was richly ornamented. I understood that it had f j If '4 I' * • FT !i ,\ 1 4i '^ ';l ;U 160 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. been painted and gilded as I saw, by one of Lord Holland's ancestors in the time of Charles I. on the occasion of a fete given to Henrietta his queen, when she came over from France. I must mention an incident at one of the Holland house dinners, though I was not present. Scott's novels became a topic, a new one being out. One or two of the company expressed preferences among them. Before opinion had gone farther, Lady Holland proposed that each person should write down the name of the novel liked best. Paper and pencil were passed, and a slip torn off as each wrote. Nine slips were handed to her, and each had the name of a different novel ! a happy illustration of the various merit of this fascinating writer. April 1. Went to Deptford with Sir Humphrey Davy. His carriage v/as at the door when I drove up at an early hour to his house. An accident happening to it, he took a seat in mine. Our con- versation was chiefly about the United States, he leading it by his rapid, intelligent, inquiries. One object of our excursion was to see the ships fitting out for the polar voyage. We went on board the Isabella. Outside she looked like any common merchant vessel, equipped for boisterous seas, with I 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON JQI the addition of double planking round her bow and sides, to resist ice. The interior arrangements embraced whatever science could devise and me- chanical skill effect, to promote the objects of the expedition and comfort of the officers and men. Flues for diffusing heated air through the ship, nautical and philosophical instruments of all kinds, with a library that seemed to contain the accounts of all former voyages of discovery, were to be seen. Parliament, to increase the zeal of the officers, had included them within the promise of reward to those who ascertained most nearly the longitude. After going through nearly all parts of the ship, we went into the naval dock yard, and afterwards to Greenwich to see the hospital. Deptford is the smallest of the English dock yards, and we therefore saw but few ships of war. Only one of the line, and three frigates were build- ing. There were docks for repairing as well as building. We saw several royal yachts ; among them, a very old one, the same that had conveyed Caroline Matilda, sister of George III. to Denmark, on the occasion of her marriage to the king of that country. The Danes sent it back to England, refusing to keep it after the attack upon their capital, and capture of their fleet, by Britain, in 1801. Although this is the smallest of the yards, 21 m «i ! I I* 1,1 1 f: I:' ;fi f n ; - 1 I n J 52 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. it is not without importance, from being so near London. The business of supplying the navy with provisions, is, or until lately was, carried on from a depot adjoining it. Sir Humphrey spoke of their excellent quality, remarking how much the strength and courage of seamen, depended upon food. They got, he said, bread and beef of the best quality and in full quantity ; an ample allow- ance of malt liquor ; wine and cocoa, with all other things proper for the sea ration. In the timber piled up in the yard, I observed mahogany. The commissioner said it was used not merely for decks, as in the royal yachts, some of which ap- pear to be about three hundred tons burden and are magnificently fitted up and furnished, but with advantage, as knees and beams, in the heaviest ships. The timber of all kinds on hand in the yard, generally amounted to a supply for three years. It consisted of English oak chiefly ; but they also got supplies of foreign timber. A quantity was soon expected from the forests of Croatia and Dalmatia, under contracts with the the government of Vienna. They also obtained it from the Baltic. This they thought good, when cut from the southern shores. From their North American possessions, they did not get much, except for large masts. The attachments of h 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. J 53 George III. to the navy were spoken of, his feel- ings as monarch being seconded, as was said, by a per^v! al fondness for naval architecture and affairs of the sea. He had first evinced it in pro- moting the voyages of Byron and Cook, as soon as he got to the throne. It was added, that at Buckingham palace, he was furnished with models of the dock yards, and, occasionally, of the vessels building ; which he took an interest in examining. These modes of exerting a superintendence over the navy, seem better in themselves, and, it must be owned, more befitted a sovereign, than if he had turned ship carpenter, like Peter of Russia. The yr.rd at Deptford was one of those in which that eccentric monarch worked. Commissioner Cunningham received us very kindly at his house within the yard. He would not allow us to depart without partaking of a col- lation. We proceeded on towards Greenwich. Going through the streets, and stopping a moment, an incident arrested my attention. A woman stood at the door of a house where cheap refreshments were sold. Some labouring people passing along, she called out to ask if they would take tea. It was about one o'clock. Houses of this kind I under- stood were not uncommon in London. I had ^;l I't i I., i. i' f' ^^1 264 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. myself observed tea sold in the streets, near Char- ing Cross, by huckster women, who obtained the boiling water by means of coals in a pan, or a lamp. In a country where the light wines are not produced, the first step into temperance is small beer ; the next, tea. The national schools in Eng- land have done much towards mehorating the con- dition of her people. The use of tea has co-ope- rated, by doing more of late years, probably, than any other physical cause, towards lessening the appetite for ardent spirits. I' acts not so much by reclaiming old drunkards, as diminishing the stock of new. What a sioht, to see this woman beckoning labouring men to tea, instead of drams ! The use of tea in England, is universal. It is the breakfast of the wealthy as of the poorer classes. On passing to the drawing rooms from the sumptu- ous dinner table, the cordial cup of Mocha coffee is first brought in ; but after an interval, black tea is also served. A general in the Duke of Welling- ton's army told me, that when worn down with fatigue, there was nothing for which the officers in the Peninsular war used to call so eagerly, as tea. Servants in London take it twice a day, sometimes oftener, and the occurrence at Greenwich shows the taste for it to be spreading among labouring classes at all hours. ^1 t^ 1. 'g- \s 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. |g5 We soon got near the hospital. The day was fine. I saw, as we approached, men in uniform — a blue coat full in front, flapped waistcoat, with breeches and stockings, and three-cornered hats. Until we got near, a stranger might have taken them for an assemblage of old admirals. They were the pensioners — common seamen. Some were sunning themselves on seats ; others moved slowly about. I heard no talking from any. Al- together, they had a venerable appearance. Ar- rived within the high palisades of iron, I was struck with the extent and grandeur of the build- ing. Domes ; single and double rows of columns ; flights of solid steps; Corinthian porticos, met the eye on all sides. The whole was of Portland stone, and on a terrace fronting the Thames. I had heard that English hospitals were like palaces ; and now the one before me, fr.r exceeded any palace I had yet beheld. The interior corres- ponded with *h: outside. There was ample space, the utmost neatness, and univers, . order. The number of pensioners drawing the funds of the institution, was more than thirty thousand. Those accommodated within the building, amounted to about three thousand. A naval asylum for minors is annexed, in which are eight hundred boys and two hundred girls, children of British seamen, all i 'f ' . :W \ln t r 1 *» ' 1 't.: p J fh 1(](5 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. educated and otherwise provided for. Some of the apartments of the hospital, as the chapel and great hall, are superbly ornamented. In the first is the shipwreck of St. Paul, a large painting by West, which fills the space over the altar, and to which you ascend by a range of long steps of black mar- ble. There are representations of our Saviour stilling the tempest and walking upon the waves, with various other costly emblems from the pencil and chisel, having relation to the sea. In the great hall, the ceiling exhibits paintings which years of labouring art had been necessary to perfect, por- traying under appropriate allegories, astronomical and nautical science, intermingled with insignia of the naval glory of England. Probably no age or nation can show a charity more splendid ; the first approach so imposing, the minute examination so calculated to augment admiration. But, there atose a reflection that I could not repress. Many of the veterans whom I saw, had, doubtless, fought un ler the compulsion of impress- ment. As I looked on their hoary locks and scar- red faces, I thought that a country treating its seamen thus, was bound to lodge them like kings when old or wounded ; that, in fact, it was only a payment back, and not adequate, for the previous infliction of such a wrong. It is to me an unac- ■'^^i\ 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 1(^7 countable anomaly, that a nation in which indivi- dual rights are guarded by barriers such as no other ever raised up, except the nation in the new world that springs from her ; who would wade through blood sooner than part with her habeas corpus or trial by jury, should yet sit calmly down under this unjust and tyrannical practice. It 's said that her navy cannot otherwise be manned. Poor excuse ! as if it were not universally true, that labour of any kind can be commanded by paying for it, and of course laboui upon the ocean, with the risk of battle and death superadded ; and as if, supposing it to cost ten times over what would ever be asked, it ought not to be paid, sooner than that such an outrage should be committed ! The stiitesmen, the philanthropists, of England, will at last awake from this dream of supposed necessity for the press-gang. It will cease, and the wonder be that any arguments for sustaining it could have been current so long. There have, it is true, been states ancient and modern that have resorted to force for obtaining military service; but it has generally been for temporary purposes, and where this has not been the case, the states have been those in which personal rights have been only imperfectly protected. The precedents are to be shunned, not copied ; especially by a nation whose ■%. -.* .^ : « ■i if; '.1 1. i|p • if; l(Jg RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. fundamental code looks to the inviolability of per- sonal liberty in a degree far above that of the civil law of Rome, or any of the codes of conti- nental Europe engrafted upon that stock. I did not volunteer my thoughts upon my English com- panion ; but if I had, I scarcely think that dissent would have come from his liberal mind, accustom- ed as it was to anahse and reason. We visited in the last place the observatory at Greenwich. Mr. Pond, the astronomer royal, received us in the same hospitable manner as Commissioner Cunningham. We ascended to the top of the edifice, seeing all the astronomical in- struments in use. When chronometers were spo- ken of, it was stated, that the government ordered twelve to be made every year l^ the best watch- makers in London. For the one which kept the most accurate time, a premium was given ; for the next best, a diminished premium ; and the re- maining ten, if approved, were taken at fair prices. All were for the use of the public ships. In this way competition was kept up, no watchmaker suffered loss, and the navy got a supply of the best instruments for measuring time in all latitudes. The hour for our return pressing, we hastened back to town, after a day which, to me, had been one of great variety and interest. The secretary of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. Jgg legation and Captain Thompson of the navy of the United States, were of the party. Sir Humphrey's ardour of conversation did not abate going home. It related in part, to what we had seen ; with an intermixture of anecdotes of eminent persons in England. April 2. Dined at Prince Esterhazy's. Com- pany — the diplomatic corps and their ladies. The dinner was one to have been expected from the munificence of the entertainer. Among a variety of wines, we had hock. By Austrian connoisseurs this is not prized so much on account of its age, as its original quality ; when best, they think it does not improve after twelve or fifteen ; perhaps no wine does. The preference at English, as at foreign tables in London, is for the light wines ; the strong, as madeira and sherry, are little used ; sherry most. Generally it is limited to a single glass, after soup. With the latter, every dinner be- gins ; turbot and salmon follow, before the meats are disclosed from under their glittering covers. We had French cookery in its perfection, which I find universal at English as foreign tables. Mr. Morris, American minister in France at the time of the revolution, said, that if the French had revolu- tionized the kitchens of Europe instead of its courts, 22 ! ■ V "in: 1 "' i i 17Q RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. they would have rendered a service that no parly would have called in question. He was right. Food simply roasted or boiled, is thought temper- ance ; but the French know better, and that to render it simple as well as savoury, a process more artificial is required. Hence the made dishes, like the light wines of France, promote health and cheerfulness. Oppression seldom follows indul- gence in them ; gout as rarely. Talking with the prince after coming out from dinner, we spoke of the campaigns of Frederick. There is a pretty little fact with which he was familiar on my allusion to it. After Berlin was taken by the Austrians and Russians, the soldiers gave themselves up to plunder. An officer high in rank was seen to protect the palace at Potsdam, and would suffer nothing to be touched ; but asked as a favour to be allowed to take a small picture of Frederick, and one of his flutes, that he might preserve them as memorials of so great a warrior and king. This officer was Prince Esterhazy, a relative, as I learned, of our accomplished host. Although no political relations existed between the United States and Austria, I received from this her ambassador in London, invariable marks of esteem during my residence. .».*, ■i?? ;f = 1818 1 COURT OF LONDON. 171 April 3. Dined at Earl Bathurst's. Earl and Countess Bathurst, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Montrose, Lord Lyne- doch, Mr. and Mrs. Villiers, Mrs. Rush, Sir Henry Torrens, General Maitland, Mr. Goulburn, and a few others, were the company. Conversation turned upon the United States ; their climate, government, productions, steam boats, and other topics. On a question respecting the width of a river in one of the states, I was at fault ; on which one of the royal dukes put me right. Both of them spoke of our constitution. They asked how the Senate and Supreme Court were modelled, not well perceiving the line between the national and state authorities in matters of ju- dicature. I endeavoured in a few words to explain ; which however was not easily to be done in a few words ; and it was no place for dissertation. The colonization society was spoken of, and its objects approved. Lord Bathurst expressed a hope that it might select a better place on the coast of Africa, than England had done in selecting Sierra Leone ; which was known to have proved unhealthy. In- quiries were made as to the amount of our slave population, the ratio of its increase, and others bear- ing on this subject. I answered them with an admis- sion of the general evil of slavery in the United 5i I I ■.^ ' 172 RI-aiDENCE AT THE [1818. States; but added that ther^ vnr > frrciki mitigations, in the good treatment of the . i "vc-.. To tiiis the ex- ceptions, I said, were rare, and scarcLly known at all, among the better classes of our southern plan- ters. The efiect of good treatment was, to diffuse in a large degree content and happiness among the slaves. Conciliatory sentiments towards the United States ran throughout all the conversation. At eleven, we left the table. An hour passed in the drawing rooms, where conversation was con- tinued. All gave precrdence to the royal dukes ; whilst from them, there was urbanity to all. April 8. The Princess Elizabeth was married last evening to the Prince of Hesse Homberg. The cabinet ministers, foreign ambassadors and ministers, officers of the royal household, persons in the suites of the royal dukes and princesses, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of London, the lord chancellor, the lord chief justice and a few others were present. The Prince Regent was not there, being ill. Our invi- tation was from the Queen, given through the Earl of Winchelsea, nearly three weeks before. We got to the palace at seven o'clock. Pages were on the stairs to conduct us to the rooms. The ceremony took place in the throne room. 1818 1 COURT OF LONDON. 173 Before the throne was an altar covered with crimson velvet, on which was a profusion of golden plate. There was a salver of great size, on which was represented the Lord's supper. The company being assembled, the bridegroom entered, with his attendants. Then came the Queen, on the arm of the Duke of York, with the bride and royal family. All approached the altar. Her majesty sat ; the rest stood. The marriage ser- vice was read by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Duke of York gave the bride away. The whole was according to the forms of the church of England, and performed with great solemnity. A record of the marriage was made. When all was finished the bride knelt before the QueeA to re- ceive her blessing. The consent of the king (or regent) and privy council, is necessary to the validity of a royal marriage in England. There is another mode, where the party intending to marry, and being of the male branch, is of the age of twenty-six. In such case, a record of the intention on the books of the privy council will authorise the marriage at the expiration of a twelvemonth, unless parliament interpose an objection. Soon after the service was performed, the bride and bridegroom set off for Windsor, the rest of 3-. 1 i ■'"} 1 p. ! ( I 1 J ; ■ t p » , ^ i .■ 1'. ■ 40 J'-' J-^ |. ;:■;(•,. s : ■ . ■ ■ i i 174 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. the company remaining. The evening passed in high ceremony, without exckiding social ease. From the members of the royal family, the guests had every measure of courtesy ; but the whob de- ireanourofthe Queen was remarkable. This vener- able personage, the head of a large family, her chil- dren at that moment clustering abouther; the female head of a great empire — in the seventy-sixth year of her age — went the rounds of her company, speaking to all ; no one did she omit. There was a kindliness in her manner, from which time had struck away useless forms. Around her neck hung a miniature portrait of the king. He was absent — scathed by the hand of heaven ; a mar- riage going on in one of his palaces — he, the lonely, suffering tenant of another. But the por- trait was a token superior to a crown ! It be- spoke the natural glory of wife and mother, eclipsing the artificial glory of Queen. For more than fifty years this royal pair had lived together in affection. The scene would have been one of interest in any class of life. May it not be noticed on a throne ? Tea was handed. The Queen continued to stand, or move about the rooms. In one was a table of refreshments. I went to it with Major General Sir Henry Torrens, an officer distinguished by I ! 1818.1 CX)URT OF LONDON. 1-75 service and wounds, whose acquaintance I had made at Lord Bathurst's. He was of the esta- bhshraent of the Duke of York. On the table were urns and tea-kettles of fretted gold. Sir Henry recommended me to a glass of what I supposed wiiie, in a flagon near me ; but he called it king's cup, given only at royal weddings. Returning to the chief rooms, the Princess So- phia Matilda pointed out to Mrs. Rush and myself, the paintings; also the representation of a bird from India formed of precious stones so as to resemble beautiful plumage, with other objects of curiosity or taste in the palace. She did more — she spoke of Washington. She paid a spontaneous tribute to his virtues. None but Americans can know how this would fall upon the heart ! To hear his immortal name pronounced with praise in a palace of George IH., and by a princess of his family, had a high and touching value. Mentioning this princess, I add, tha* myself and family afterwards experienced her obliging civilities in ways the re- membrance of which is cherished with grateful pleasure. At ten, the company came away. April 9. Dined at Lord Bagot's. We had the Earl of Mount-Edgecumbe, Lady Emma Edge- .^ 'Hi ril \. '11 175 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. cumbe, the Dutchess of Leeds, the Countess of Dartmouth, Mr. Disbrow, vice chamberlain to the Queen, the Bishop of Oxford, and several members of parliament. The conversation had frequent allusions to the United States, their public institu- tions, and private society. The royal marriage was talked of Lord Mount-Edgecumbe, who had been much an inmate of the palace, told anecdotes of the Queen illustrative of her domestic virtues. Another topic was, the attempt on the life of Lord Palmerston, secretary of war. He was shot at and wounded, going into his office at the horse guards, yesterday. The person who fired, was supposed to be deranged. His acquittal was anti- cipated on this ground, as was the case with Mar- garet Nicholson, and Hadfield, who attempted to assassinate the king. Whether the life of their king, or the lovv^et L subject be struck at, let the law have itr '^cor^e, is the cry in England. Their code is sanguinary ; but all are bound by it, all look up to it. One of the company thought the law too lenient upon these attempts to assassinate kings and their ministe .'s ; they recurred too often ; he would punish the offender in the persons of his relatives, as well as his own ; as had been done with the Ravillacs and Damiens in France. This f 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. ^77 opinion found no countenance ; but it was can- vassed with sprightliness. After dinner, an evening party followed. We had an invitation from Lord Bagot to visit him at his country estate, Blithfield ; and Lord Mount- Edgecumbe invited us to his, near Plymouth. 23 Mi. 178 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. ^■i^ "I I I' is i i CHAPTER XXL Interview with Lord Castlereagh. General negotiation pro- posed on the West India trade, Maritime questions and Impressment. Nature of the last question. The Slave trade. Offer of British mediation in the affairs of the United States and Spain. Dinner at Mr. Wilberforce's — at the Earl of Hardwicke's. Almacs — late hours — Covent Garden The- atre. April 11. Had an interview with Lord Castle- reagh. 1 asked it, to apprize him of the desire of my gove^'"".ent to open negotiations for a general treaty of commerce and arrange other matters of importance to both countries. It was the wish of the President, I said, to see the commercial relations between the two coun- tries, placed upon a basis broader and more per- manent, than hitherto. The existing convention was not only limited as to time, but objects ; the period not being remote when it would expire, it was desirable that the Presiden should know the 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. ^79 probable determination of his majesty's govern- ment as to forming one of a different character ; one which, if not comprehending all the colonies of G^eat Britain, should at least include those in North America and the West Indies. I was aware of her past unwillin^irness to treat of this, and other subjects I should name ; but had been instructed to present them arew, in the hope of other views prevailing. In this event, I was furnished with a full power to negotiate a treaty of the nature indi- cat'^d. His lordship was candid in reply. He said, that he could hold out no encouragement towards a treaty so comprehensive ; too man}" interests hung upon their colonial dominion in the quarter men- tioned 'f it would operate like a revolutioh in their commercial system ; but I might be assured, that the determination of Great Britain not to bring the trade of those islands and colonies under such, or any arrangements by treaty, arose from no un- friendly feeling. It was only continuing a policy long established. Hence, no complaints would be made if the United States adopted countervailing measures j niore especially if, not being vindictive, they were merely based upon fair competition. I replied, that the latter was the spirit alone, in which they would be resorted to ; that as Great Britain k I'i i 1 a •- . : 6. . I.; jgQ RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. guarded her commercial interests very scrupu- lously, and in connexion with them, those of hur tonnage, the United States must do the same. This subject being for the present disposed of, I passed to others. A time of general peace, as lately intimated by his lordship, seemed, I said, the proper time for settling points which although of no immediate importance, were highly so in the future. The President was therefore desirous to take advantage of it, in the hope of being able to arrange the most important of this description ; such as, trade with the colonies of enemies during war ; the trade between coloriie? and the parent country ; that from port to port of an enemy ; the list of article-^ contraband ; the doctrine of block- ade, and tho question of impressment. Past expe- rience had shown the tendency of conflicting opinions on these points, to embroil neutrals and belligerents ; it had been unhappily too much the case as between Great Britain and the United States ; the season when both parties were free from the excitements of momentary feeling or in- terest, was auspicious to attempts for adjusting them amicably, and I was empowered to enter into negotiations upon them all. His lordship replied by concurring in the fitness of the time to the objects stated. He first spoke of n i-i tinor "titer less of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. IgJ blockade. Upon this point he believed the two go- vernments were agreed, and asked if they were not? I said that my government was satisfied with the definition of blockade adopted by England in Lord St. Helen's convention with Russia, of 1801 ; but that it was the President's desire to have the point placed upon an exact footing, by compact between the two nations. Not much passed upon this, and scarcely any thing upon other points, both of us agreeing, that even if there could be an understand- ing upon them all, a treaty would be of little value that did not also comprehend that of impressment. To this question he therefore came, as of absorb- ing importance. It is one, prominent in past negotiations between the two governments. I will therefore, before stat- ing what w^as said on this first occasion of its beinw broached under my mission, offer some general account of it. It may be understood by those who are not politicians, and its peculiarity may perhaps impart to it in the eyes of such, some share of interest. To many of the rising generation it is also in a great measure new, and to be learned only through numerous and detached state papers, not always at command, but in the libraries of public men. Great Britain, as a measure of state policy, im- 1 !' ■/ • W¥. Ig2 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. presses her seamen to serve on board her ships of war; in other words, takes them bi/ force. The practice is one with which other nations have nothing to do, as long as it is confined to British seamen, the British dominions, or the decks of British vessels upon the seas. It may seem at variance with the high standard of personal rights upon which her laws are founded in other respects ; but that consideration is wholly for herself. But, she claims the right of searching the ves- sels of other nations upon the high seas, for her seamen ; and here begins the cause of complaint. For, how can the claim ever be enforced consist- ently with what is due to other nations ? Let the steps by which the enforcement proceeds be attended to. A British frigate in time of war meets an American merchant vessel at sea, boards her, and, under terror of her guns, takes out one of the crew. The boarding lieutenant asserts, and let it be admitted, believes, the man to be a Briton. By this proceeding, the rules observed in deciding upon any other fact where individual or national rights are at stake, are overlooked. The lieuten- ant is accuser and judge. He decides upon his own view, instantly. The impressed man is forced into the frigate's boat, and the case ends. There is no appeal, no trial of aTiy kind. More impor- ■I J 8 18.1 COURT OF LNODON. 183 tant still, there is no remedy, should it appear that a wrong has been committed. Diflerent is the mode of proceeding if an Ame- rican merchant vessel be stopped and examined at sea under circumstances subjecting her to sus- picion as prize of war. In the latter case, the boarding officer sends the vessel into port under accusation. Facts are inquired Lito judicial- ly, and both parties heard. Both have ample op- portunity of bringing forward proofs. Should the tribunal decide that no lawful cause of seizure existed, the vessel is restored, the captors are an- swerable in damages, and there are adequate imodes of making them pay. If, on the other h. .id, the 7nan seized, be in fact no Briton, the most that he can ever hope for is, merely to be released. This can only take place after he has been kept an in- definite length of time on board the frigate, put to duty, and perhaps made to fight. He may be slain in battle. If this fate does not await him, his sub- sequent liberation, from the nature of the case, can only be effected at a distant day, and is not certain at last. He may not be able whilst on board the fri- gate, to obtain documents to show that he is not a Briton. He may be transferred to some other vessel of war. Even to trace him, through a navy scat- tered over all seas, must become to his country ^i 184 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. or friends a difficult, often a hopeless task. Should the chances, multiplied as they are against him, all turn out in his favour, and the order for his dis- charge be finally olitained, where is his action for damages ; where his remofly for loss of liberty ? for this outrage, so terrible, upon all his feelings and rights ? He has none. A claim so ex parte in the whole enforcement, so intrinsically open to error, and the error if committed so fatal, cannot, it should seem, rest upon public law. The United States say, that it does not. They have never denied to Great Britain the right of search. They allege however that this means search for enemy's property^ or articles contraband of war, not search for men. They say that no public code or other adequate authority, has ever established the latter as an in- ternational right. If its exercise by any other state than Great Britain can be shown, the in- stances are averred to be too few, and too devoid of the evidences of general consent, to have made it part of the law of nations. Troops indeed, or men in the military service of the enemy, may be taken out of a neutral vessel at sea ; but this is wholly different from impressing seamen. Great Britain places her claim on the ground of natural allegiance. She alleges, that, by a princi- ns. )uld lg|8 1 COURT OF LONDON. 1^5 pie of universal law, a man owes tiiis kind of alle- 1 1 t 1 lim, giance to the country of his birth. That he never dis- can shake it off. That as his country protects for hina, so it nnay demand his services in return ; •ty? especially in time of war. ngs The United States reply, that the principle of natural allegiance, however cherished by, some ent, states, is not universal. Sir William Blackstono r if rest in his commentaries, so able and masterly for the most part, lays i jwn as universal ; but he refers t it eat ver for support, only to the writers of England. PufTendorf holds that allegiance may be put off; so do Grotius and Bynkershoc^k. If we choose to or go as far back as the Justinian code, w^; shall there len. find the same doctrine. The principle of perpetual ate • allegiance may be held sacred by Britain ; it may m- be of the highest practical importance under her ler • own system ; but the United States say, that its in- oid operation should be confined to her own territorial dominions, and decks of her own merchant vessels. ide There is scarcely an important principle of public * or law that has not, at one time or other, had place be • .■■■ in treaties among European states, the better to '• ^ IS define or regulate it. 'I'his is especially the case /» with principles that belong to maritime aflTairs. ; of Would a right of such concern to all nations using ci- the sea, as a sovereign's to enforce the allegiance 24 1 i 1 ^. ^, ^.V^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I ■ 2.2 ^ KS 12.0 11-25 i 1.4 I 1.6 Hiotogr^hic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 873-4S03 iV v> '^ ■^' ikt In 1 \ t 4 .•urn YQQ RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of his own subjects in neutral vessels on its broad highway, have altogether escaped notice in these solemn instruments between stctes ? Yet it is believed that no treaty contains any thing in relation to it. The United States have been exposed to griev- ances from the exercise of this claim by Britain, heavier perhaps than ever fell to the lot of an in- dependent nation. It springs from a cause rooted in nature, and irreversible ; the resemblance of their seamen to those of England. Their language, dress, sea phrases, every thing, are alike. To dis- criminate, is in most cases impossible. Of this, the proof is incontestible, and here follows. Britain disavows, unequivocally, all claim to impress from American ships, any other seamen than her own. Her sense of justice would not allow her to set up any pretence of claim to take Americans ; yet these she unavoidably does take, and in numbers sufficient to surprise those not in- formed upon the subject. From a report made to congress by the secretary of state in April 1816, it appeared, that the im- pressed American seamen on board of British armed ships at the commencement of the war of 1812, a war occasioned chiefly by this cause, amounted to one thousand four hundred and '■ f' ]81g1 COURT OF LONDON. 197 twenty-two. Here is no exaggeration. The fact comes from the archives of Britain. It is taken from official Usts, furnished by functionaries of the British government to the American a^cnt for prisoners of war in London. 'J hcse men had been transferred from English ships to English prisons, on the breaking out of the war, or during its pro- gress. Furthermore. Britain, at a former period, lib- erated one thousand one hundred and thirty-two Americans who had been impressed prior to the month of September, 1801. This fact also rests upon the authority of British archives, and was included in the same report to Congress. On the impressment of all these Americans, the British boarding officers must have believed they were taking their own subjects ; else they took them knowing them to be Americans. Hence the dif- ficulty not to be surmounted, of distinguishing American from British seamen. What then do we learn ? more than two thou- sand SIX HUNDRED AMERICAN CITIZENS, COnfcSScdly, the suffiirers under this practice ! and this by no means the whole list. All were clearly Americans. No British seamen, naturalized in the United States, was ever, if impressed, given back again. Can Britain, whose pride and spirit have raised her ■A: A '« l- m jgg RESIDENCE AT TUE [1818. to greatness, and who must know how to respect such quahties in other nations, can she for a mo- ment, wonder, that a practice leading to such con- sequences, should excite the deepest sensation in the United States ? She complains, that she is aggrieved by the number of her seamen who get into the merchant service of the United States, through our naturali- zation laws and other causes. This takes from her, she alleges, the right arm of her defence. Without her navy, her existence, no less than her glory, might be endangered. It is therefore vital to both, that, when war comes, she should reclaim her seamen from the vessels of a nation where they are so frequently found. I have incidentally remarkeu in another place, that the naturalization laws of the United States are less favourable to foreigners than is generally supposed, and less than those of some of the prin- cipal states of Europe. England has statutes, unless recently repealed, under which foreigners serving only two years in her navy, become natu- ralized ; which is going much beyond any facilities afforded by the United States. As to other causes that may bring her seamen to their vessels, the United States can only reply, that they do not en- tice them. Seamen are birds of passage ; now I 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. Igg seen under one flag, then another. Those of the United States sometimes seek voluntarily the ser- vice of other nations, as those of other nations voluntarily seek theirs. The British navy, it is well known, is manned by a large proportion of foreign seamen. Some go there of their own accord. The decks of all nations show, more or less, an intermingling of the seamen of all ; but no country is more desirous of employing their native seamen than the United States. They know the value of British seamen ; nevertheless, they prefer their own. And why should it be thought that they have not enough of their own, as any other country whose interests and pursuits have long been maritime ? New England alone is more populous than were the Dutch when their sailors swarmed, and carried terror to the shores of the Medway ; and she is as maritime. Her farms are ttpon the ocean t said one of her statesmen, and she gathers her harvests from every sea. How nume- rous her sailors were as long ago as when she made part of the British empire, British statistics of that day may attest. This great nursery, pass- ing by all other districts of a country with a vast sea coast, is perhaps sufficient to give to the United States as large a stock of seamen as they require. The supply, as in other fields, meets the I !'! n i , f I 190 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. demand. If ever interrupted by temporary causes, thinss soon return to this their natural basis. The United States not only desire to foster their own seamen, but have gone farther. In the hope of terminating the dissention about impressment, they have shown a willingness, as the progress of this work will attest, to exclude British seamen entirely from their service. They do not desire to hide the fact that they come to it, often in large numbers. It is a fact however, which British re- cords will also attest, that the number of British seamen regained by impressment out of the vessels of the United States, falls far behind the number of Americans taken in their stead. Under this view alone of the practice, apart from all others, the injury to the United states is greater than the benefit to Britain ; though what American but would blush at the bare hinting of such an argu- ment ! It is not immaterial to remark, that impress- ment, as a measure merely under the English laws and as exercised only in England, has a tendency to drive her seamen into the merchant service of the United States on the breaking out of war. Obe- dient as the impressed British seaman may be to discipline, when once on board a man of war of his country, and brave in battle, it is not in human 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. jgj nature that he should hke to be impressed. It is notorious that he does not. He dreads it. He tries to hide from the press-gang. His bold spirit would resist if he could ; and sometimes he seeks foreign decks to get out of the way. There is another heavy evil resulting to the United States. The voyages of their merchant vessels are sometimes broken up by impressment ; for it is not to be supposed that they carry extra hands. Hence, when men are taken out of their vessels upon the high seas, it may happen, anr* has happened, that not enough are left for their safe navigation ; and they have been compelled to make ports, other than of their first destination. The foregoing is an outline of the question, in its main features. It may serve to give some idea of the manner in which it operates upon the United States. As between the two nations, it is a ques- tion sui generis. To both, it is of the last import- ance. The diplomatic history of the United States will show how repeated and earnest have been their endeavours to settle it. The joint mission to London in 1806, when Mr. Munroe and Mr. Pinkney were our negotiators, could effect nothing on this point; and Mr. King's effort in 1803, suc- cessful in all other respects, was at last frustrated by. Great Britain insisting on reserving her right to i i If. \- \ 'I •'''* ! ;■ I ii 192 KESIDENCE AT THE [1818. impress within tlie narrow seas. To tliis doctrine of the marc chmsum of her Selden, in opposition to the marc libcrum of Grotius, the United States were not prepared to assent. They never can assent to it. I return to my interview with Lord Castlereagh. He remarked, that intrinsic as were the difficul- ties respecting impressment, his desire was sincere to see them removed ; and his efforts to remove them, would be given with earnestness. I assured him, that, under all my instructions, my efforts would be equally sincere and earnest. The con- versation proceeded. We adverted to the princi- ples maintained by our respective countries. He said, that the abuse of the practice, for he freely admitted its abuse, had been the result of the pecu- liar state of the world, all Europe having been at war, and America neutral. He did not believe that the desire to enforce their right to the same extent, would exist in future ; or that it would be drawn into exercise at all, if means could be de- vised to keep their men out of our vessels. I said, that the question never could be put to rest as long as a British naval officer was allowed to muster an American crew upon an American deck, to look for British seamen. Besides the indignity of this, so felt by all America, the inevitable consequences 1818.1 COURT OF IX)N1X)N. 193 to which it must lend of subjecting Americans to seizure instead of Britons, would preclude forever all hope of adjustment. The best mode we could devise of keeping British officers from our vessels on such errands, was that which he had hinted at; namely, to keep British seamen away altogether. This we were desirous to do, as far as in our pow- er. I promised to furnish him with a proposal to this effect ; and he, that it should have a liberal consideration. His lordship next spoke of the slave trjide. The government of Great Britain felt, he said, an in- creasing desire, that the government of the United States should lend itself to the measures of regu- lation going forward in Europe for its extirpation. These were, mainly, a reciprocal submission to the right of search for slaves ; and- a limited number of the armed vessels of each of the maritime states, to be empowered to search. It was coF^lemplated to form out of an association of these, a f^oecies of naval or international police in the African seas, from which the best effects were anticipated. No unusual structure or appearances in the vessels searched ; no presence of irons or other presump- tions of guilty intention ; nothing but the actual finding of slaves on board, was to authorize a sei- zure and detention. Great Britain had lately urged 25 I I 1 94 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. France on this subject ; but her consent could not, for obvious reasons, be made known, until the mih- tary occupation of her territory ceased. A recent vote, however, in both her chambers, on the princi- ple of abolition, his lordship added, might safely be taken as a pledge of future co-operation. I re- plied, that I was destitute of mstructions on the subject, but would inform my government of all that he said ; adding that the United States had long been awake to the evils of the slave trade ; that they had been the first nation to abolish it, (unless Denmark led the way) and had directed against it the penalties of their own laws. Before we separated, his lordship spoke of the late offer of Britain, through her minister at Wash- ington, to mediate in our affairs with Spain. Al- though the offer had been refused, he desired to assure me, that the refusal was taken in no un- friendly part ; the less, from its conciliatory man- ner. Britain had in like manner refused the mediation of Russia, offered during the late war with the United States, without any unfriendly feeling towards Russia, or any question of her im- partial dispositions. He was about to say some- thing further on the affairs of Spain, but, the hour being late, deferred it. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 195 April 12. After my interview with Lord Caa- tlerengh yesterday, I dined at Mr. Wilberforce'fl. Of the company, were Lord Teignmouth, Lord Rocksavage, Lord Ganibier, Mr. Babbington of the House of Commons, Mr. Neal, with others, ladies as well as gentlemen. Many inquiries were made about the United States ; their commerce, revenue, population, literature and state of religion, A friendly spirit characterized the inquiries and remarks. Mr. Wilber force's fame as a philanthropist and Chris- tian, had been known to me. His parliamentary la- bours and those of his pen, had probably been more diflfused over the United States than any other country, out of England. I expected to find him grave ; on the contrary, he was full of animation. He led, without engrossing, the conversation. His manner gave point to all that he said, and in his voice there were peculiarly eloquent intonations. He spoke of Mr. Pitt, with whom he had been at school. He was remarkable, he said, for excelling in mathematics ; there was also this peculiarity in his constitution, that he required a great deal of sleep, seldom being able to do with less than ten or eleven hours ; he would often drop asleep in the House of Commons ; once he had known him do so at seven in the evening, and sleep until day- f^ ll. " I' » f\ I i 190 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. light. The case with which some persons wrote, and the lahour that composition cost others, were spoken of. Uurke, Pitt, Win(!!iam, and Lord EUenhorough, were all great blotters^ ho said ; Burke had begun a history of England, but gave it over ; what a mine of reflection it would hav*? contained, he added ; Windham's powers of con- versation, exceeded, he thought, those of Fox, Pitt, and all his contemporaries ; he even went beyond Sheridan in wit. One of the company mentioned the name of a gentleman who had large possessions in the West Indies. There is, said Mr. Wilber- force, in grammar, what they call a disjunctive conjunction ; so there is in society. It is thus with that gentleman and me, he is so great a slave holder ; but we do very well when we meet ; we pass by topics upon which we should not agree, and exchange the small shot of conversation. The income tax being mentioned, he remarked, that having borne it once, they could bear it again ; it yielded fifteen millions a year, which would be good for a new loan of three hundred millions. These things all flowed from him very happily. Lord Teignmouth and others, made their contribu- tions. We were invited and arrived at an early hour ; but it was midnight when we got home, so agreeably had the time passed. Most of the com- 1 8 1 8.1 COURT OF LONDON. j 97 pnny were piblic profcsFors of religion, nlwnys the more attractive, wlicn in alliance, as on this occasion, with genius and accoinplislnnents. April 13. Dined at the Karl of Hardwicke's. Lord Somers was of the party. Kn«rliHh historical names as met in daily society, vividly arrest the attention of Americans ; more, it may be sup- posed, than that of any other foreigners. On this occasion I could not forget that I was with names of renown in the law; Lord Ilardwicke being the grandson of the lord chancellor of that title, and Lord Somers a descendant of Lord Chief Justice Somers. The interest was heightened by portraits of the two ancestors hanging in view, the families having intermarried. We had also Lord and Lady Caledon, Lady Somers, Lady Catharine Ilalket, Admiral Sir Joseph Yorko, and Mr. Montagu. The conversation turned upon France. Com- mendation was freely bestowed. Beibre coming to England, I had adopted an impression that the English were not prone to speak of the merits of their neighbours on the other side of the channel ; but I remark the contrary in the circles I frequent. Another observation continues to force itself upon me ; their taste for foreign things. Among the embellishments of the table this evening, were \ L 293 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. beautiful ornaments in silver, obtained from France. Although the French take the lead in many of the finer manufactures, I had supposed that English plate was preferred, from the more copious usq and manufacture of it in England. The French use more abundantly the sumptuous porcelain. The English import that, in all its variety and costliness ; but French plate it seems is also im- ported. So it will always be with nations that are opulent. Tired even of their own forms of superiority, they seek novelty from abroad. Sir Joseph Yorke had been reading some of the official documents published by Congress that treat of our navy, and made its condition the subject of complimentary remarks. It is not uncommon to hear that, at entertain- ments, there were all the luxuries of the season. In this metropolis, the remark might be reversed ; I witness constantly those out of season ; as, at this dinner, strawberries and pine apples; re- calling the winter roses and summer snows of the Roman poet ; cbsHvcb nives hybernm roscR, We had also Tokay, that had been thirty years in his lord- ship's cellar ; and, better than all, respectful things said of our country, with other attractive conver- sation. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. J 99 April 16. We were at Almacs' last night. The younger part of the company danced. They were not the most numerous part. Statesmen, cabinet ministers and their ladies, peers, peeresses and their daughters, foreign ambassadors and others, were present. In these circles, all ages intermingle. Gibbon, writing to Lord Sheffield from Paris, says, that Horace Walpole gave him a letter to Madame du Deffand, " an agreeable young lady of eighty /mjo," who had constant suppers at her house, and the best compauy in Paris. There may be seen in society in London, and as part of its ornaments too, ladies whom I should set down as not much short of that mature age ! It would be doing injustice to the stronger sex, to suppose that they retire from its a"enes sooner; and all will agree, that where the young never go into general society but by the side of those who have gone before them, the whole tone of conversation and manners is improved. We got to Almacs' after having been at Co vent Garden theatre, to see Miss O' Neil's Bianca. In like manner, it is after the opera, that we go to the weekly parties of Lady Castiereagh, (her cards of invitation specifying that time,) where are always to be met a large portion of the most distinguished of the home and foreign society in London. f ! 200 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Neither the opera nor Covent Garden break up until twelve. Parties beginning so late, last until two and three o'clock. Most of those who have been at them, do not rise until towards noon of that day. About two, commences the roll of car- riages ; at six the morning ends ; then, scarcely sooner, the throngs of carriages, with gentlemen and ladies on horseback, disappear from the streets and parks, the hour of preparation for dinner, being at hand. This is no overdrawn account, but the daily routine. It seems strange that health can be preserved with such habits ; yet the men look hale, the women blooming. Chiefly, they are of a class, numerous beyond all example in England, whose riches leave them at perfect leisure ; but mixed in with them, are others ; men of affairs, whose duties are arduous, whose fame must be kept up by constant intellectual exertion— cabinet minis- ters, parliamentary orators, even chancellors and vice chancellors. How these go through it all, seems more strange. It is only by discipline and firmness in the mind that it can pass suddenly from the distraction of such habits, to systematic and laborious investigations. This kind of life, it should be added, does not continue throughout the year ; it opens, by degrees, in February, gets to its crisis in May or June, and ends with July. t ' 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 201 On the drop curtain at Covent Garden, are seen the flags of nations with whom England has been at war. They are m a tattered state, and represented as in subjection to England. That of the United States is among them. The symbols are not historically true ; and if they were, would be misplaced at such an exhibition. Foreign nations do not take offence at such things now- a-days, and show their good sense ; but the age is not remote when their sensibility was quicker. In the time of Charles II. one of the reasons given by England for a rupture with Holland was, that a picture of the burning of the English ships at Chatham by the Dutch, was permitted to be hung up in the town house at Amst'^rdam. England has fame enough, military and of all kinds, with- out straining in small ways after what does not belong to her. 26 202 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. HAPTER XIII. \i ■ I If ^ If U 1 1 Wager of battle. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Im- pressment — Course of Great Britain and the United States as between Spain and her colonies — Affairs between the United States and Spain. Safety of diplomatic correspondence. The drawing room. Birth day dinner at Lord Castlereagh's. April 16. Went to the court of King's Bench to hear the argument in the case of wager of battle. The parties were present. Through the courtesy of the judges, I had a seat on the bench, next to Mr. Justice Bayley. On his left was Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough, occupying the seat of the Cokes, the Hales, the Mansfields. To the left of Lord Ellenborough, were Mr. Justice Abbot, and Mr. Justice Holroyd. If at Lord Hardwicke's I was awake to the associations which the great legal names of England call up, the feeling could not be less here. The room was extremely full. The case was so remarkable as to have become a topic in society. ]9|gl CX)URT OF LONDON. 203 By the ancient law of England, when a person was murdered, the nearest relation of the deceased might bring what was called an appeal of death, against the party accused of the murder. Under this proceeding, the accuser and accused, fought. The weapons were clubs. The battle began at sunrise, and was in presence of the judges ; by whom also all formalities were arranged. Part of the oath was, that neither combatant would re- sort to witchcraft. If the accused was slain, it was taken as a proof of his guilt; if the accuser, of his innocence. If the former held out until star-light that also attested his innocence. If either yielded whilst able to fight, it worked his condemnation and disgrace. Those who wish a full description of these curious proceedings, may seek it in Sully, or continental writers of an earlier day, as Froisart; the custom having been im- ported into England by the Normans. The fore- going summary will give a general idea of it. It was a mode of trial for dark ages. Ash ford the appellor, had accused Thornton the appellee, of the murder of one of his relations, and the latter desired to fight. In the highest tribunal of the most enlightened country in Europe, I was listen- ing to a discussion whether or not this mode of trial was in force in the nineteenth century ! It 204 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. was difficult to persuade myself of the reality of the scene. Sir Humphrey Davy's remark at the table of the Danish minister, was fresh in my mind. Mr. Chitty, a lawyer of eminence, argued against the ri^ht of battle. Mr. Tindall had ar- gued on the other side, on a former day. Fleta, Bracton, the Year-Books, and other repositories of ancient law were ransacked. Abundant ability was displayed on both sides. The greatest order prevailed ; even gravity. The judges were in their robes. About seventy lawyers sat in front of them ; all in gowns and wigs, listening, appa- rently, with profound attention. Finally, the judg- es decided that trial by battle was in force ; for it had never, it seems, been repealed. To repeal laws, belongs to the legislature. Courts expound and apply them. Free govern- ment is complex and works slowly ; tyranny is simple and does its work at once. An absurd law may sleep in a free code, because overlooked ; but, whilst there, it is the law. It is so, I suppose, that we must reason, to account for the above decision ; and, generally, the reasoning would be right. Yet, it might have been thought, that, in a case like this, long disuse added to obvious absur- dity, would have worked the silent repeal of the 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 205 law ; according to the doctrine of disuetiide under the Roman code. In the end, no battle was fought. A technical flaw interposed to prevent it, and parliament passed a repealing statute. But the case marks an inci- dent in English jurisprudence, having come near to converting the court of King's Bench into a theatre for prize fighting ; a ring for " the fancy,"*^ as Sir Humphrey Davy intimated. April 18. Had an interview with Lord Castle - reagh. My object was, to submit a proposal for abolishing impressment. Its nature will be seen in the paper subjoined. It is not my general design to insert copies of official papers, meaning to content myself, when they come into view, with making known their substance and results. But there may be exceptions, and the subject of im- pressment from its extraordinary importance is one. I therefore give the paper in its words, as follow : " Great Britain alleging a right to impress her seamen out of American vessels upon the high seas, it follows, that whenever a mode can be devised for their previous exclusion from American vessels, the motive for the practice must be at an end. It is believed that this may be effected by A 20G RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. each nation imposing restraints upon the naturali- zation of the seamen of the other, and recipro- cally excluding from their service all seamen not naturalized. If Great Britain be allowed to natu- ralize American seamen, the United States must be allowed to naturalize British seamen. Each should be at liberty to afford the same facilities, or bound to interpose the same restraints. The greater the difficulty in acquiring the right of citi- zenship, the easier will it be to avoid imposition, and the more complete the desired exclusion. The law of Congress of the third of March one thou- sand eight hundred and thirteen, of all the provi- sions of which, Great Britain may command the benefit, will prove how sincerely the United States desire to settle this controversy on conditions sa- tisfactory to Great Britain. By that law it is made indispensable for every British subject who may hereafter become a citizen, to reside five years in the United States without intermission, and so many guards are interposed to prevent frauds, that it seems scarcely possible they should be eluded. No British subject can be employed in a public or private ship of the United States unless he produce to the commander in the one case, and to the collector of the port in the other, a certified copy of the act by v/hich he became naturalized. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 207 A list of the crew in the case of a private ship, must be taken, certified, and recorded by the col- lector ; and the consuls or commercial agents of Great Britain may object to the employment of a seaman, and have the privilege of attending the investigation relative to his citizenship. The com- mander of a public ship receiving a person not duly qualified, is to forfeit a thousand dollars, and the commander or owner of a private ship, five hun- dred. It is also made a felony punishable by fine and imprisonment, for any person to forge or coun- terfeit, or to pass, or use, any forged or counter- feited certificate of citizenship, or to sell or dispose of one. The United States will also be willing to provide that every British subject desiring to be- come a citizen, shall be bound to appear in person before the proper tribunal, once a year, for the term of five years, until his right shall be com- pleted, or adopt any other more practical and sa- tisfactory evidence that his residence within their territory was bona fide and uninterrupted, it being their sincere desire to employ their own seamen only, and exclude British. By requiring five years uninterrupted residence as the condition of citizen- ship, it is confidently believed that, from conside- rations readily suggesting themselves, few if any British seamen would be found to take advantage It 208 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of it. The nature of a seaman's life stands oppos- ed to any other conclusion. If, in some instances, a residence should be commenced with a real* intention, at the time, of submitting to this condi- tion, the presumption is strong that, at the expira- rion of the term, such a change of habits and pros- pects would be superinduced, as to lead to the abandonment forever of the sea as an occupation. If the proposal be accepted, the United States would farther aurec, that none of the British sea- men who might be within their territory when the stipulation to give it effect was entered into, with- out having already become citizens, should be ad- mitted into either their public or private ships, until they had acquired the right, according to all the above regulations. In return for them, a clear and distinct provision to be made by Great Britain against impressment out of American vessels." I accompanied the delivery of the paper with renewed assurances to his lordship, of the Presi- dent's desire to see this cause of dissention forever removed, and the expression of a hope that Great Britain would see in the proposal no surrender of any right or interest important to her, whilst its acceptance would guard the United States against wrongs that were palpable. He replied, that he would lay the proposal before the cabinet ; that it 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. gQO should have all the consideration due to its import- ance, and, 1 n)i j still there :! IJ: [1818. I our coin- Yes ; but ight have no longer the treaty •hour; an >n by the bombard- id kept a g enough ^ould not tation for that our I friendly It, 'or bills a run the sing our s to get that he in Lam- le meant iples re- a trans- ance, or ange, I 1 there 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 219 might be stumbling-blocks. Here our conversa- tion closed. After we came out from dinner, into the draw- ing rooms, Baron de Gerning, attached to the suite of the Prince of Hesse Homberg, spoke to me of the great and good Washington. So he called him. The United States were far removed he said, from his part of Germany ; but virtue was of all countries, and all revered it in the illus- trious founder of mine. I had conversation with Admiral Van der Cappellan, who commanded so ably the Dutch ships that fought with Lord Ex- mouth at Algiers. He had been on board the United States squadron in the Mediterranean, under Commodore Chauncey. There was, he said, throughout every part of it, a discipline and com- pleteness that excited his admiration. It is always grateful to hear the things of one's country so spo- ken of abroad. ! ■■ t. I If Wi 220 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. CHAPTER XIV. The Daily Press. Annual Exhibition at the Royal Academy. Public societies. Dinner at the Marquis of Lansdowne's. Evening entertainment at Carlton House. Dinner at Dr. Pinckard's. April 29. A country is not to be understood by a few months residence in it. So many com- ponent parts go to make up the grand total, where civilization, and freedom, and power, are on a large scale, that the judgment gets perplexed. It pauses for re-examination. It must be slow in coming to conclusions, if it would be right. Of- ten it must change them. A member of the diplo- matic corps, an enlightened observer, said to me a few days ago, that, at the end of his first year, he thought he knew England very well; when the third year had gone by, he began to have doubts ; and that now, after a still longer time, his opinions were more unsettled than ever. Some he had changed entirely ; others had undergone mo- 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 221 dification, and he knew not what fate was before the rest. There was reason in his remark. L it be not contradictory, I would say, that he showed his good judgment in appearing to have at present no judgment at all. The stranger sees in England, prosperity the most amazing, with what seems to strike at the root of all prosperity. He sees the most profuse expenditure, not by the nobles alone, but large classes besides ; and, throughout classes far larger, the most resolute industry supplying its demands and repairing its waste ; taxation strained to the utmost, with an ability unparalleled to meet it ; pauperism that is startling, with public and private charity munificent and unfailing, to feed, clothe, and house it; the boldest freedom, with submission to law ; ignorance and crime so widely diffused as to appal, with genius, and learning, and virtue to reassure ; intestine commotions per- petually predicted, and never happening ; constant complaints of poverty and suffering, with constant increase in aggregate wealth and power. These are some of the anomalies which he sees. How is he then at once to pass upon them all? he, a stranger, when the foremost of the natives in knowledge and intelligence, do nothing but differ after studying them a life-time ! '-■i !.:; f i;i 222 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. One of the things that strike me most, is their press. I hve north of Portman square, nearly three miles from the House of Commons. By nine in the morning, the newspapers are on my break- fast table, containing the debate of the preceding night. This is the case, though it may have lasted until one, two, or three in the morning. There is no disappointment ; hardly a typographical error. The speeches on both sides are given with like care and fulness ; a mere rule of justice to be sure, without which the paper would have no credit ; but fit to be mentioned where party feeling always runs as high as in England. This promptitude is the result of what alone could produce it ; an unlimited command of sub- divided labour of the hand and mind. The pro- prietors of the great newspapers, employ as many stenographers as they want. 'One stays until his sheet is full ; he proceeds with it to the printing office, where he is soon followed by another with his ; and so on, until the last arrives. Thus the debate as it advances is in progress of printing, and when finished*, is all in type but the last part. Sometimes it will occupy twelve and fourteen broad, closely-printed, columns. The proprietors enlist the most able pens for editorial articles ; and as correspondents, from different parts of Europe. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. '23 Their pecuniary ability to do so, may be judgt'd of from the fact, that the leading papers pay to the government an annual tax in stamps, of from twenty to fifty thousand pounds sterling. I have been told that some of them yield a profit of fifteen thousand pounds sterling a year, after paying this tax, and all expenses. The profits of the " The Timesy'' are said to have exceeded eighteen thou- sand a year. The cost of a daily paper to a regu- lar subscriber, is about ten pounds sterling a year ; but subdivision comes in to make them cheap. They are circulated by agents at a penny an hour in London. When a few days old they are sent to the provincial towns, and through the country, at reduced prices. In this manner, the parliamen- tary debates and proceedings, impartially and fully reported, go through the nation. The newspaper sheet is suited to all this service, being large, the paper substantial, and type good. Nothing can exceed the despatch with which the numerous impressions are worked oflf, the mechanical ope- rations having reached a perfection calculated to astonish those who would examine them. What is done in the courts of law^, is dissemi- nated in the same way. Every argument, trial, and decision, of whatever nature, or before what- ever court, goes immediately into the newspapers. m '\ \ II J ¥ 224 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. There is no delay. The following mornin^r ushers it forth. I took the liberty of remarking to one of the judges, upon the smallness of the rooms in which the courts of King's IJench and Chancery sit, when the proceedings were so interesting that great numbers of the public would like to hear them. " We sfV," said he, " every day in the news- papers,^^ How much did that answer comprehend ! what an increase of responsibility in the judge! I understood, from a source not less high, that the newspapers are to be as much relied upon, as the books of law reports in which the cases are after- wards published ; that, in fact, the newpsaper report is apt to be the best, being generally the most full, as well as quite accurate. If not the latter, the newspaper giving it would soon fall into disrepute, and give way to more accurate competi- tors. Hence, he who keeps his dail\ London paper, has, at the year's end, a volume of the annual law reports of the kingdom, besides all other matter ; and what variety, what entertainment, what a power of original discussion and anecdote, does every paper contain ? In the discussions, editorial as otherwise, there is a remarkable fearlessness. Things that in Junius's time would have put London in a flame, pass almost daily without notice. Neither the i » l\ i iQjp -j (x)iiRT OF f.oNix)>r. 225 Bovorcign nor his family arc spared. Parlia- ment sets the example, and the newspapers follow. Of this, the debates on the royal mar- riages in the course of the present month, give illustrations. There are countries in which the press is more free, by law, than with the English ; for although they impose no previous restraints, their definition of libel is so loose, that a jury may make one out of almost any thing ; but per- haps no where has the press, in point of fact, so much latitude. Every thing goes into the nawspapers. In other countries, matter of a public nature may K^ seen in them ; here, in addition, you see perpetually the concerns of individuals. Does a private gentleman come to town ? you hear it in the newspapers; does he build a house, or buy an estate ? they give the information ; does he en- tertain his friends ; you have all their names next day in type ; is the drapery of a lady's drawing room changed from red damask and gold to white satin and silver ? the fact is publicly announced. So of a thousand other things. The first burst of it all upon Madame de Stael, led her to remark that the English had realized the fable of living with a window in their bosoms. It may be thought that this is confined to a class, who, sur- 29 t.i .'I i i I m ■ T' •, ]^ 226 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. rouded by the allurements of wealth, seek this kind of publicity. If it were only so, the class is large, beyond all parallel, in England ; but its influence affects other classes, giving each in their way the habit of allowing their personal inclina- tions and objects to be dealt with in print ; so that, altogether, these are thrown upon the pubHc to an extent without example in any other country, ancient or modern. When the drama at Athens took cognizance of private life, ^viiat was said be- came known first to a few listeners ; then to a small town ; but in three days, a London news- paper reaches every part of the kingdom, and in three months, every part of the globe. Some will suppose that the newspapers govern the country. Nothing would be more unfounded. There is a power not only in the government, but in the country itself above them, and this lies in the educated classes. True, the daily press, is of the educated class ; for its conductors hold the pens of scholars, often of statesmen. Hence, you see no editorial personalities ; which, moreover, the pub- lic taste would not bear. But what goes into the columns of newspapers no matter from what sources, comes into contact with equals at least in i^:iind among readers, and a thousand to one in number. The bulk of these are unmoved by what jgjgl COURT OF LONDON. 227 newspapers say, if opposite to their own opinions ; which passing quickly from one to another in a society where population is dense, make head against the daily press, after its first efforts are spent upon classes less enlightened. Half the peo- ple of England live in towns, which augments moral as physical power ; the last, by strengthen- ing rural parts through demand for their products — the first by sharpening intellect through oppor- tunities of collision. The daily press could master opposing mental forces, if scattered ; but not when they can combine. The general litera- ture of the country, also reacts against newspapers. The permanent press as distinct from the daily, teems with productions. There is a great and powerful class of authors always existent in En- gland, whose sway exceeds that of the newspapers, as the main body the pioneers. The periodical literature is also effective ; a match at least for the newspapers, when its time arrives. It is more elementary; less hasty. In a word, the daily press in England, with its floating capital in talents, zeal and money, can do much at an onset. It is an organized corps, full of spirit and always ready ; but there is a higher power of mind and influence behind, that can rally and defeat it. From the latter source it may also be presumed, that a .i . i I H I • ■■ t^ '-1 > 'If 228 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. more deliberate judgment will in the end be form- ed on difficult questions, than from the first im- pulses and more premature discussions of the daily journals. The latter move in their proper orbit by reflecting also, in the end, the higher judgment by which they have been controlled. Such are some of the considerations that strike the stranger who reads their daily newspapers. They make a wonderful part of the social system in England. May 3. Yesterday the Royal Academy gave their aniversary dinner at Somerset house. It was the fiftieth celebration. Froisart, when he found himself on the English coast, said, that he was among a people who " loved war better than peace, and where strangers were well receiveidy If the latter were true in the time of Edward III., diplomatic strangers must say that it is still. In- vitations crowd upon them. If they did not decline more than they accept, there would be a poor account of their public business. The Royal Academy is an institution for the encouragement of the arts. Professorships of painting, sculpture and anatomy, are annexed to it. The first Pres- ident was Sir Joshua Reynolds ; in which capacity he delivered his celebrated discourses; a work ^ .' i| 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 229 invaluable to the student in painting, and to be read with scarcely less advantage by the student of any science or profession. The author, says Burke, in his beautiful obituary notice of him, was the first Englishman who added the praise of the elegant arts, to the other glories of his country. Yesterday I had the satisfaction to see, as his successor in the chair, my venerable countryman Mr. West. There were present the royal acade- micians, a la/ge collection of the nobility, many of the cabinet ministers, the lord chancellor, the bishops of London and Salisbury, artists, and others high in the walks of genius and taste, the foreign ambassadors, and an array of private gentlemen. Five of the rooms had their walls hung with paintings ; there being more than four hundred pieces. The rule being to receive none formerly exhibited, this number was therefore to be taken as the year's production of pieces deemed by the Academy worthy of exhibition. Additional rooms were open, containing architectural designs and specimens in sculpture. The collection was rich in portraits. The Eng- lish, in this Hue, do not perhaps fall behind any part of Europe. The productions of Lawrence, Beechey, Phillips, Davis, Newton, Jackson, and many others, were seen all around. The piece i I I 230 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. that drew most attention from the interest of the subject in British eyes, was a full length like- ness of the Duke of Wellington, on the horse he ' rode, and in the dress he wore, at the battle of Waterloo. It was by Sir Thomas Lawrence. There was a fine piece by Mr. West, founded on an interview between the Great Mogul and Lord Clive. But one was seen of surpassing attraction ; the Family of Sir Walter Scott, by Wilkie. The great author is seated on a bank, his wife and daughters near him, in cottage dresses. If we had Shakespeare in a family scene on the Avon, by a distinguished artist of Elizabeth's time, how would it be prized now ! In going through the rooms it was not easy to avoid the reflection, that a day of fame in the arts awaits Britain. She is still in her youth in them. She has hardly made any efforts to excel in them. Busy in climbing to the top of every thing else, she has not had time. The useful arts have occupied her. At the head of these in Europe, she is now at a point for embarking in the fine arts. And are not these useful too, when all ages pronounce that they enlarge the understanding, and improve the heart, as much as they refine the taste ? To suppose the English climate not fa- vourable to the fine arts, is strange ; a climate where beautiful appearances of nature abound; r f, . 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 231 that has been favourable to every kind of mental eminence, as mechanical skill ; where there is little heat to relax, or cold to benumb ; where the infe- rior animals are seen in full size and strength, and the human form in all its proportions and beauty, not a climate for painters and sculptors ! But, it is said, there must be a certain delicacy of thought and feeling to appreciate the world of nature, and deck it with the glories of art ! And is not the country of Shakespeare, and Scott, of Milton, and Byron, and Moore, one for painters ? How came the Dutch with a school of painting of their own, and an eminent one ? Is their sky more genial ? And will not the English, with political institutions and social manners of their own, try new fields of art ? An American adopts the anticipation the rather, because he clings to the belief that his own coun- Ty, like republics of old, is by and by to take her stand in the arts. Her students even now go to Italy for instruction. They hold, that in the great world of art, there is still immeasurable room for originality, and this under the strictest rules of art. We dined in the principal exhibition room. Two tables ran down the sides connected by ano- tlier at the top. In the middle of the latter sat the President ; on one side of him, the Duke of '! iii; V * :rl • ::! •1 I l\ 1 ' I'iF' 232 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Sussex, on the other the Duke of Norfolk. The walls were so covered that every position com- manded the paintings ; and, through different vistas, the eye could steal into the other rooms. The whole was extremely beautiful. I enter into no minute criticism ; I g'.ve only general impressions. It is not, as I know, the habit of the English of the higher classes, fastidious from their familiarity with the exquisite models of the continent, to value themselves much on this home exhibition ; but for myself, bursting upon me as it did all at once, I thought it highly worthy to be extolled. I could have made bold to suggest a subject for a piece that I did not see in the collection : viz. The pres- ident and Royal Academy, at the anniversary dinner with their guests. The members of the diplomatic corps had seats near the head. After the Prince Regent and royal family had been given as toasts, according to the custom at public festivals in England, the President gave the " Foreign ambassadors and ministers, who," as he was pleased to add, " had done the Academy the honor to be present." The toast was cheered with great courtesy. The corps looked to me as the organ of acknowledgment, English being my native tongue. Obeying their summons, I returned thanks, adding that I was au- 3r rooms. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 233 thorized to express the gratification we all deriv- ed in partaking British hospitality surrounded by so many memorials of British art. Speeches were made by several of the nobility and gentlemen, but chiefly the Duke of Sussex and Lord Chan- cellor Eldon. They were in commendation of the arts, and on the usefulness of that Institution towards their advancement in England. Dinner was served at six. Until past seven, we had the sun through sky-lights. Afterwards, there fell gradually from above, light from numerous shaded lamps in hanging circles. They were burning unobserved, when we sat down, and emerged from ambush only as night came on. Dependent lychni laquearibus aureis Incensi ; et noctem flaminis funalia vincunt. May 6. This is the season for public societies to hold their meetings. It would be next to im- possible to ascertain the number, charitable, reli- gious, literary, dramatic, philanthropic, and of all descriptions. I made some attempts, but ceased from their hopelessness. A public spirited indi- vidual, who is also a member of parliament, hand- ed me a printed list containing the day and place of meeting of between fifty and sixty of those only 3d 234 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. with which he was connected. The Egyptian hall, city of London tavern, Crown and Anchor, or some other large building is chosen, and a round of dinners begins ; this being most commonly the form of celebration. Persons who were together at the principal schools, as Eton and Harrow, and fellow graduates of the different colleges in the universities, have also their annual dinners, to keep aUve early friendships. Many of the associates come up to town from their homes at a distance in the country, on purpose to attend them. The English are very remarkable for giving dinners. I do not allude to the kind last named, or those in private life ; but to their habit of giving them in connexion with objects exclusively public. These, charitable ones among them, they con- stantly advance in this manner. " The veins unfilled, our blood is cold, and then We pout upon the morning, are unapt To give or to forgive ; but when we have stufied These pipes and these conveyances of our blood With wine and feeding, we have suppler souls Than in our priest-like fasts." If the English meant to go by this doctrine of their great bard, they have done well, for their cha- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 235 rities are stupendous. A newspaper can hardly be opened that does not hold up a long list of sub- scriptions amounting to sums that are sometimes enormous. I have now particular reference to some for building churches and establishing schools, that within a few days have met my eye. So, in various parts of London, hospitals and other asylums for the distressed, arrest attention bearing the inscription " Founded by voluntary Contribution," which would be little remarkable, perhaps, were they not beheld in connexion with poor taxes to an amount such as no nation ever before paid. The buildings devoted to these chari- table purposes, are often more spacious than the royal palaces, and show an exterior more imposing. An annual dinner seems an indispensable ad- junct to an English charity. Here is a " Samaritan society ;" or an " Infirmary for diseases of the eye ;" a society for the " Relief of decayed Artists ;" another for relieving "/?oor authors T a fifth for the " indigent blind ;" a sixth for ''''foreigners in dis^ess ;^'' a seventh for the ^' decf and dumb ;^^ a society for ^^ promoting Christain knowledge ;^^ a " medical benevolent society ^^ and I know not how many more, for I merely take examples, all of which have their anniversary dinners. Whatever the demands upon the charitable fund, there seems '^1 u M •>) 236 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. always enough for a dinner fund too. Eating and drinking are not the sole objects of this festivity. Business is transacted, reports on the state of the charity made, and speeches delivered, in the course of which the pocket is appealed to. Feel- ing rises as the inspiring glass goes round, and the evening generally closes with an increase of the treasurer's store. Noblemen, including royal dukes, take part on these occasions, often presid- ing at the dinners, and otherwise giving their personal instrumentality, and freely their purses, towards the objects of the societies. In France, before the revolution, the noble families were com- puted at thirty thousand. In England, they may perhaps be computed at six or eight hundred ; yet this handful does more of the every day business of the country, than the thirty thousand ever did in France. In France they did the work of chivalry ; they fought bravely in the army and navy. In England besides this, you trace them in road com- panies, canal companies, benevolent and public institutions of all kinds, to say nothing of tfieir active patronage of the arts, and their share in politics ; in the latter, not simply as cabinet minis- ters, but speakers, committee-men, and hard- workers in all ways. I have to-day been at a meeting of the British f- k 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 237 and Foreign Bible Society. Lord Tcignmouth was in the chair. Lord Harrowby, president of the council of cabinet ministers ; Mr. Vansittart, Chancellor of the exchequer ; the Bishops of Nor- wich and Gloucester, with several other bishops ; Lords Gambier and Calthorpe, Mr. Wilberforce, and others distinguished by character, title, or station, were present. A report was read, by which it appeared that the society had been the means of distributing two millions of bibles ; had caused it to be translated into twenty-seven lan- guages, and that since the last annual meeting, there had been collected in aid of the society's funds, by private subscriptions in Britain, ninety- nine thousand pounds sterling. The report con- tained some complimentary allusions to Bible soci- eties in the United States. These passages were loudly cheeiod. Several speakers who addressed the meeting, mentioned the United States in a similar spirit; am'^ngst them the Chancellor of the exchequer, and Bishop of Gloucester. The former spoke of Great Britain and the United States, as the " two greatest maritime nations of the world ;" the Bishop of Gloucester called the latter, " a great and growing sister country." I was requested, after entering the hall, to move a vote of thanks to the distinguished president. Lord 1'J 238 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Teignmouth. A resolution to this effect was put into my hands, which I moved accordingly. In fulfilling the duty, whilst joining in the tribute that all had rendered to the objects of the society, I was happy in the opportunity of responding, as national courtesy demanded, to the notices taken of my country. t; ,'l 4 May 10. Dined at the Marquis of Lansdowne's. His name had been familiar to me with every prepossession ; and in the House of Lords, I had already listened to his disciplined eloquence. The company consisted of Lord and Lady Lans- downe, his royal highness the Duke of Gloucester, the Earl of Ilchester, the Earl of Rosslyn, Lord Holland, Lord Erskine, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, the Russian and Austrian ambassadors, the vice chancellor, and the ladies of several of the guests. In the dining room, were ancient statues. They were in ancient costumes, standing in niches. These time-honoured master-pieces of genius and art, had been obtained from Rome. As we walk- ed into dinner through a suite of apartments, the entire aspect was of classic beauty ; the very table, on which the statues seemed to look, might almost be called classic, so chaste were its decorations. 1818.1 C»URT OF LONDON. *239 Conversation was various. The Floridas bcinjj mentioned in connexion with the rumour of their intended transfer to the United States, Lord Ers- kine said, we ought to have them ; that is, he added, " t/^ / belonged to the United States, I would maintain that doctrine ;" there was the same vein about him as at the Duke of Cumberland's; a youthfulness of imagination that imparted its sprightUness to every thing. The Duke of Gloucester spoke of General Wash- ington. It was with the praise always annexed to his great name. He commended, particularly, his Farewell Address. Lord Erskine called him an august and immortal man. Architecture being a topic. Lord Holland said, that it did not yet flourish in England. Italy, France, and other parts of the continent, had bet- ter public edifices ; specimens of domestic archi- tecture were not wanting in England ; but these were too often spoiled by putting the door in the middle ; by this custom, good arrangement inside, was sacrificed to external appearance, and he was not sure that a gain always followed in this re- spect ; on the continent, the entrance to the best private buildings, was generally at the side. The architecture of the ancients was spoken of, and other subjects touched as they arose. m ■ ■ 1 l;i (if ' ii Wl 240 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. After we came from table, I had more conver- sation with Lord Erskine. He spoke of the Em- peror Alexander. He had seen La Harpe, his tutor, at Paris, who showed him letters from the emperor, written soon after his accession to the throne. One of them ran thus : " My dear friend : I feel the load of my responsibility ; I feel how incompetent my youth and inexperience arc, to wield the sceptre of such an empire ; all that I can hope is, that I may be guided by the precepts you have taught me ; I pray you, if ever you find me departing from them, to remind me of them ; do not wait for me to send for you ; this I probably shall not do when I act in opposition to them ; but write to me, come to me, to recall me from my errors." All will agree, that such a letter was honourable to both pupil and preceptor. His lord- ship said, that La Harpe told him, the emperor was fond of reading works on the institutions of the United States. Before separating, he said, that he intended to call on me soon, not by leaving a card, the common way he believed of visiting foreign ministers, but by coming in. I assured him he could in no way make me more happy. May 19. Last evening, we were at Carlton House. This seems the season for large routs by 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 241 night, as the meeting of public societies by day. We have been to a number. I could give little description of them, unless to speak of their crowds, and the difficulty of getting to them and from them, through phalanxes of carriages. The entertainment last evening was different. The company found space in the ample rooms, although there was an array of all the principal persons of the court, a very full number of peers and peeresses, the foreign ambassadors and ministers, and many others. I caught conversa- tion as I could, in such a throng. Lord Sidmouth, secretary of state for the home department, assured me of the earnest desire of his majesty's govern- ment, to strengthen the friendly relations between our two countries. He spoke of the United States with great cordiality. He inquired for Mr. King, saying, that he had earned the lasting respect and good will of many* persons in England. Nor did the Prince Regent conclude his salutations to me, without renewing his inquiries for him. The rooms were magnificent. The golden plate in display, is said to be unrivalled in Europe. It includes some that belonged to Charles the First, One of the rooms led through doors of reflecting glass, to a rich Gothic conservatory partially illuminated with hanging lamps, and filled with 31 f 1^ i^il ! m 242 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS, flowers, through the leaves surrounding which, the lights seemed to twinkle as you approached ; for it was open to the walks of the company. Than flowers, there can he nothing more beautiful, even in palaces ; the Prince's band was stationed in this beautiful receptacle for them, and played at intervals throughout the evening. It was not at an early hour that we got away from such a scene. May 21. Dr. Pinckard, an eminent physician of Bloomsbury square, entertained us very hospitably at dinner. He was formerly attached to the British army, and on service in the West Indies. Thence he visited Philadelphia, where I made his acquain- tance ; listening, at my father's table, to his vari- ous and intelligent conversation. Of the guests, was Lieutenant General Sir Charles Green. Advanced in life, he was still a fine looking man, with little of ^ge in his manner. He had been distinguished by his services in the wars of the French revolution ; but I found that his military career took an earlier date. He was a captain in Burgoyne's army, had been captured at Saratoga in 1778, and marched as a prisoner from Albany to Boston. He related anecdotes of the campaign, and of his marih ; it need scarcely be added, with urbanity and good humour. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 243 I mention the incident the rather, because al- though the first, it was not the only instance in which I met those who had shared in the war of the American revolution ; and who spoke of its events in the same spirit. Belonging to an age gone by, it seems no longer to be recalled in Eng- land, in any other spirit than that of history. 244 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. ■ '1 " ill I W-\ CHAPTER XV. The United States and Ionian Islands. Afiairs between the United States and Spain. Monument to Burns. British Institution, Pall Mall. Dinner at Mr. Canning's. Lord Erskine. May 24. ******* from the Ionian Islands, called upon me, having a communication to make, of interest, as he said, to his country; and he hoped I would think it so to mine. By a treaty concluded at Paris in 1815, the seven Ionian Isl- ands had been formed into an independent state, denominated " The United States of the Ionian Islands," and placed under the protection of Great Britain. It was a protection the Islands did not hke. Did the constitution of my country prohibit our ac- quiring foreign possessions ? I said, no. He asked if it would accord with our policy, to have a con- nexion with the Seven Islands ; such a measure he believed would be practicable, if the United States would consent. In short, he thought that the 1818.] C!OURT OF LONDON. 245 Islands, particularly Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia, would be willing to place themselves under the protection of the United States, if the terms could be arranged. I asked, what England 'would say, and Russia, and Europe generally ? He replied, that he did not see what ground of objection there could be, if the Islands desired it ; remarking that he had perceived by the newspapers that my government had protested against Great Britain exercising sO' vereignty over them any longer, I was little prepared for such a communication. I cannot say that I was an entire stranger to the publication he alluded to, for I had seen it ; but I had considered it in the light of a burlesque upon a previous newspaper paragraph stating that Great Britain had protested against the United States acquiring the Floridas. What is penned in mirth, however, it seems, may pass for earnest. I as- sured ******* that there was no foundation for the account ; which he appeared to have beUeved fully, until this inteliriew. He did not urge the less that my government should take into conside- ration the expediency of assuming the protector- ship of the Islands ; and enlarged on the prospects of commercial advantage it would open to us by an intercourse with the Morea, Albania, Constan- I I i I i \' d !- •; i " .■:x 246 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. tinople, and the Ottoman dominions generally. I replied, that it was no part of the system of the United States, to get entangled with European poli- tics, and least of all to interfere in the relationship between Great Britain and these Islands. This was the amount of the interview. He was attended by two other persons from the Islands. As the English newspapers have lately abounded in vituperative articles against the United States, in connexion with their affairs with Spain, without understanding them, or exhibiting only the Spanish side, I will here insert a letter I addressed to the President on this subject, which bears upon the fore- going interview. My regular weekly despatches, were addressed to Mr. Secretary Adams. These went on the public files of the department of state. I wrote to him, also on public matters, in a way not designed for those files, it being my good fortune to enjoy his confidence; and, not unfrequently, I wrote to the President in the same manner ; of which this communication may be taken as a sam- ple. It was dated the twentieth of this month, and in its material parts was as follows : " Since my last, no steps that were practicable have been omitted to ascertain from what source the letter, a copy of which I transmitted, proceeded; t 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 247 or how far the information which it disclosed, is to be reUed upon. The writer states himself to be in connexion with a person high in station, bi't declines an interview. Since the tenth instant, he has addressed several letters to the legation. I would send copies, but that all are to the same effect, and the one already sen*, will be to you a sufficient specimen of his st> !f* and manner. Keep- ing to points that are essential, I will condense the information they purport to convey, thus saving your valuable time. " He continues to assert, that Great Britain has secretly determined to support Spain in a contest with the United States ; that the cabinet of the former has resolved that our territory shall not be extended, and more than all that the Floridas shall not be added to it, as bringing us too near to Cuba ; that Spain is to begin the contest, not by a formal declaration, but by letting loose her privateers; that she will take this step as soon as the arma- ment now preparing at Cadiz to go against South America, shall have sailed, and that this is the opinion of the Spanish ambassador at this court, founded on communications from Madrid ; that the manifesto of Spain will soon appear, calling upon all other powers who have colonies to assist her in her struggle ; that an officer high in the 1^; 248 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Spanish embassy was sent off express to Paris on these objects last week, and that a Spanish secre- tary lately sailed from the Thames with definitive instructions to the Spanish minister at Washington, Mr. Onis, under the crisis that is approaching. That Spain is to have no quarrel with Portugal, such a measure not falling in with the views of England, and that Olivenza will be given up ; that five of the daily newspapers of London have their columns open to the Spanish embassy, and that the Spanish government is actively employed in buying up vessels to be fitted out and manned in England, to cruise under the Spanish flag against our trade ; that Spain has her agents at work in several of the ports of equipment in this kingdom ; also in France, Holland and the Netherlands, ex- pecting, under cover of her own flag, to enlist the privateering means of half Europe against the commerce of the United States whilst every where exposed, and that the vessels will be fitted out under pretence of acting against South America. That a person lately arrived here from Madrid, with full powers from the king to the Spanish ambas- sador to act at his discretion in procuring the in- struments and means of striking at our commerce ; that the ambassador, who is represented as having large private resources, which he spends liberally 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 249 in addition to his public allowances, has the un- bounded confidence of his king, who will confirm all that he does. Finally, that the ambassador has caused a pamphlet to be written against the United States, dilating upon their alleged injustice and rapacity towards Spain, which, by raising odium against them, is intended to aid the hostile views of Spain ; and that many thousand copies of it are to be circulated in French, Spanish and English, in quarters where it will be likely to be most efiective. " The question is, how far do the above allega- tions, or any of them, appear to be sustained by facts. The most material are, the asserted pur- chase and equipment of vessels in the ports of Great Britain. This, if true, cannot easily be hidden. As yet I have obtained no information that would authorise me in saying that it has been done. I have made, and will continue to make, every inquiry. Persons connected with the American trade, are the proper sources to resort to ; their sagacity will be sure to make the first discoveries ; nor will our vigilant consul. Colonel Aspinwall, be asleep. " As to the newspapers being open to the Span- ish embassy, this is not improbable. x^Iost of the violent articles against the United States touching 32 i.^ ! [ 250 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. their affairs with Spain, that have lately appeared in the London papers, have proceeded, I have little doubt, from Spaniards, or pens which they enhst. They bear decided marks of this origin. There was, I believe, an officer of the Spanish embassy despatched to Paris ten days or a fort- night ago ; but I have been able to procure no evi- dence of the nature of his errand, beyond the assertions of the letter writer. Upon these alone, reiterated indeed with great confidence, rests, for the present, the credit due to all his other com- munications. The pamphlet of which he speaks, has been written ; at least in part, for he has sent to the legation some of the printed sheets, which I enclose. It is said that the writer, an Englishman, has received, or is to receive, sixty guineas from the Spanish embassy ; if so I should pronounce it more than the pamphlet is worth. The Spanish am- bassador is the Duke of San Carlos, who formerly represented Spain at the court of Vienna, where his household was on a munificent scale ; as here. We exchange visits and reciprocate other civi- lities. " In addition to the communications of the letter writer, I have been waited upon by a member of the congress of Venezuela, now in London. He regards a rupture between the United States and 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 251 Spain as so near, that, on the ground of his ac- quaintance with the condition and resources of Spanish America, ho came to tender me all his information in aid of our cause. I said the United States meditated no hostile steps. He replied, that Spain did. I suggested the ohvious objections, unless she expected co-operation from England ; and that 'I could not think the latter meant to go to war with us without cause. He met the objec- tions by saying, that England had promised no co-operation, but that the condition of Spain was desperate; she must lose her colonies if things continued on the present footing ; the only hope of saving them, rested upon her being able to bring England by some means or other to her assistance* That she counted upon the jealousy between England and the United States on the ocean, and by going to war herself with the latter, the courso of events would soon draw the former into it, whatever she might say at first. At any rate, that this was a game of chances Spain had resolv- ed to play, as, at the worst, it could only accelerate a catastrophe otherwise inevitable, viz. the total loss of her dominion in America. This Venezue- lan, although liable to be warped by his political wishes, is intelligent and cool-minded, and full of activity in seeking information as to the purposes ^ t 252 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of Spain. I the -efore report what ho said, although he referred to no specific facts. However plausi- ble his way of reasoning, it is not sufficient with mo to overcome weightier reasons opposed to it. Hence, that either Spain or England design to strike a hostile blow at us, I am not able at present to believe. Still, I have not felt at liberty to bo altogether passive under my own incredulity. I am taking steps of precaution from which, be the issue what it may, no evil can arise. I have writ- ten to our ministers at Paris and Madrid, and to the commander of our squadron in the Medi- terranean; not expressing myself in a way to excite alarm, but watchfulness. I shall continue attentive to what passes, and should any new or more distinctive grounds be laid before me, adopt such other measures as prudence may dictate, hoping those already taken may have your appro- bation. It is proper I should add, that there has been no open departure whatever in the English cabinet or court from a frank and conciliatory course towards us. If any thing is going on, it is profoundly in the dark." The matter of the above letter, points to one of those occurrences which belongs to the history of a public mission, and serves to shed light on inci- dents otherwise not so well understood. It was easy t < i: i [1818. , although ^er plausi- cient with >8ed to it. design to at present jrty to be dulity. I ^h, be the lave writ- [], and to he Medi- L way to continue ^y new or [le, adopt dictate, ir appro- here has ! English ciliatory on, it is 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 253 to believe that Spain desired a rupture between the United States and England, and that those in her service would labour in all ways to that end ; but it was not to be believed, that she would go to war with the United States on a mere speculation that the force of circumstances might draw Eng- land into it. The navy of the United States was in a high state of efficiency, and the certainty of its immediate co-operation with the Spanish colo- nies, for which their proA mity afforded advan- tages, could not have failed to have set before Spain the risks, on that grornd alcie, of seeking such a war. That England would rf\i.er the Floridas belonged to Spain than th:^ United Sta* s, was no more than natural. She remembered that the treaty of Utrecht had prohibited Spain from transferring any of her colonial possessions, to other powers ; but the Congress of Vienna, more recently, had been silent on such a policy, and Eng- land, a party to that congress, knew as well as other powers, that the day for its revival was at an end. o one of story of on inci- fSL8 easy May 27. A few persons desiring to see a mon- ument erected to Burns, put a notice in one of the newspapers, that the admirers of his genius would dine to-day, at the City of London tavern. About iJt 254 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. two hundred assembled. The stewards were kind enough to invite me, as a guest. The Duke of York was in the chair. The leading person at table was Mr. Boswell, son of the biographer of Johnson, and a member of parhament. He made a neat and appropriate speech on the genius of Burns, urging the propriety of erecting a monument on the site of the cottage where he was born. A son of the poet was present. On " Success to the family of Burns" being given as a toast, he thanked the company in a modest and touching manner. The punch bowl that be- longed to Burns, and of which it is known he was too fond, was handed round the table as a relic. A full band was in the orchestra. We had a great deal of fine old Scotch music, with several of Burns's songs, and a good one written for the occasion by Mr. Boswell. The Duke of York was toasted, with a complimentary allusion to the share which, as commander in chief of the Bri- tish army, he had taken in improving its condition. He returned thanks, adding thai it was his highest pride to merit the approbation of his sovereign, and good will of his fellow subjects. " The admirers of Burns in the United States,''^ came next as a toast ; on which I made my acknowledgments, saying, that my countrymen were alive to the charms of his Ai'i' 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 255 poetry, as he wrote for the heart, which was of all nations. The Duke of York asked me if we made speeches at our public dinners, as they were forced to do in England. I said, not hitherto ; but it was a custom which tended, I thought, to improve the character of public dinners, by intro- ducing excitements beyond those merely jovial. He assented. We had other speeches — short ones; they would otherwise, all must agree, lose a principal merit for such occasions. Several hundred pounds were collected towards the monument. Three or four of my countrymen, accidentally in London, were present, and marked their admiration of the genius of the bard, by being contributors. It may serve, as a single in- stance, to show how the pocket is opened at public dinners in London. May 2^. Visited the British Gallery, in Pa" Mall, with tickets kindly sent tc me and my family by the Chancellor of the exchequer. The collec- tion of paintings is very choice, being made up exclusively of pieces from the Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish and Flemish masters. They be- long to persons in England who annually send specimens from their private collections to this exhibition for the gratification of the public, and i i ■ g ; i. t b : 'I - . '; ! '$ . i if. ^ ■ 1 1 i j . ;:, i 1 III If 1^ il 255 RESIDENCE AT TIIE FISIS. to aid in fostering taste in this branch of the arts. You wander through rooms where hang produc-> tions on which the public taste of different ages and nations, had put the seal of approbation. It has been said that painters can flourish only in Roman catholic countries. That the Scriptures have afforded the grandest subjects for the pencil, is true. In catholic countries, the church influences largely- secular feeling, which is a suflScient reason, if no other existed, why their painters so frequently take subjects from scripture. But they have not confined themselves to these ; and are not the same sub- jects open to the pencil in protestant countries ? The very variety of religions, as of character, in England, will tend to advance her in the arts, when she takes her stand in them. She has an established church, with every species of dissent ; a powerful aristocracy, with popular forms and practices that, in some respects, Athens never equalled ; a king, venerated and lampooned ; more than all, an amount of riches, not hereditary merely, but self-acquired, in the hands of indivi- duals in every part of the kingdom, making a greater number independent in their circumstances, and giving them, consequently, more command over their time and inclinations, than has probably ever before been known among the same number 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 257 of people, existing as one nation. All these are materials for the arts. A school founded in such a soil, coult- n( ather be formal, nor limited. Man- nerism belongs to feelings and pursuits more cir- cumscribed. It would be a soil, too, for patronage ; not by a few nobles, or the hand of an amateur prince ; but diffused, as through rich republics, all over the land. The annual exhibition of the works of the mas- ters, is not the only way in which this institution aims at advancing the fine arts. Its governors and patrons purchase the productions of British artists, where merit is high. It was so that Mr. West's picture of Christ healing the Sick, was pur- chased for three thousand guineas. It is the pic- ture, the fellow to which was presented by him to the hospital at Philadelphia. There needs no other proof of the interest the venerable artist felt in the land of his birth, than this munificent donation. He contemplated with delight the growth of the arts in the United States ; he had studied paint- ing as carefully, and understood its rules with as just a discrimination, as any artist living ; he had opportunities of knowing that the study was pur- sued with both zeal and judgment in the country always dear to him ; he had seen in her infancy every presage of future eminence, and to aid in 33 I i « t \\\ 258- RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, stimulating tendencies so noble, was one of the motives to his generous gift. June 5. We were at another entertainment at Carlton House on Tuesday evening, and to-day, I attended the levee. Lord Castlereagh said to me, that his constant engagements in parliament had prevented his asking an interview with me during the past fortnight, as he had wished. Its dissolu- tion was at hand, he added, immediately after which he would fix a time for our .neeting, June 6. Dined at Mr. Canning's, at his resi- dence, Gloucester-lodge, two miles from town. We had exchanged visits by cards. The latter periods of my mission, during which he was secre- tary for foreign affairs, brought me into much intercourse with him, personal and official; but this was the first time I had met him, except at levees and drawing rooms. To the space he filled in public estimation, I could be no stranger. He received his guests cordially. The grounds about his house were not extensive, but very neat, and shut in by trees. All was seclusion, the moment the gates closed ; a common beauty in the villas near London. The drawing rooms opened on a portico, from which you walked out upon one of those smoothly-shaven lawns which Johnson, ( < 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 259 speaking of Pope's poetry, likens to velvet ; and we had the soft twilight, which at this season lasts so long, in England, and sets off verdure to such advantage. " You see," said Mr. Canning, " how we prize your plants," pointing to some rhododen- drons ; " you must be fond of horticulture in the United States, from the specimens we have of your flowers." I said it was a growing taste with us, but that we had much to do before we should equal England in this respect. " And we in Eng- land," he said, " are behind Holland, and I believe France, in flowers." Dinner was soon announced. Mr. and Mrs. Canning, the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, Lady Elizabeth Levison Gower, the Spanish am- bassador and his dutchess, the Neapolitan minister and his countess, my wife, Mr. Chinnery, and some members of Mr. Canning's family, made the party. Mr. Canning sat at the head. His quick eye was all round the table ; his aim, to draw out others, rather than converse himself. Occasionally, he had touches of pleasantry. He asked for Mr. Pinkney, of Maryland, formerly minister, from the United States. " I once," said he, " had a skir- mish with him about language, but he worsted me ; I said there was no such word as influential^ ex- cept in America, but he convinced me that it was in m •$ t* 260 RESIDENCE AT THE FlSlS, originally carried over from England." Lord Staf- ford here remarked, that it was so good a word they ought to bring it back. " Yes," said Mr. Canning, it is a very good word, and I know no reason why it should have remained in America, but that we lost the Miw^." A library was attached to the suite of rooms. When we came out from dinner, some of the com- pany found pastime in turning over the leaves of caricatures, bound rp in large volumes. They went back to the French revolutionary period. Kings, princes, cabinet ministers, members of par- liament, every body, figured in them ; and all poli- tical events. It was a kind of history of England, in caricature, for five and twenty years ; and need I add, that our accomplished host was on many a page ! He stood by. Now and then he threw in a word, giving new point to the scenes. It is among the contradictions of the English, that, shy and sensitive as the 'ligher classes in many re- spects are, perhaps beyond any other people, they are utterly indifferent to these kind of attacks. Their public men also, exclude politics from pri- vate life, and you meet with persons of opposite parties mingling together as if nothing divided them. He asked who were our favourite authors in lors m 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. ^Gl the United States. The English, I said. But among the English ? Johnson, Dryden, Addison, or Swift ? Opinions varied, I said ; Johnson had his admirers ; but I thought, that after five and twenty, our readers for the most part came round to the others. They were his favourites, he said. Next he asked, is not Junius liked ? Generally he was, I said ; I had heard of a young gentleman in Philadelphia, who transcribed all his letters, in the hope of catching his style. He made no comment ; but I thought I saw that he would not be disposed to recommend a young friend to take that trouble. From the Spanish ambassador I had every civility, notwithstanding the pamphlet. So, briefly, was my first dinner at Mr. Canning's. Many and agreeable ones followed. Sir James Macintosh said of him in debate, that he had in- corporated in his mind all the elegance and wisdom of ancient literature. It was a high tribute from a political opponent and competent judge. Both were first rate men, as well by native endow- ments as the most elaborate cultivation, and both disciplined by an advantageous intermixture in great political and social scenes; Macintosh universal and profound ; Canning, making every thing bend to parliamentary supremacy ; the one, delivering speeches in the House of Commons for I I :.: 1. m^i mm 262 RESIDENCE AT TlIE [1818. the philosopher and statesman to reflect upon ; the other, winning in that arena, daily victories. Both, had equal power to charm in society ; the one various and instructive ; the other intuitive and brilHant ; Macintosh, by his elementary turn, removed from all collisions ; Canning, sarcastic as well as logical in debate, and sometimes also al- lowing his official pen, to trespass in the former field ; but, in private circlco, bland, courteous and yielding. Let me add that both were self made men ; enjoying, by this title, the highest political consideration and social esteem in the most pow- erful and brilliant circles, hereditary and otherwise, of the British empire. June 7. Lord Erskine called upon me, accord- ing to promise. First he spoke of the bill he had lately brought into the House of Lords to prevent arrest in cases of libel until after indictment found, regretting its loss. He touched on other topics. I pass by all, to come to what he said of Burke. My boys being in the room, he asked if I had found a good school for them. I said they were at present with Mr. Foothead, in my neighbourhood. You are lucky, he said, if Burke's recommendation goes for any thing, for he thought well of him as a teacher of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 0(J3 the classics. What a prodigy Burke was, he ex- claimed. He came to see me not long before ho died. I then lived on Hampstead hill. *^Come Erskine,'''' said he, holding out his hand, " let us forget all ; 1 sJiall soon quit this stage, and wish to die in peace with every body, especially you,'*'* I re- ciprocated the sentiment, and we took a turn round the grounds. Suddenly, he stopped ; an exten- sive prospect broke upon him. He stood as if rapt in thought ; gazing on the gilded scenery of the sky as the sun was setting, " Ah Erskine,"*^ he exclaim- ed, pointing towards it, " you cannot spoil that, be- cause y ou cannot reach it; it would otherwise go ; yes, the firmament itself — you and your reformers would tear it all down^ I was pleased with his friendly fa- miliarity, and we went into the house where kind feelings between us were further improved. A short time afterwards he wrote that attack upon the Duke of Devonshire, Fox and myself, which flew all over England, and perhaps the United States too. All this his lordship told in the best manner, and with all the intonations of eloquence. In my form of repeating it, I cannot do him justice. Desiring to hear something of Burke's delivery from so high a source, I asked him about it. It was execrable, said he. I was in the House of Commons when he made his great speech on If it » U tj I J ;; ■.*: 264 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. American conciliation, the greatest he ever made ; but he drove every body away. I wanted to go out with the rest, but was near him and afraid to get up; so / squeezed myself down, and crawled under the benches until I got to the door with- out his seeing me, rejoicing in my escape. Next day I went to the Isle of Wight. When the speech followed me there, I read it over and over again ; I could think of nothing else ; I carried it about me and thumbed it until it got like wadding for my gun. Here he broke out with a quotation from the passage beginning, " but what, says the financier, is peace without money, ^'^ which he gave with a fervour showing how he felt it. He said that he was in the house when he threw a dagger on the floor, in his speech on the French revolution, and it " had liked to have hit my foot.''^ It was a sad failure, he added, but Burke could bear it. He sat upwards of an hour, leaving me to re- gret his departure. His colloquial eloquence is not less than his forensic, though in so different a way. 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 2G5 CHAPTER XVI. Dissolution of Parliament. Revenue and resources of England. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Impressment — the Slave Trade — Commercial Convention of 1815. Dinner at the Marquis of Stafford's. Further interview with Lord Castle- reagh on Impressment, and the Slave Trade. The hustings at Covent Garden. Dinner at the Chancellor of the excho* quer's. June 10. Parliament was dissolved by the Prince Regent in person. This is regarded as one of the most imposing public ceremonies in Eng- land. It derives this character, in part, from the manner in which the sovereign goes to parhament. In all ages, the horse has helped to swell the pomp of public processions. Dryden renders Virgil's " hellator equus,''^ led in the train of Pallas's funeral, " the steed of state,"*^ On this occasion, the carriage of the Prince Regent was drawn by eight horses, used only for this ceremony. They were of beautiful form and richly caparisoned ; " With golden bits adorned and purple reins." 34 ! i Inll rt t 1! Ill ifi^; Mr I V I 2QQ RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. The Prince Regent wa^* perceptible to the gazing crowds, througli Mo ^iasa panncls of this splendid vehicle of re , ulty. There sat with him the Duke of Montrose, master of the horse, and Lord Amherst, as lord in waiting. Even in the insignia and decorations of a state carriage, England does not forget the field of her power. Conspicuously upon this, as if rising from the perch, was a figure of Neptune, in massive gild- ing. Next in the procession, came four carriages and six. This formed the royal train. It moved from St. James's palace, through the Park, and thence came out under tlie archway of the horse guards. My carriage gol to that point, and stop- ped with others, as the whole slowly turned into the street. The sight was gorgeous — windows, balconies, house-tops, were lined. It was the spot where like crowds had witnessed the execution of Charles the First ; the historical association thus increasing the interest of the spectacle. When the train reached the end of Parliament street, the number of equipages in the direction of Westmin- ster Abbey, belonging to the nobility and others, was immense. All were in rows and glittered in the sun. The universal beauty of the horses, for which the English are so celebrated, the com- pleteness of every equipage, the rich liveries of the ] 318.1 COURT OF LONDON. 267 numerous servants, the turrets of the ancient Ab- bey, the vast mukitude — altogether presented a scene of great animation and brilHancy. The roy- al carriage drew up before the entrance to tho House of Lords; a groom held each bridle, the horses champing the ' foaming gold.' The Prince Regent on alighting, was greeted with long shouts. The ceremony of the dissolution, took place in the House of Lords. Close in front of the throne, a space was set apart for the foreign ambassadors and ministers. All attended in their national cos- tumes. The chamber, when I arrived, was filled with peers and peeresses, the former wearing robes of scarlet and ermine. In a little while the Prince Regent entered, at which moment a salute of cannon was heard. A procession formed by a portion of his cabinet ministers, preceded him, the premier. Lord Liverpool, going first and carrying the sword of state. The Prince took his seat upon the throne. In a few minutes, doors opened at the extremity of the chamber, and the Commons entered, the speaker at their head. They stopped at a barrier, from which the speaker commenced his address to the throne. It recapitulated the important business of the session, gave a promi- nent place to the subject of income and expendi- ture, saying, that although a heavy pressuro r' — 1 :; ■■■■% : Ifel j -f' I i ! •iU',1 ' !■> I I f 268 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. continued upon the finances, the revenue was in- creasing ; and concluded with praying the royal assent to a bill of supply which the House brought up, the last of a series that had been passed. The title of the bill was read ; on which a clerk of parliament exclaimed, " Le roy remercie ses loyal subjects, accepte leur benevolence et aussi le veut.^'* The titles of other bills were successively read, and the royal assent given by the same officer pro- nouncing the words, " Le roy le veutJ*^ The Prince, who had not yet spoken, now ad- dressed both houses. He said, that there had been no alteration in the state of the king's health ; tiiat he continued to receive from foreign powers, assurances of friendly dispositions, on which he turned with a manner appropriate towards *the diplomatic corps ; he thanked the House of Com- mons for the supplies they had granted; he informed both houses of his intention to dissolve the present, and call a new parliament, in making which communication he could not, he said, refrain from adverting to the great changes that had occurred since he first met them in that chamber. Then, the dominion of Bonaparte, whom he spoke of as the " common enemy, ^^ had been so widely extended, that longer resistance to his power was by many deemed hopeless ; but that by the un- e was in- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 269 exarapled exertions of Britain, in co-operation with other countries, Europe had been delivered from his oppression, and a contest the most event- ful and sanguinary known for centuries, terminated with unparalleled success and glory. These were the main points of the speech. When it was ended, the lord chancellor rose from the woolsack, and said, that it was the will and pleasure of the Prince Regent, acting in the name of the king, that the parhament be dissolved; and he pro- nounced it to be dissolved accordingly. The Prince remained seated whilst delivering his speech, and wore a hat. The peers and com- mons stood, and were uncovered. Mr. Canning, in a speech to his constituents, described the British constitution, as " a monarchy, intended to be checked by two assemblies, one hereditary, in- dependent alike of crown and people ; the other elective, springing from the people ; but," said he, " there are those who aigue as if it were originally a democracy, merely inlaid with a peerage, and topped with a crown^'' This passage gives, in a few words, the opposite theories of antiquarians on the origin of the British constitution. The passing remark may be made, that the external ceremonies of government, point to a regal, rather than popu- lar root. They are strikingly so at a coronation, t ' •' 'r f .- In i is i ' \€ 270 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. as at the dissolution of parliament. Take another incident at the latter, in addition to the wearing of the hat. The clerk, before reading the title to each bill, made a reverence to the throne ; and another, on laying the bill down upon the table. On receiving the nod of royal assent, he turned towards the Commons, gave them a look, and barely said, without any reverence, Le roy le veut. The scene would have been more imposing, had the chamber been better. It is not merely diefi- cient in architectural form, but in space. The commons stood in a confused heap, pressing one upon another. Their own room below, is even inferior in appearance, and alike inconveniently small. Both may have answered their original uses centuries ago, one as a banqueting room, the other as a chapel to a palace ; but are unsuited to the present accommodation of parliament. The mode of giving the royal assent to bills, I had read in books ; yet, it sounded strangely in my ears for the first time, as a fact. Blackstone remarks that these old words serve ai a memento, that the liberties of England were once destroyed by foreign force, and may bo again, but for vigilance* The remark is a strained one, in this connexion. England balanced the account of warlike exploits with France, in the days of her Edwards and 11 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 271 Henries ; and her own sovereign at last gave up his titular claim to be king of France. Hence it would seem, that this little badge of the Norman conquest, might now be allowed to drop off too. It was discontinued under the protectorate of Cromwell, the form in his time being, " the Lord Protector doth consent,^'' His words of acknowledg- ment for bills of supply were, " understanding it hath been the practice of those who have been chief governors, to acknowledge, with thanks to the com- mons, their care and regard for the public, I do very heartily and thankfully acknowledge their kindness therein*'' When the commonwealth ended, the foreign jargon revived. The speaker in his address, stated that the revenue was increasing. I cannot pass this sub- ject by. The income for the year, was fifty one millions of pounds ste'^ling The largest item was from the excise, which yielded upwards of twenty one millions. The customs stood next. They gave upwards of eleven millions. The assessed and land taxes, third ; from which eight millions were obtained ; the stamps fourth, which produced seven millions. The remainder was from the post office and miscellaneous sources. Large as this sum may appear for the produce of one year's taxes, it is less, by more than twenty millions, than .i t.-.J . . ^11 j I' i U I U^ 272 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, was raised two years ago, tlie property tax and certain war duties being then in force. It may safely be affirmed, that no nation, ancient or modern, of the same population, has ever before paid so much under the regular operation of tax laws. Of the excise, I understand that the whole amount due for the year has actually been paid in, except a fraction of about five thousand pounds, part of which it is believed will be recovered. So exceedingly small a deficiency on a basis of twenty one millions, manifests an extraordinary ability on the part of the community at large, to meet with punctuality the demands of the government, under this branch of internal taxation. Besides the fifty one millions, which make up the national taxes proper, for Great Britain and Ireland, the sums levied on ace ^aI of poor rates for England during the year, have amounted to nine millions* The exports from the kingdom for the same time, amounted, in value, to fifty three millions of pounds sterling. The manufactures of the United Kingdom, constituted four fifths of this sum. Actual value is here meant, as contradistinguished A*om official ; the latter assuming a certain stand- ard of price, fixed more than a century ago, and no longer applicable as a measure o i value. The imports amounted to thirty four njllions ; consi- he same 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 273 derably less therefore than the value of manufac- tured articles exported. Expei.diture for the year, has been about the same as income, and in its great branches, may be classed thus : For interest on the public debt, twenty nine millions. For the army, nine millions ; the military force on the present peace establish- ment, amounting to about a hundred thousand men. For the navy, seven millions ; the peace establish- ment of that arm being one huudred and thirty ships, twenty thousand seamen, and six thousand marines. For the ordnance, one million. The civil list, and miscellaneous items absorb the resi- due. In statements whether of British income or expenditure. I observe, that fractions of a million or two, seem to be unconsidered. They arc scarcely understood but by those who will be at the pains of tracing them amidst the rubbish of accounts, and not always then. A.S to the debt, what shall I say ? If I specify any sum, I may, unconsciously, commit a fractional error of fifty millions ! To find out precisely what it is, seems to bafiie inquiry. Dr. Hamilton in his work on this subject, states a curious fact. He says, that in an account of the public debt present- ed to the House of Commons in 1799, it was found impossible to ascertain the sums raised at different 35 ^;' ^^•>.: ( 1 1 j 1 1 1 i 1 '"■,> ! 1 . U % '■.-iV 274 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. periods which created the funds existing prior to the thirty-third year of George the Third. So they have a saying in Amsterdam, that when their grand town-house was completed a century or two ago, the bills were all destioyed, that the econo- mical prudence of the Dutch in after ages might not be pained by the authentic knowledge of their amount ; and that no one now knows what the building cost. The above candid avowal of igno- rance as to the national debt of England where all official means of information were at command, may well excuse, as the learned author referred to remarks, a private inquirer if his statements be imperfect ; but I will set the debt down at eight HUNDRED MiLT.j'ONS. This, as au absolute sum, strikes the world as enormous. It loses that cha- racter when viewed in connexion with the resour- ces of Great Britain, the latter having increased in a ratio greater than her debt ; a position sus- ceptible of demo^istration. It may be proof enough, that, in the face of this debt, her govern- ment could at any moment borrow from British capitaliits fresh sums larger than were ever bor- rowed before ; or than could be raised by the united exertions of all the governments of Europe. Credit so ujibounded, can rest only upon the known extent and solidity of her resources; upon her H [1818. g prior to 1. So they ^hen their jry or two the econo- ges might je of their what the al of igno- l where all command, eferred to Dments bo I at EIGHT lute sum, that cha- le resour- increased lition sus- be proof r govern- a British ever bor- 1 by the Europe, e known pon her 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 275 agricultural, manufacturing and commercial riches ; the first coming from her highly cultivjited soil and its exhaustless mines, not of gold and silver, but iron and coal, forever profitably worked ; the second, from the various and universal labour bestowed on raw materials, which brings into play all the industry of her people, suffering none to be lost for want of objects ; the third, from the policy of her navigation laws, and those of trade, followed up for ages, which enables her to send to every part of the globe the products of this vast and diversified industry, after supplying all her own wants. This system of navigation and trade, is greatly sustain- ed by a colonial empire of gigantic size, that per- petually increases the demand for her manufactures and favours the monopoly of her tonnage. These are the grand and visible foundations of her incalculable riches, and corresponding credit. Both seem to be incessantly augment- ing. It is remarkable, that she extends both in the midst of wars, however prolonged and sangui- nary. What cripples the resources of other na- tions, serves but invigorate and multiply hers. Not long ago I went to Guildhall, to witness the sittings of the King's Bench, after term time. The court room was so full, that I could hear or see little, and soon left it ; but I was compensated by k a-j^ I if ' til ■ f I I 27G RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. loitering among the monuments in the hall close by. The inscription on Lord Chatham's drew my attention most, because Americans hang with re- verence on his name, and because of the inscription itself. It dwells upon the services he rendered his country, by " uniting Commbrce with, and making IT FLOURISH DURING, War." Such was his title to fame, recorded on the marble ! Other nations should look at it. War, by creating new markets, gives a stimulus to industry, calls out capital, and may increase not merely the fictitious but positive wealth of the country carrying it on, where the country is powerful and not the seat of war. Mos- cow may be burned ; Vienna, Berlin, Paris, sack- ed ; but it is always, said Franklin, peace in Lon- don. The British moralist may be slow to think, that it is during war that the riches and power of Britain are most advanced ; but it is the law of her insular situation and maritime ascendency. The political economist may strive to reason it down, but facts confound him. It has been sig- nally confirmed, since engraven on the monument of Lord Chatham. The Prince Regent pronounced the contest with Bonaparte, the most eventful and sanguinary known for centuries ; yet, at its ter- mination, the speaker of the House of Commons declared, whilst the representatives of foreign ti" [1818. hall close 8 drew my Jg with re- inscription ndered his ND MAKING his title to )r nations V markets, ipital, and it positive where the ir. Mos- iris, sack- e in Lon- to think, Ed power e law of lendency. eason it )een siff- onument nounced itful and its ter- omnions foreign 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 277 nations stood listening, that the revenues op Britain were increasing. What a fact! Let Europe and the world bear it in mind. Let it be looked at in connexion with its past causes ; and, prospectively, as portending future effects. The Abbe Du Pradt has remarked, that England threatens all the wealthy and Russia all the liberty of Europe. Up to the first origin of the contest with Bonaparte, the largest sum England ever raised by taxes in any one year of war or peace, was seventeen millions sterling. In twenty-five years, when that contest was over, she raised hardly less than eighty millions ! This sum was paid indeed in the midst of complaints ; but not more than in Queen Anne's time, when the taxes were three millions, and debt forty ; or at the end of George the Second's, when the former had risen to seven, and the latter to a hundred millions. It was also in 1815, at the close of the same con- test, that the world beheld her naval power more than doubled ; whilst that of other states of Eu- rope was, in a proportion still greater, diminished. Hitherto, at the commencement of wars, the fleets of France, of Spain, of Holland, if not a match for those of England, could make a show of resistance ; their concerted movements, were at least able to hold her in temporary check. Where are the 11 I 278 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. navies of these powers now ? or those of the Bal- tic ? Some gone almost totally ; the rest destined to be withdrawn from the seas, on the first war with England. There is nothing, singly or com- bined, as far as Europe in concerned, to make head against her. France is anxious to revive her navy ; she builds good ships ; has brave and sci- entific oflicers. So, Russia^ But where are the essential sources of naval power in either ? where their sailors, trained in a great mercantile marine ? Both together have not as many, of this descrip- tion, as the United States. England then, in her next war, will accomplish more, as against Europe, upon this element, than at any former period ; she will start, instead of ending, with her supremacy completely established. The displays of her power, will be more immediate, as well as more foi midable, than the world has before seen. I will not speak of a new agent in navigation, that walks, as Mr. Canning said, like a giant on the water, controlling winds and waves. This great gift to mankind, in its first eflficient power upon the water, was from the United States ; but all Europe will feel the eflfect of navies moved by steam, in the hands of Britain. I had intended to say something of public speak- ing. The dissolution of parliament might suggest ini.i 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 279 the topic ; but I defer it. I have desired, hereto- fore, to make a minute of my impressions on this subject. I have heard debates in botli houses; but the occasions have been unfavourable for call- ing up the leading orators, or drawing them fully out if they rose. I wait further lights, with the simple remark, that the speaking I have ycft heard, taking its average quality, has been best, accord- ing to my judgment, in the House of Lords. My previous anticipation" )uld not have led me to form this opinion. 3am, in the June 11. Had an interview with Lord Castle- reagh, on his invitation. He informed me, that he had brought before the cabinet my proposal on impressment and that it had been considered with the care due to its importance. He went into some of the arguments to which the subject always leads. He adverted, first, to the opposite opinions which the two governments hold on the doctrine of allegiance. Next he re- marked, that we gave to our ships a character of inviolability that Britain did not ; that we consi- dered them as part of our soil, clothing them with like immunities. I said that we did consider them as thus inviolable, so far as to afford protection to our seamen ; but that we had never sought to IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <0 I.I US ^ m m ■ 40 2.5 2.2 2.0 L25 i 1.4 |j£ 7 ^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WKT MAIN STMET WiUTIR.N.Y. I4SM (716) •72-4S03 '^ I Hn ■ 1 J ? 4 '.: < > ' I' "^ ■ ^ I ^^ : i y 280 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. exempt them from search for rightful purposes ; viz. for enemy's property, articles contraband of war, • or men in the land or naval service of the enemy. These constituted the utmost limit of the bellige- rent claim, as we understood the law of nations. What we objected to was, that Britain, passing this limit, should advance a claim to enforce her own municipal code relating to allegiance and impressment, on board our vessels on the high seas. His lordship did not view it in this light. He was forced, he said, to add, that on a full consideration of my proposal, the cabinet had not found it prac- ticable to forego under any arrangement, the exe- cution of which was to depend upon the legislative ordinances of another country, the right of Great Britain to look for her subjects upon the high seas, into whatever service they might wander. The proposal thus rejected, having declared the readiness of the United States to impose further restraints upon the naturalization of British sea- men, and exclude from their ships all not natura- lized, I asked his lordship what difference it would make if the United States would agree to exclude from their ships of war and merchant vessels, all natural bom subjects of Great Britain, He replied, that this indeed would be going a step farther, but that it would still leave the pro- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 281 posal within the principle of their objection. That the objection rested upon an unwillingness to con- cede by treaty or convention, whatever its terms, the right of entering the vessels of a foreign power to search for their subjects. I said, that I heard this determination with re- gret. I had been ready, otherwise, to submit a proposal to the effect last mentioned. My regret was the stronger, as it would exhaust all the offers the United States could make. I requested him, in fact, to consider such an offer as actually made, under full authority from my government. I now inquired, if any proposals would be sub- mitted on the part of Great Britain. His lordship was prepared with none which did not assume as a basis, the right of entering our vessels. For the exercise of this right in a manner not to injure the United States, Great Britain was willing, he said, to come into the most effective regulations ; such as restricting the boarding officers to those of rank not below lieutenants ; giving responsible receipts for the men taken out, or any other safeguards that the government of the United States might propose as better adapted to the end > that she would receive, and in the most friendly manner discuss, such proposals, in the hope of some satis- factory arrangement. I said that the United 36 H ^ I 1| 1* ^ I ! ■I 9 i> 282 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. States never could admit the right to enter their vessels for such a purpose as impressment. Be- sides the objection to it in principle, the practice, however attempted to be softened, must be liable, from causes that were insurmountable as between the two nations, to perpetual and fatal abuse. This had been shown by an amount and aggravation of past experience, to which it was impossible to remain blind. His lordship again admitted the evils of which it had been the parent, expressing his hope that they might never recur. He next spoke of the slave trade. Great Britain he said had concluded treaties with three of the powers of Europe on this subject ; Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Portugal had agreed to abolish the trade, except in certain specified places on the coast of Africa, south of the equator ; Spain north of the equator, from the time of the ratifica- tion of her treaty, and in all other parts, after May eighteen hundred and twenty. To these powers, Britain had paid, from first to last, seven hundred thousand pounds, as inducements to the treaties. The clauses stated the money to be as compensa- tion to Spanish and Portuguese subjects, for the loss of the trade. The Netherlands had agreed to abolish it, immediately and totally, without pecuniary inducement. The purport of the treaties, speaking I 1818,] COURT OF IX)NDON. 283 more particularly of the last, was, that the con- tracting parties were to authorise a limited number of the ships of their navy to search the merchant vessels of each other, found under circumstances to raise suspicion of being engaged in the trade ; and in case of slaves being actually on board, to send the vessels in for trial ; the tribunals to con- sist of mixed courts, composed of judges, or com- missioners, appointed by each power ; the courts to hold their sittings within the territories or de- pendencies of each power, but one always to be established on the coast of Africa ; no search to be permitted in the Mediterranean, or any of the European seas north of latitude thirty seven, or within and eastward of longitude twenty. These were some of the main provisions of the treaties. There were various others, designed to guard against irregularity in the exercise of a right which the contracting parties had mutually conceded for the common object. The period had arrived, his lordship continued, when it was the wish of Great Britain to invite the United States to join in these measures, and it was his design to submit, through me, proposals to that effect. It had occurred to him to send me, with an official note, authentic copies of the treaties themselves ; they would best unfold, in all their details, the grounds on which a r I if I i • < h 284 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. concert of action had been settled with other pow- ers, and it was on similar grounds he meant to ask the accession of the United States, anticipating large benefits from their maritime co-operation in this great work of humanity. Whilst it had oc- curred to him to make the overture to my govern- ment in this manner, he said that if any other course presented itself to me as better adapted to the end, he would be happy to listen to it. I replied, that I knew of none better. I was altogether devoid of instructions on the subject as already stated, but would transmit the treaties for the consideration of the President. The United States, from an early day, had regarded this traffic with uniform disapprobation ; and for many years, it had been altogether prohibited by their statutes. The existence of slavery in several of the states of the American Union, had nothing to do, I remarked, with the slave trade. The former grew up with the policy of the parent country anterior to the independence of the United States, and remained incorporated with the domestic laws of the particular states where it had been so intro- duced, and always existed. Yet, those who could not allow their laws in this respect to be touched, went hand and heart with the rest of their fellow citizens in desiring the abohtion of the slave trade. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 285 Lastly, his lordship spoke of the commercial convention of 1815. He reminded me that it had but little more than a twelvemonth to run, asking if I knew the views of my government in regard to its renewal. I said not precisely, but expected soon to ascertain them. June 12. Dined at the Marquis of Stafford's. I am no votary of the rout ; but the private dinner party in England shows society under a different aspect. The diplomatic stranger can hardly com- mand other opportunities of seeing it to advantage. Evening visits he cannot make ; the late hour of dining is an obstacle. Morning calls are a mere ceremony, performed for the most part by his card ; and midnight crowds are not society. It is only at dinners that he finds it. These seem the chosen scenes of English hospi- tality. They are seldom large. Mr. Jefferson's rule was, and he knew how to appreciate the refinements of social life, not fewer than the graces, nor more than the muses ; within which limits, conversation might be kept general — always its highest though most difiicult recommendation, implying constant forbearance, not less than ease and discipline, in all the company. At the London dinners, from fourteen to eighteen seem a favourite number. Often they are , t . .} Li . I I I: i [ I V n ?! 286 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. smaller. Individual character and accomplish- ments, reserved at first in these classes, here begin to open. Sully, ader Paulus j^milius, said, that to marshal an army and order an entertainment, were equally difficult. Those of which I would speak, present no discordant feelings or topics. All obey forms witli which all arc familiar, as well those which relate to personal observances, as those that regulate conversation ; and thus the latter is carried on under common contributions and well-observed restraints. There is no ambition for effect ; never any for victory ; to give pleasure, not try strength, being the common aim. In the whole tone, you remark liOthing so much as a certain simplicity, the last attainment of high edu- cation and practised intercourse. Alluding to such characteristics, I proceed a little further ; I would raise, as far as I may, the curtain of these sanctuaries, in another sense. I would show the tables, in their orderly and beau- tiful arrangements; all alike, yet all varying — • alike in general conformity — varying as taste varies, where there is self-confidence in its indul- gence, and all have the means of indulging it. The word fashion, I have not heard, nor seen its principle, in mere imitation. The servants, are always in full number, and so trained as to leave J' 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 397 to the master and mistress no care but tlmt of entertaining tlieir guests. The quantity of silver, strikes me as among the evidences of a boundless opulence. Every day — every where — its glittering masses attract the eye ; plates through constant changes; dishes and other articles the most massive, whether for use or embellishment ; the full service, as seen at first, or disclosed through the various courses, exhibiting an as- pect of surpassing lustre. Not un frequently the fretted workmanship and romantic patterns of past ages still remain ; pointing, like family paintings, to different epochs of time, and seeming to be cher- ished with almost a like feeling. Foreigners, from whatever part of Europe, are in like manner struck with this profusion of solid and sumptuous plate upon English tables, as unknown in any other capital to an extent at all approaching to compa- rison. The possessors long accustomed ^ it all, seem unconscious of its presence ; but the for- eigner sees in it, the national as individual riches. Whence proceed, he asks himself, the incomes that retain, and continue to acquire in fresh accu- mulation, luxuries so costly, but from the land ? and what would be the land, with the works upon it ; what the crops on its surface, or mines under- neath, but for the manufactures and trade of the tl' » t ' .1 «': 288 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. countryi which bring all into value by a vast and increasing demand ; increasing at home, as abroad ; in war, as in peace ? Our dinner to-day illustrated, as one instance might, the general characteristics alluded to. It was not large. Lord and Lady Stafford, the Earl and Countess of Surry, Lady Elizabeth Levison Gower, Lord Francis Gower, and a few more, made the party. The country life in England, was much spoken of; also the literary publications of the day, this family being distinguished by the literary accomplishments of its members. The paintings of the masters hung all around us. Our hospitable entertainers invited Mrs. Rush and my- self to visit them at their seat, Trentham, in Staf- fordshire, than which we could not have known a higher gratification. Another topic, always grate- ful, was not passed by; our country. Cordial things were said of it, and enlightened wishes ex- pressed, that two nations so connected as England and the United States, might long see their way to mutual good will ! Leaving the table, we were an hour in the drawing rooms, always an agree- able close to English dinners. On entering them, the cup of Mocha coffee is handed; to which, after a short interval, tea succeeds. Ladies make part of these dinners, heightening their attractive- iQlgl COUPT OF I/)NI)ON. y^Q ncss; they leave the table first, the gentlemen soon following and rising altogether ; on no oc- casion have I observed any one leave the table, until all rise. We had music from St. Jameses park, into which the windows of Staflbrd house look. Its notes were the softer from the stillness of that scene, and the breezes of a charming summer night. June 20. Had an interview with Lord Castle- reagh. He read the first draught of a note to me, inviting the United States to co-operate in putting down the slave trade, asking my suggestions as to any modifications. I had none to offer ; and it was accordingly sent as prepared. I drew up an an- swer, to the general effect of the sentiments I had expressed in our conversations, promising to refer the whole subject to my government. I now renewed the topic of impressment. Al- though in our conference of the eleventh, I had made known the willingness of the United States to exclude from their naval and merchant service all British seamen, native as well as naturalized, I did not think proper to let the proposition rest on the footing of a verbal offer, but reduced it to writing, in terms as follow : " The proposal submitted by the Undersigned to 5 37 t; I ' I < K I t, t< i.J w li m i < K 290 RKSIDENCE AT niK [1818. Lord Castlercngh, upon the subject of impressment, on the eiglitccijth of April, not being found accept- able, ho has the honour ti oftbr on behalf of his government, the following. Each nation rigidly to exclude from service on board of their ships of war and merchant vessels, all native born sithjects, or citizens of the other. The checks and precau- tions stated in the former paper, to guard against fraudulent naturalization, to be resorted to (with the proper modifications) to prevent imposition relative to the birth place of seamen, or others adopted. Seamen already naturalized in the United States, to be excluded from the operation of the agreement, as these, by their laws, cannot be included. The number of this class is believed to be small, and in a short time would cease alto- gether. Altiiough the stipulation for exclusion must be reciprocal, a provision to be inserted au- thorising the United States, if so disposed, to dispense with the obligations it would impose on their own seamen, whenever the latter may choose of their own accord to enter the British service ; this power of dispensation to be reciprocal, if desired. " Should the above proposal be accepted, it will follow, that all British seamen or subjects now in the United States, and not heretofore naturalized. 1 1818.] coiruT OF ix)Nix)N. 291 will be excluded from their sea service, and that all vvho arrive in future will be excluded, (ireat Hritain, on her part, to come into a distinct stipu- lation, not to impress men out of American ves- sels." U. R. I handed this paper to his lordship. The pro- posal had, as I knew, been rejected ; but I knew the President's desire to settle this great question, and believed that I should be more truly the organ of his will, by putting the proposal in a shape in which it might go upon the archives of his majes- ty's government. I even cherished the hope, that other views might yet be taken of it by Great Bri- tain. His lordship, on reading the paper said, that he would lay it before the cabinet on his return from Ireland, whither he was going the day follow- ing, and should the proposal, now that it had taken this form, still be objected to, perhaps it might be thought adviseable to put in writing the counter opinions of Great Britain. Nothing further passed at this interview. The general election for a new House of Commons being in progress, and the hustings i Co vent Garden open, I said, when about to come away, that I intended to go there. If you can wait a few minutes, said his lordship, I will go with you ; I want to vote. I replied, that I . Ji r:' 1 r I l! I, ; I'l' 292 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. I should be happy to go under such auspices. You might have better, he remarked. At this moment Sir William Scott was announced, and I took my leave, finding my own way to the hust- ings. They gave a repulsive picture of an English election. Sir Murray Maxwell, was the ministe- rial candidate ; Sir Francis Burdett, Sir Samuel Romilly, and Mr. Hunt, on the other side. The first was not only hissed and hooted in the most vio- lent manner by the populace, but on a former day had been wounded by missiles. He appeared with his arm tied up, and a bandage over his eye. I was glad to get away from such a scene of tumult. In a little while Lord Castlcreagh arrived. His re- mark was prophetic ; for he was literally mobbed. Having given his vote for Sir Murray Maxwell, viva voce, as the English custom is, he was recognized, and four or five hundred of the people under the opposite banners, pursued him. He took refuge in a shop in Leicester square, where he was oblig- ed to escape by a back way, until finally he found shelter in the admiralty. If the ministerial candi- date, and his supporters were thus roughly treat- ed, they bore it with the greatest composure. The former on re-appearing after his wounds, again mounted the hustings to make a speech. Being told that pains would be taken to disco- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 293 ver and punish the authors of tlie outrage, he forbad all inquiry, saying he had no doubt they acted thoughtlessly, without any intention of hurt- ing him ; a stroke of policy that brought him fresh votes. As to Lord Castlereagh, I was informed, that, on reaching the admiralty, he turned round and with cool complaisance thanked his pursuers, then close upon him, for their escort, saying that he would not trouble them to accompany him farther ; which drew huzzas also in his favour. July 1 . Dined at the chancellor of the exchequer's. His residence is in Downing street ; I may add that it is historical. His dining room was once Mr. Pitt's, who lived here while prime minister ; and still earlier, it was Sir Robert Walpole's resi- dence. A portrait of the latter, hung on the wall ; in gazing on which you beheld the composed counte- nance that enabled him to sit unmoved under the batteries of Wyndham, and Shippen, and Pultney. There were at table, Mr. and Miss Vansittart, Mr. and Mrs. East, Lord Harrowby, the ambassador from the Netherlands, the Prussian ambassador, Mr. Ar- buthnot secretary of the treasury, and Mr. M*Kensie. Mr. P> i spoken of. Lord Harrowby said, that he i fine Greek scholar ; also that he had re -u- with singular accuracy his mathema- *■ i '"i i i* J I) 11 ^1 ^ 11' 'tf ^ fl • { • i 294 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818, tics acquired at school. He spoke of Lord Grenville's attainments as a classic, particularly in Greek, and his skill in languages generally, of which he knew a great many. Lord Harrowby himself has high reputation in this line, modern languages, as well as the classics, being at his com- mand in great purity. He spoke of words that had obtained a sanction in the United States, in the condemnation of which he could not join ; as for example, lengthy, which imported he said what was tedious as well as long, an idea that no other English word seemed to convey as well. I re- marked, that we were unfortunate in the United States ; for that if persons, no matter how illiterate, used wrong words, they were brought to light as Americanisms, whereas in other countries such things were passed by as vulgarisms; thank- ing his lordship however for throwing his shield over lengthy, in regard to which I joined him in opinion. Mr. Vansittart had been reading some of the official documents of our government. He said that our appropriations for the military service for the year, exceeded those of Great Britain, in pro- portion to the size of the two armies ; remarking that the British army was the most expensive in Europe. The Dutch was next, he said; the ] 818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 295 Russian cheapest. The last cost but a seventh part as much, man for man, as the British. I said that the expense of an army in the United States, arose from the ease with which subsistence was otherwise obtainable ; moreover, that the service was not popular in peace. He assigned a further reason — our large proportion of artillery ; we had three thousand, to an army of ten thousand; whilst the British artillery, to an army of a hun- dred thousand, amounted to not more than seven thousand. This I explained by saying, that one of the chief uses of a small standing army in the United States, was to keep fortifications in order ; adding that we also made large expenditures upon them, under our military appropriations, I owe warm acknowledgments to Mr. Vansittart for hospitalities and other acts of kindness, during the whole of my mission ; appreciated the more in my public and personal feelings, from his high sta- tion in the cabinet, in conjunction with his indi- vidual distinction and various worth. In a renewed conversation I asked him what work was regarded as containing the best account of the British finances. He said it was difficult to arrive at a knowledge of them from any single work ; but, on the whole, he considered Sir John 1 1 'it- i 296 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Sinclair's, for the periods it embraced, as most satisfactory. J I- ' ? ' ■I m Jw/y 15. Went with Mrs. Rush to an enter- tainment at Carlton House, given by the Prince Regent in honour of the marriages of the Duke of Clarence and Duke of Kent ; where was witnessed the splendour to have been expected at such a scene. We had introductions, in common with the rest of the foreign ministers, to the royal brides. These marriages, with those of the Prin- cess Elizabeth, and Duke of Cambridge, all within a few months, have led to a succession of enter- tainments in which the diplomatic corps have all participated. m f r''\ :r- ^ i -« 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 297 CHAPTER XVII. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — General negotiation propos- ed — Commercial convention of 1815 — European mediation between Spain and her colonies. Dinner at Mr. Villiers's. The Quarterly Review. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — Proposal for a general negotiation accepted — Mr. Gallatin to take part in it — Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goulburn, the British negotiators. Commercial convention of 1815. Din- ner at Sir John Sinclair's — at Mr. Bentham's — at the French ambassador's. Interview with Lord Castlereagh — course of Great Britain and the United States towards Spain and her colonies. Affair of Pennsacola. July 16. Lord Castlereagh returned from Ire- land on the fourteenth. To-day I had an inter- view with him. I entered at once upon the subject of the com- mercial relations between the two countries. I remarked, that it was with reluctance the Presi- dent had given his consent to the act of Congress to exclude from ports of the United States, British vessels coming from the West Indies or other 38 ) - \'\ I s, p m i S 1 1 if ;>^- :' ^1 - ' III 1>hi I J» I 298 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. British colonies, from whose ports vessels of the United States were excluded. The act indeed was founded on equal justice and could lay no ground of complaint, as had often been agreed by Great Britain. Still, the President could not but know, that its practical operation might be irritating to individual interests which it would affect in both countries, and his desire was, to give efficacy to measures mutually more beneficial and concilia- tory. It was therefore that I was once more instructed to propose to his majesty's government the negotiation of a general treaty of commerce. The President desired also, that the negotiation should include other matters ; and I recapitulated the four following. 1. The question respecting slaves carried off from the United States, in con- travention, as we alleged, of the treaty of Ghent. 2. The question of title to Columbia river. 3. That of the north-western boundary line, from the Lake of the Woods. 4. The question, (one of immediate and pressing importance,) relating to the fisheries. Upon all these, the President pre- ferred negotiating directly, rather than resorting to commissioners, as under the treaty of Ghent, in the hope that it might prove the means of the two governments coming more speedily to an understanding. If his majesty's government was 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 099 prepared to go into them all, in addition to the question of a general treaty of commerce, as the whole would take a wide range, the United States would name another plenipotentiary to meet, in association with me, any two designated by Great Britain. His lordship asked, what was to be understood by a general treaty of commerce. I replied, a treaty that would open, not a temporary or pre- carious, but permanent intercourse with the Bri- tish West Indies, and their colonies in North America, to the shipping of the United States ; a subject which, I admitted, it might seem unneces- sary to bring forward after the recently expressed opinions of his majesty's government not to treat of it, were it not that others of interest to both nations were now coupled with it in a way to give the proposition in some measure a new character He said that the British government would be willing to enter upon a negotiation on the commer- cial relations of the two countries ; but he had no authority to say that the colonial system would be essentially altered. Broken down, it could not be. I said, that if it were not to be departed from at all, or in no greater degree than as provided by the four articles spoken of in our conference of the third of January, as those articles had not i ;:l 1 1' . ! Y\ * i ■4 \ 1 .1 ;: > ■ 1 • ^ f I ■':i i '. d ■ if .1 fc M Mi t U':' : f 300 RKSIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. proved acceptable to my government, it did not appear to mc that any advantage would be likely to arise from going into the negotiation. He re- plied, that he was not prepared to answer defini- tively upon any of the subjects, but would lay them before the cabinet. He professed it to be the earnest desire of the British government, to see the commercial intercourse between the two coun- tries placed upon the best footing at all points ; the stake to each being alike important. In the event of a negotiation not being opened on the broad grounds I had stated, his lordship asked if it were yet in my power to inform him of the intentions of my government as to the existing convention of July 1815, now so soon to expire. I gave him to understand that the President was willing to renew it ; thus keeping it distinct from all other questions. It was an instrument satis- factory to the United States, because, as far as it went, it placed the tonnage of the two countries in each other's ports, on a footing of equality. His lordship expressed the readiness of his ma- jesty's government to adopt that course. I next passed to South American affairs. I said that my government was desirous of ascer- taining the intentions of the European Alliance in regard to the contest in that hemisphere,, and U 1 8 ' t; ,1 COURT OF LONDON. 301 especially of learning those of Great Britain, as far as she might be disposed to communicate them. The information was sought, not from a mere desire to draw aside the veil of European politics, but from the deep interest the United States took in that contest ; and they asked noth- ing which they were not prepared to reciprocate, being ready to disclose with candour their own intentions. My government was not uninformed of a general purpose of mediation by the European Alliance ; but upon what precise basis, it did not know. This was the point on which it desired light. His lordship made the following replies. He said, that the British government was not only willing, but desired, to communicate to the United States, every thing in relation to the proposed mediation. It acknowledged our natural interest in the question ; but that, in fact, no plan for the mediation had been to this hour matured. Diffi- culties had arisen with Spain, on points the most essential ; they were increased by obstacles to a quick intercourse of counsels among parties so remote from each other, as London, St. Peters- burgh, Vienna, and Madrid ; even the place for the mediation had not been fixed upon. The allied sovereigns, when assembled at Aix la Cha- i I n 1 ■ i ) ,, ; i 302 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. pelle in the autumn, would probably take up the subject, although meeting primarily for the consi- deration of others ; and as soon as a basis of pacification had been laid down, he would not fail to apprize me of it. Before parting, he gave me the following piece of information : that in consequence of the depre- dations committed upon the lawful commerce of the world by cruisers ostensibly sailing under commissions from the Spanish colonies, the British government had issued instructions to some of its armed vessels to arrest and bring in, cruisers of this description, for the purpose of putting a stop to the vexations and losses they inflicted upon British commerce. He added, that the orders did not embrace cruisers fitted out bona fide in Smith American ports, July 20. Dined at Mr. Vilhers's, north Audley street ; to whom I owe obligation for kindnesses on many occasions, and not less for his invariable expressions of good will towards my country. Field marshal Lord Beresford, Lord Fitzroy Somerset and Lady Fitzroy, the Dutchess of Wellington, Mrs. I'ole, Lord Maynard, Mr. Pon- sonby, Mrs. Villiers and my wife, were the party. Conversation turned chiefly on France. It was in 1818,] COURT OF LONDON. 303 the spirit of commendation I remark to be so usual. After dinner, Lord Bcrcsford in conversation with me, spoke of the United States. He was under the impression that the Union would not last. Our government he said had worked ex- tremely well, so far ; but must give way, he thought, when the country grew to be highly populous as well as powerful. I inculcated other doctrine, mentioning, among our safeguards, the federa- tive and national principle interwoven in our con- stitution, and referring to shocks which the Union had already withstood in peace and war. He complimented our navy ; it had taken England by surprise, high praise, had it earned no other, he said ; but, from its nature, not likely to happen again. I expressed the hope that all such occasions might be far off; in which he cordially joined. July 21, Mr. **** called upon me. He said that there would appear in the next Quarterly Review, an article on the life and character of Franklin. It was to be the medium of an attack upon the United States, would disparage the people, and underrate the resources of the nation. It would particularly examine the claims of the United States as a naval power, and strip them of !' » If- i > j |i I: ?' !| r y., • / \ ■ i ■ f : n fi. i 1 ' 1 % • 'ill u ihf- ik ml ']' til m 304 RESIDENCK AT THE [1818. importance. It would state their tonnage at less than nine hundred thousand, and as decreasing ; endeavouring to show from this and other things, that their maritime resources were not only incon- siderable at present, but not formidable in pros- pect. The object of the publication, was to lower the reputation of the United States in Europe. To this end, it would be translated into French, republished in Paris and thence widely circulated. Finally, that the article was already known to persons who stood high in England, and counte- nanced by them. The last part of what my informant communi- cated, may, or may not, be true. The whole, is of small concern. Cromwell said that a govern- ment was weak that could not stand paper shot. Who then shall write down a nation f Insignifi- cant states escape assaults of the pen ; powerful ones can bear them. If the United States have long been exposed to these assaults, so has Eng- land. They come upon her from abroad, but more from at home. Any body who will spend six mouths in London and look at only a portion of the publications daily thrown from the press, will be surprised at the number of denunciations he will surely find of England. The crimes and other enormities committed by her people ; the 1818.] coiiirr OF i,(>NiM)N. 305 profligacy of tho lo>%tr orders, the vices of tlic higher ; the corruptions of the jrovernment, its partiality, injustice, tyranny • the aluises of law ; the abuses in tho churcfi ; the appalling debt, the grinding taxation, the starving poor, the pampered rich — these and like topics on which are based assertions of wide-spread depravity and suficrings unparalleled, are urged in every form, and run out into all details. It is not the cheap, unstamped press, which alone reiterates them ; but many of the highest and most powerfully supported of tiic journals. Sometimes France is attacked, some- times Russia, sometimes the Holy Alliance, some- times tho United States; but England always. The battering-ram against her, never stops. What English writers thus say of their own coun- try, and the picture is commonly summed up with confident predictions of national ruin, crosses the channel next day, is translated into French, and, as foretold of the forthcoming article in the Quar- terly Review, circulated over Europe. In a month it has crossed the Atlantic, and is circulating in America. Millions read, millions believe it. In the midst of it all England advances, by strides, in prosperity and power. Europe and the world see both, in proofs irresistible. The enlightened por- tion of the world perceive also along side of the t -hi \ u t it.'\ ':^' i i ■U-'i fl ?;■■'• 305 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. picture of moral deformity drawn of her inhabi- tants, no matter how much may be true or how much exaggerated, counteracting fields of excel- lence, public and private, that exalt the English nation to a high pitch of sober renown. It is in this manner I content myself as a citizen of the United States. The last forty years have witnessed their rapid advance, in prosperity and power. Europe and the world behold both in proofs that are irresistible. The enlightened portion of the world will also infer, that a nation with a for- eign commerce over-shadowing that of the great- est nations of Europe, England excepted ; whose whole tonnage instead of nine hundred thousand, already exceeds fifteen hundred thousand ; a nation throughout whose borders the public liberty and prosperity have long been diflTusing the means of private comfort and the lights of general education, the enlightened every where will infer, that such a nation cannot be wanting in adequate intellectual advancement or social refinements, any more than in political power. They follow, through the in- dissoluble connexion between causes and effects. Ingenuity and ill-nature hunting for exceptions, may find them ; but the great field of excellence remains. It will continue to widen, until Britain herself, encompassed as sue is with glory, will in :ii 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 397 time count it her chiefest glory, to have been the original stock of such a people. Of the often de- nounced and little understood, frame of our government, a British statesman wanting neither in sagacity nor knowledge of history — Mr. Fox — remarks, that it was precisely that constitution which the wisest men of the world would give to the people of the present age, supposing that they had to begin on a clear foundation, and not to de- stroy any thing existing at the cost of anarchy and civil war. Of such a constitution, the citizen of tha United States may justly boast ; concluding in the additional words of Mr. Fox, that it is the " British constitution with the improvements of the experience of ten centuries." July 23. Received a note from Lord Castlereagh requesting I would meet him at the foreign office to day. I found Mr. Robinson with him. The latter is president of the board of Trade, and has recently been called to a seat in the cabinet. His lordship informed me that he had made known my proposals to the cabinet, and that a general negotiation would be agreed to, on all the points I had stated. With regard to the commer- cial question, the British government did not pledge itself to a departure from the colonial sys- :*^« i I i :U l< ni* V t 308 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. tem in any degree greater than hitherto, but would bring the whole subject under review ; willing to hope, though abstaining from promises, that some modification of the system mutually beneficial, might be the result of frank discussions renewed at the present juncture. I replied, that my government would hear this determination with great satisfaction, and joined in the hope that the new eflfort might be productive of advantage to both countries. I now informed his lordship that Mr. Gallatin, minister of the United States at Paris, would take part in the negotiation, and come to London as soon as it might suit the convenience of his ma- jesty's government to appoint plenipotentiaries on the side of Great Britain. He replied, the sooner the better, saying, that Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goulburn would be appoint- ed. He added, that he himself would be obliged to set out for the continent, in August, to attend the Congress at Aix la Chapelle, and that the ne- gotiation would have to proceed in his absence ; but expressed a wish that it might open, before he left town. I said that all our instructions had not got to hand, but we expected them daily. He asked, whether, to guard against delays incident to a general negotiation, I was prepared to, agree 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 399 separately to a renewal of the convention of 1815, for a term of years to be fixed. I informed him that I was in possession of a power to that effect. From the manner in which his lordship mention- ed this subject, and it was for the third time, it was evident that the British government strongly desired the renewal of the convention. The United States desire it not less. In the early part of the present month, by information transmitted to me, more of our vessels were to be seen in the port of Liverpool, than those of any foreign power, or even English vessels, coasters excepted. The lat- ter fact surprised me. It may be taken as an in- dication that in the trade between the two coun- tries, the United States are likely to have their equal share as carriers, as long as the charges upon the vessels of each, continue equal. This is all that the United States ask. It is the offer they make to all nations. They hold it out in a per- manent statute, as the basis of their code of navi- gation. July 24. Dined yesterday at Sir John Sinclair's, Ormly-lodge, in the neighbourhood of Richmond. He had invited us to come in the morning and spend the day, for the sake of an excursion upon the Thames. Hampton court, Pope's villa at Twick- t I i i ,! : 1 If. f *l >■■ i' ' S 310 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. enham, Strawberry -hill, with other places to call \\p historical or classic recollections, would have been within our range ; but we were, for this oc- casion, disappointed. My interview with Lord Castlereagh had been fixed for an hour that pre- vented our leaving town in season, so that the pleasure of dining and passing the evening at Ormly-lodge, was all we could command. It was the first time I had been so far into the country since our arrival. Gardens, hedge-rows, village churches, houses and w-alls with ivy grow- ing about them, met the eye in all directions. Here, were evergreens, cut into shapes as in Queen Anne's time ; there, the modern villa, where art was exerted to avoid all appearances of it; so that, even in this short distance, the taste of diflfer- ent ages might be seen. Looking on the whole, I could not avoid the thought, that the lawns so neat and fields so fertile, were the same ground that the plough had gone through w^hen the Ro- mans were here. The more did this thought come over me, as in the United States we have what we call " old fields^'''' worn out by too much use, as we say, and abandoned on that account. They are abandoned, I must remark, for new ones, more fertile ; but when these in turn become " old fields,^'' it seems we need be in no despair of mak- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 31I ing the former " old fields*'' fertile again, any moie than the latter, it being certain that the older fields of Ejigland are still teeming with fertility. We drove through Richni md Park, which com- pleted the beauty of the scene. Arrived at Ormly-lodge, we were courteously received at the door, and soon wxnt to dinner. Sir John and Lady Sinclair with several members of their family, Mr. and Mrs. Basil Cochrane, of Portman square. Sir Benjamin and Lady Hobhouse, with a few others, made the party. Sentiments the most liberal, were expressed towards the United States, both Sir John Sinclair and Sir Benjamin Hobhouse having an acquaintance with their con- cerns thai belonged to enlightened and inquiring minds. The latter was president of the Agricul- tural Society at Bath. He spoke of the agricul- ture of the United States. It had long been his desire, he said, that the agriculturists of the two countries should correspond, exchanging observa- tions, and the results of their experiments. I said that those of my country could scarcely object, seeing how much they would be likely to gain. He replied, that agriculturists in England would gain too, and spoke of the advantage he had him- self derived from a correspondence with Mr. Pe- ters, of Belmont, president of the Agricultural il ! i 'V- 312 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Society at Philadelphia ; to whose knowledge he bore testimony, and his happy manner of impart- ing it. He spoke of Mr. Coke's farm at Holkham, in Norfolk ; it was in the highest order in which it seemed possible for land to be, to illustrate pro- ductive and beautiful husbandry ; he did not know that a weed could be found upon it. He called it horticulture, upon a great scale. This celebrated farm consists of several thousand acres ; the en- closure round his park was stated to be ten miles in extent ; his whole estate in that county, to con- tain about forty thousand acres. Having had the gratification, at a subsequent day, of visiting Mr. Coke at his Holkham estate, I am here reminded of what he told me was jocosely said when he first took possession of it ; viz. that there was but one blade of grass on the whole, for which two rob- bits were fighting ! All accounts agree, that it was sterile. Skilful farming, aided by capital, had brought it, in the course of a single life, into the state Sir Benjamin Hobhouse described, and repaid, as was added, the large expenditures upon it. The remark from Brougham's Colonial Policy about Holland, was quoted : viz. that that country owed its rich agriculture to a combination of dt/t^ts in both soil and climate, which put man more upon his own eflforts. What a lesson to nations, I ^ I f 1 8 1 8.1 COURT OF LONDON. 3 1 3 as to individuals ! The principle of the remark, may be applied to England also ; who, with her superabundant riches and strength, is greatly stinted in natural advantages bestowed with a profuse hand upon many other nations. Sir John Sinclair's conversation was instructive and entertaining. He had the double fund of a large mixture with the world and books, to draw from. Early rising was a topic; he thought it less conducive to health than was generally sup- posed, owing to the morning exhalations ; we heard of the robustness of the old Saxons, but he doubted if they were as powerful a race, physically, as the English of the present day ; and as to their going to bed at dark, and getting up with the dawn, that, he pleasantly said, was natural among a people ignorant of the art of making candles ! In the evening, further company arrived from neighbour- ing country seats ; of the number, were the Miss Penns, descendants of the founder of Pennsylvania. Pastimes followed, promoted and shared by Sir John, whose qualities in private life, do not fall behind those that have made him known to his country as a public man and author. I mentioned on a former page the Chancellor of the exchequer's opinion of his work on the British finances ; I add, that on asking Mr. Coke what work might be con- 40 4 1 1 !'' '4 I'lti W it 314 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. suited with most advantage on the agriculture of England, he replied, that he knew of none, by a private hand, better than Sir John Sinclair's: — high testimonials. July 27. Dined at Mr. Jeremy Bentham's. If Mr. Bentham's character be peculiar, so is his place of residence. From my house north of Portman square, I was driven nearly three miles through streets for the most part long and wide, until I passed Westmin- ster Abbey. Thereabouts, things changed; the streets grew narrow, and all the houses seemed falling down with age. Crowds were as thick, but not as good looking, as about Cornhill and the Poultry. In a Httle while I reached the purlieus of Queen-sqoare-place. The farther I advanced, the more confined was the space. At length, turning through a gate-way, the passage was so narrow, that I thought the wheels of my carriage would have grazed. It was a kind of blind-alley, the end of which widened into a small, neat, court yard. There, by itself, stood Mr. Bentham's house. Shrubbery graced its area, and flowers its window-sills. It was like an oasis in the de- sert ; its name is the Hermitage. Entering, he received me with the simplicity of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 3 15 a philosopher. I should have taken him for se- venty or upwards. Every thing inside of i. house was orderly. The furniture seemed to have been unmoved since the days of his fathers ; for I learned that it was a patrimony. A parlour, li- brary, and dining room, made up the suite of apartments. In each, was a piano, the eccentric master of the whole being fond of music, as the recreation of his literary hours. It was a unique, romantic little homestead. Walking with him into his garden, I found it dark with the shade of ancient tr^es ; which formed a barrier against all intrusion. In one part, was a high dead wall, the back of a neighbour's house, mouldering under the hand of time. In that house, he informed me, Milton had lived. Perceiving that I took an inter- est in this fact, he soon afterwards obtained a relic from the house and sent it to me. It was an old carved baln'-.ter, from the staircase, which there was reason to think the hand of the great bard had often grasped — so said the note that accom- pLiiied the relic. The company was small, but choice. Mr. Brougham, Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Mill, author of the well known work on India, M. Dumont, the learned Genevan, once the associate of Mirabeau, were all who sat down to table. Mr. Bentham 1 ! > < f. :^i It: i 316 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. (lid not talk much. He had a benevolence of man- ner, suited to the philanthropy of his mind. He seemed to be thinking only of the convenience and pleasure of his guests ; not as a rule of artifi- cial breeding, as from Chesterfield or Madame Genlis, but from innate feeling. Bold as are his opinions in his works, here he was wholly unobtru- sive of theories that might not have commanded the assent of all present. Something else was re- markable. When he did converse, it was in sim- ple language, a contrast to his later writings, where an involved style, and the use of new or unusual words, are drawbacks upon the speculations of a genius original and profound, but with the faults of solitude. Yet some of his earlier productions, are distinguished by classical by^vity and per- spicuity. Mr. Brougham talked with rapidity and energy. There was a quickness in his bodily movements indicative of the quickness of his thoughts. He showed in conversation the universality and disci- pline that he exhibits in parliament and the courts of law. The affairs of South America, English authors, Johnson — Pope — Swift — Milton — Dryden — Addison (the criticisms of the last on Paradise Lost he thought poor things ;) anecdotes of the living judges of England ; of lord chancellors, t SI- ;!i i 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 317 living and dead ; the errors in Burrow's Reports, not always those of the reporter, he said ; the uni- versities of Oxford and Cambridge ; the constitu- tion of the United States — these were topics that he touched with the promptitude and power of a master. He quoted from the ancient classics, and poets of modern Italy, (the latter in the original also) not with the ostentation of scholarship, which he is above, but as if they came out whether he would or no, amidst the multitude of his irrepressi- ble ideas and illustrations. He handled nothing at length, but with a happy brevity ; the rarest art in conversation, when loaded with matter like his. Sometimes he despatched a subject in a paren- thesis ; sometimes by a word, that told like a blow. Not long after this my first meeting with him, one of his friends informed me that a gentle- man whose son was about to study law, asked him what books he ought to read. " Tell him to begin with Demosthenes and Dante,''^ What, to make a lawyer, said the father ? " Yes," he replied, " and if you don't take, we 'joon^t argue about it^ Mr. Mill, M. Dumont, and Sir Samuel Romilly, did their parts towards keeping up the ball of conversation, which however was hit oftenest and hardest by Mr. Brougham, though he did not monopolize, any more than argue. Sheridan being spoken of, Sir TT ,1 318 residi:nce AT THE ri818. Samuel Ilomilly, who had frequently heard him in the House of Commons, said, that nothing could be more marked than the diflference between the parts of his speeches previously written out, and the extemporaneous parts. The audience could discover in a moment when he fell into the latter. It was well known, ho added, that all the highly wrought passages in his speeches on Hastings's impeachment, were prepared before hand and committed to memory. After we rose from table, Mr. Bentham sought conversation with me about the United States. " Keep your salaries low," said he ; " it is one of the secrets of the success of your government." " But what is this," he inquired, " called a board of navy commissioners that you have lately set up ; I don't understand it ?" I explained it to him. *' I can't say that I like it," he replied ; " the sim- plicity of your public departments has heretofore been one of their recommendations, but boards make screens ; if any thing goes wrong, you don't know where to find the offender ; it was the board that did it, not one of the members : always the board, the board P^ I got home at a late hour, having witnessed a degree of intellectual point and strength throughout the whole evening, not easily to have been exceeded. Ill ]S{f^.] COURT OF LONDON. 3 19 July 30. The French nmbassador gave an entertainment to the Prince Regent. There were present all the foreign ambassadors and ministers, Lord Castlcreagh, Lord Melville, Lord Stewart, Lord Binning, the vice chancellor, and other offi- cial characters, the company being large. The dinner arrangements were in part on the models of France ; the wines, were Burgundy, Tokay, St. Julien, sillery champagne non mousseux, and others in esteem at such tables ; all, as is the custom in England, on the table at the same time, to be used as preferred. In the fruit course, were displayed the mingled fruits of France and Eng- land ; from the gardens of the former, and hot houses of the latter. In England it is only by heat so obtained, that fruit can have its full flavour; yet so numerous all over the island are these re- ceptacles of artificial heat, that they become as another sun to the English climate. Beautiful as was the appearance of every thing, the chief attraction did not lie there ; but in the distinguished entertainers, the Marquis and Marchioness D'Osmond. French society has always been celebrated; the Sevignes, the du Deflfands, the de Levises, and a thousand others have told us of it. The manners of the French of those days, in spite of the alloy mixed with I i '/ i '» 4 320 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. them, command admiration, and are embalmed in the literature of the nation ; it may be added, of Europe. Their influence survives in France; for even those who discard totally French politics of the same ages, cherish the example of personal accomplishments that gave grace and ornament to social life. The memory of them was recalled on the occasion of this entertainment. But among personages of the class pssembled, exterior attractions are not all that engage the thoughts. In the drawing rooms of London as the saloons of Paris, intervals are found for other topics. " What is it,''^ whispered to me in the cours3 of the evening an ambassador from one of the great powers, " what is it we hear about Pensa- cola ? are you going to have difficulty with Spain ?" I replied that I hoped not. " May 1 hear from you the circumstances — / should be glad to inform my court what they are^ I said they were simply these : The United States were at war with the Seminole Indians, a tribe dwelling partly in Florida ; Spain was bound by treaty to restrain their hostilities from within her own line ; never- theless, they crossed the line, attacked our people, and fell back into Florida ; there, they recruited for new attacks, and when pursued, found shelter, it was hoped without the knowledge of Spain, in |!i;r'i 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 321 the Spanish posts of St. Marks and Pcnsacola. Such in a word were the facts on which General Jackson, commander of the United States troops, had acted. He had accordingly taken possession of those fortresses ; not as an act of hostility to Spain, but in necessary prosecution of the war against the Indians, and defence oi' our own fron- tier. The ambassador said, that Europe would look with interest upon the progress of the affair. I gave the same information to one of the minis- ters plenipotentiary. The latter remarked, that the diplomatic corps were full of the news ; for said he, " we have had nothing of late so exciting ; it smacks of war^ I said, that I had no belief that the United States would detain the posts an hour after the necessity that led to their being taken, ceased. Mr. Poleticca, appointed minister from Russia to the United States, was of the company. He spoke of the friendly dispositions he should carry with him to my country, by command of his sove- reign. So strongly, he said, were his instructions imbued with this spirit, that he would not scruple to read them to Mr. Adams, when he got to Washington. I learned, not from Mr. Poleticca but otherwise, that they related in part to the United States joining the Holy Alliance. This may seem strange. It may be explained by the 41 !1 - Hi h & I '■ lik if^' :' i [ I ■ !.'! j, i' 322 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. remark, that there was nothing objectionable in the ends proposed on the face of this alHance ; re- ligion, peace, and justice among nations, being its professed objects. It was, however, a sufficient objection to any free government becoming party to it, that it sprung from the wills of irresponsible sovereigns, was perfected by their autograph sig- natures, and susceptible, from its very nature, of being interpreted and enforced to their own ends. The emperors of Russia and Austria, and the king of Prussia, first signed it. England declined ; on the ground that by the forms of her constitution, no treaty or league of any kind was ever signed by the monarch in person, but by ministers respon- sible to the nation. A representative of one of the second rate powers of Europe remarked to me at this dinner, on the mortification which such powers felt at having all their movements brought under the inspection and controul of this alliance. He told, very happily I thought in this connexion, the anecdote of the Dutch ambassador who was sent to make peace with Louis XIV, after his first suc- cesses against Holland ; but who, on hearing the e^xtravagant terms demanded by Louis, swooned away, as being of a nature never to be yielded, . and which he knew not how to resist. The Prince Regent sat on the right of the 11^ ' 1818.1 COURT ( ' LONDON. 323 French ambassador, and the whole entertainment was sumptuous. The company remained until a late hour in the drawing rooms, under the spell of French affability and taste. July 31. Had an interview with Lord Castle- reagh, by appointment, at the French ambassador's, yesterday. He informed me that the court of Madrid had made propositions to Great Britain to mediate between Spain and her colonies, and invited the European Alliance to join. The invi- tation was given in a note from the Spanish am- bassador in London, written early this month. He had not known of it at the time of our interview on the sixteenth, having then just got back from Ireland, and a convenient opportunity of noticing it had not offered when we were together after- wards. He had therefore sought this interview. He could not better unfold the subject than by put- ting into my hands the notes that had passed ; first, the one from the Spanish ambassador ; next, the answer of the British government, drawn up a few days ago ; thirdly, as coupling itself with the subject, a note of the British government of the twenty eighth of August 1817, addressed to the allied powers and made known to Spain, con- i ' y 1 ;• i M 324 RESIDENCE AT THE flSlS. taining the sentiments of Great Britain as to a mediation at that time. I read each note. The introductory matter of the Spanish ambassador's, spoke of the rebellious nature of the war in the colonies, of the past clemency of Spain, and her continued willingness to terminate the quarrel. It then laid down the following as the basis on which a mediation was asked. 1. An amnesty to the colonies on their being reduced. Lord Castlereagh explained this word, which was a translation from the Spanish, by saying that Spain did not mean conquered, but only that ll.s colonies must desist from hostility. 2. The king of Spain to employ in his public ser- vice in America, qualified Americans as well as European Spaniards. 3. The king to grant the colonies privileges of trade adapted to the existing posture of things, 4. The king to acquiesce in all measures the mediating powers might suggest to effect the above objects. The British answer approved the propositions, as general ones, but caHed for explanations by which the meaning of some of them might be rendered more definite. It expressed an opinion that the dispute ought to be healed without taking away the political supremacy of the parent state. It declared that the trade of the colonies ought to '*■■• I. f iesce in all 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 335 be free to the rest of the world, the mother country being placed upon a footing of reasonable prefer- ence. Lastly it made known, that Great Britain would do no more than interpose friendly offices, using no compulsion should they fail. The British note of August 1817, related chiefly to the commercial freedom of the colonies and the non-employment of force. It was very explicit on the first point, going the length the United States had done, of saying that Great Britain would accept no privileges of trade at the hands of the colonies not open to other nations ; and on the second point, unequivocally disavowing all inten- tion of forcing the colonies by arms, into any measures whatever. The proffered mediation at this period, went off" on the question of the slave trade, Britain insisting on its abolition by Spain on ter .3 to whicl^ the latter would not then assent. These state papers, the purport of which I give succinctly, without following the precise words, record the opinions of Great Britain on the settle- ment of this contest at the epochs indicated. When I had finished reading them, his lordship asked if I was in possession of the views of my own government as to a basis of settlement. I replied in the affirmative ; informing him that the desire of my government was, that the colonies ,■ 332 RESIDENCR AT TIIE [1818. my colleague, whose arrival was so soon expected, I saw enough in the suggestion of them to bring the subject again within the pale of our discus- sions. His lordship passed to a new subject, his man- ner showing the interest he felt in it. It was the execution, by order of General Jackson, of two British subjects, Arbuthnot and Ambrister. This transaction grew out of the war against the Semi- nole Indians. Ambrister was taken in the field, fighting on their side against the forces of the United States ; Arbuthnot was made prisoner in the Spanish fort of St. Marks, and charged with instigating the Indians to war against our troops and people. His lordship inquired if I had any intelligence from my government respecting these executions, saying that his majesty's government had none, as yet, from Mr. Bagot. I replied, that neither had I any from my government. He said that he could have no complaint to make at pre- sent, the case not being officially before the Bri- tish government ; but assuming the rumours in the new^spapers to have any foundation, the execution of these men under the mere authority of the com- manding general, without any reference to the government of the United States, seemed an ex- treme measure. He asked if I could account for ' i 4 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 333 it. I replied, that I could only account for it by supposing the offences to have been extreme ; this, combined with the distance of the commanding general from Washington, had probably presented the whole case to his mind as one to be acted upon at his own discretion, and under his own responsi- bility ; the Indians when waging war, destroyed their prisoners, sparing neither age nor sex, which necessarily exposed those who took side with them, to their own rules of warfare, if captured ; a mo- mentary humanity might indeed regret this kind of retaliation ; but perhaps the permanent interests of humanity would be promoted, as its tendency would be to deter others from instigating the Indians to attack our people. It was so that I spoke. His lordship made no other reply than to express a hope that every thing would be well explained, the occurrence being of a nature to ex- cite unusual sensibility in England. I remarked that I saw with concern the inflammatory com- ments of the public journals, before the occurrence could be rightly understood in England ; not that the press in either country should ever be left to any other influence or controul, than its own will ; but from the fear that it might forerun, in this in- stance, the real nature of the case, and raise up difficulties not intrinsic to it. He replied by i p 1^ ■I -'i; . ; ''j 334 RESIDENCE AT THE TlSlS. disavowing all connexion on this as on other occasions, between the governnnent and such of the public prints as were said to propagate its opinions; remarking, that the government formed its own views of subjects without following those of the newspapers, or dictating them. He said at parting, that it was his intention to go out of town tomorrow, to be back on the twenty fifth. M' August 16. Mr. Gallatin arrives in London. August 17. Address a note to Lord Castle- reagh, informing him of Mr. Gallatin's arrival, and that we were ready to open the negotiation. August 19. Receive an answer. His lordship being still out of town, says, that he will be happy to see us at dinner at his country residence, on the twenty second. We are invited to come early, to give time for a conference before dinner, and re- main all night. August 20. Employed to day and yesterday in going with Mr. Gallatin to leave our cards at the houses of the members of the cabinet and diplo- matic corps. As the minister plenipotentiary last 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 335 arriving, he makes the first call, though only in transitory relations with this court. August 23. We arrived at Lord Castlereagh's country seat. North Cray, Kent, sixteen miles from town, yesterday at three o'clock. We found there, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goul- burn, the two British plenipotentiaries. After a courteous welcome, we all withdrew to his lord- ship's cabinet, where an informal beginning was made in the negotiation. His lordship said, that this first meeting was one in which he took much interest, though its principal design was to bring the parties together, and fix the subjects rather than discuss them. The negotiation was impor- tant to both countries j he sincerely felt it so to Great Britain ; his majesty's government earnestly desired, that every question which led to past mis- understandings, might be amicably adjusted at this season of peace, so as to lay a foundation of stable harmony for the future ; he trusted that the aim of each country would be to advance, as far as compatible with its own rights and interests, the just rights and interests of the other. In short, let us strive, said he, so to regulate our intercourse in all respects, as that " each, nation may be able to do its utmost towards making the other rich if \„.-4 !.,i i (. 1 I IH-- ^i i'} 1 335 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. and happy." These were among his introductory remarks ; after hearing which, Mr. Gallatin and I did not fail to reciprocate in all things their good spirit. His lordship then proceeded to specify the points which the negotiation was to comprehend. Next, he spoke of impressment. The modifica- tions suggested to the proposals I had submitted for excluding British seamen from our service, he would, he said, repeat, for the information of Mr. Galli^.tin. We expressed at once our decided ob- jection to the second ; but agreed, that the general subject should come into the negotiation. With impressment, it was also agreed, that we should let in other subjects of a maritime nature ; such as, the doctrine of blockade ; the right of a neutral to trade with the colonies of an enemy in time of war ; the right of search, and list of contraband. General conversation was had under each head. The conference closed with an understanding that the plenipotentiaries should re-assemble on the twenty-seventh ; at which time it was agreed that the negotiation should open in form. , Business being over, we took a turn through the grounds. The day was fine. We walked on lawns from which sheep were separated by invisible fences, and along shady paths by the Cray side. The Cray is a narrow river whose clear waters mm 'M 'fi III »j 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 337 here flow through grassy banks. Not far off, was a hedge of sweet-briar, intermingled with roses ; along which it seemed to be the peculiar object and pleasure of Lord Castlereagh to take us. Such, and other rural appearances, might have been expected at such a spot ; but they were not all that we saw ; there was something I had not ex- pected ; it was a menagerie. Taste, in England, appears to take every form. In this receptacle, were lions, ostriches, kangaroos, and I know not what variety of strange animals. Those who col- lect rare books and pictures, are too numerous to be corv '^'^d; so, those who gather relics and cu- riositi - -xom different parts of the world. Some persons are concologists ; they have the shells of all coasts arranged under scientific classification, like plants in botany. Some collect pipes, (al- though not smoking them,) from the beaded pat- terns of the Mohawks, to those of Persia and Con- stantinople studded with jewels and gold ; on the gratification of this taste, I am told of an indivi- dual who has actually laid out seven thousand pounds sterling. And here, amidst lawns and gardens, amidst all that denoted cultivation and art, I beheld wild beasts and outlandish birds — the tenants of uncivilized forests and skies — set down as if for contrast ! 43 ^i . 1 1 1, pi; 333 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Getting back from our walk, we were shown into our rooms to dress for dinner. At dinner, we were joined by Lady Castlereagh and the Countess of Sandwich. Lord Clanwilliam and the two Mr. Stewarts, nephews of Lord Castlereagh, were also of the guests, with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goul- burn. Every thing was talked of but the negotia- tion, the four-footed and feathered occupants of the menagerie not being forgotton ; any more than a troop of gypsies encamped in a field hard by. We rose from the table at an early hour. The remainder of the evening passed in conversation, and conversation games, to which the ladies im- parted the chief charm. In the course of the evening, I transiently picked up from one of the tables a printed volume of the British state papers of a few years back ; on opening which I observed the leaves turned down at the part containing the correspondence of Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney, on the subject of the treaty negotiated by them in 1806, but rejected on our side, chiefly because it contained no provision on impressment ; at which passage I naturally imagined his lordship had been looking, before our arrival in the morning. My colleague and I felt at home. Invited for the pur- pose of fulfilling public duties, to the house of an English minister of state intrenched in confidence ( t « 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 339 and power, we found ourselves of his domestic circle, the partakers of a hospitality as easy as delightful. At twelve we separated for our bed rooms. We were under the necessity of leaving this agreeable mansion after breakfast this morning. It was Sunday. Lord and Lady Castlereagh walked to the village church in the neighbourhood, followed by their servants, by whom they are said to be beloved for their kind treatment of them. Those who oppose his lordship in politics, accord to him every merit in the relations of private life. To his uniform and eminent blandness in all official and personal intercourse with them, the whole diplomatic corps bear testimony. These are qualities that stand in attractive relief to those which he displays in the House of Commons ; where, as on a daily theatre of combat, frequently after his mornings have been absorbed in laborious interviews with the representatives of foreign nations, you see in him always the courage, the sagacity, the self possession, that mark ihe disci- plined and powerful ministerial leader, sustained by talents for debate adequate to every emergency ; not rhetorical, but prompt, vigorous, business-like and effective. Second in influence in the cabinet only to Lord Liverpool, he almost wielded, in her I 11^ f ^ ii .1^:' -Ii 340 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. foreign afTairs, the destinies of Britain, and, in a great degree, those of all Europe, at critical and momentous periods ; a power in him to which his right estimate of the abilities of the Duke of Wel- lington, with whom he was closely united in per- sonal friendship as official counsels, may be said to have lent its aid. Tlival of Canning let me add, and for a time the successful rival, though in character so different, they had once met in the field; yet, magnanimous in enmity, they after- wards, at each other's tables and elsewhere, lived in the reciprocation of every gentlemanly courtesy and good will. There was a special interest in walking with such a man by his hedge of sweet briar, and hearing that to nurture and embellish it, was a favourite recreation of his public toil. The country between London and North Cray, was undulating. Crossing the Thames at West- minster Bridge, we left Shooters Hill to the north. The whole way presented one universal face of cultivation. The hop is extensively grown in the county of Kent. It is relied upon as a principal crop by the Kentish yeomen, who are said to illus- trate finely the comforts and character of the middle class of rural population in England. I was told that but for the heavy duty on the im- portation of foreign hops, amounting to prohibition 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 34 J except when the home crops fails, not a hop vine would be planted in Kent, or any part of England. The hops from several other countries, the United States among them, would be preferred, as of su- perior strength, and much cheaper. With the corn laws of England, the commercial world is familiar. The same policy is exte:r'ed not to hops only, so connected with the vast home consumption of malt liquor, and other large items of agriculture, but to the minutest products ; comprehending eggs, apples, cherries, chesnuts ! A careful watch is thus kept, it seems, upon the orchards and barn yards of France ! The old custom of gavel-kind still prevails in Kent. This made me look with an eye of chief curiosity upon the country. By this custom, on the death of a parent, his land is divided equally among all his sons, instead of going to the eldest, as in other parts of England. The latter mode of descent the English defend as necessary to their prosperity and power. Necessary to their form of government it doubtless is ; as nothing else could give stability to their aristocracy, without which the throne would not long be stable. But they say that it is necessary to their agriculture, the root of all their riches. They say, that without the capital which it places in the hands of great .1 !^ f' «i ; H 342 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. landholders, rarmin: ji IV 1 i 344 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. quest. I cstimato fully the political objections to primogeniture, and deal not with it in this light ; but the imagination feels the force of a mere rule of law that can link time present to time remote ; that can preserve unbroken throughout centi\rics, outward memorials around which it is in man^s na- ture that his moral associations should linger. In gazing upon these ancient, massive structures, with their turretted roofs, their vaulted ceilings, their spa- cious halls, we are apt to forget the tyranny under which they were first reared, and the rude customs and superstitions of their age. These are gone, whilst the romance of their history remains, stealing into the feelings when they are approached as seats of modern hospitality ; for so it is that here, as on many other occasions, the feelings will be touched by what the sense of right condemns. The interest of the whole excursion was in- creased to me by the companionship of Mr. Galla- tin. His station as minister plenipotentiary at Paris, has added to all his other information, much insight into the courts and cabinets of Europe. A keen observer of men, and possessing a knowledge of books, which his knowledge of the world has taught him how to read, his stores of conversation are abundant and ever at command. He did me the favour to take a seat in my carriage, and in 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 345 his flow of anecdote and reflections, 1 had an in- tellectual repast. August 27. The plenipotentiaries assembled at the office of the Board of Trade, Whitehall. The full powers on each side were exhibited, and in- spected by the other. A copy of ours was handed to the British plenipotentiaries, and a copy of their's promised at the next meeting. We presented a paper containing a recapitula- tion of the subjects which, by our understanding, were to be treated of. They were as follow. 1. The slave question under the treaty of Ghent. 2. The fisheries. 3. North-western boundary line. 4. Columbia river question. 5. Renewal of the commercial convention of 1815. 6. Intercourse between the United States and British West In- dia Islands. 7. Intercourse by sea between the United States and British North American colo- nies. 8. Inland intercourse between same and same. 9. Impressment. 10. Blockades. 11. Colonial trade in time of war. 12. List of con- traband. 13. Miscellaneous, minor, questions. The British plenipotentiaries agreed to this re- capitulation. Referring to the fifth head, they asked whether we intended to discuss the provi- sions of the existing convention ; that instrument 44 ^l, I I I ■ *''*■ V i I {i B' 345 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. might not, they remarked, contain for cither party all that was wished ; but if opened, each would have alterations to propose, which would throw the whole at large. Under this reasoning, it was determined not to open it for discussion. We ex- pressed a desire not to proceed immediately to the formal act of renewal, but wait a reasonable time to ascertain the progress made on other points. The desire was acceded to. The British plenipo- tentiaries stated that they did not view this con- vention as connected with any of the other points, alleging that they had been ready, but for our asking a pause, to proceed at once to the act of renewal. Both parties united in the propriety of its being renewed in time to let the merchants of the two countries be seasonably informed of the ground on which they were to stand. After some conversation on other points, the meeting adjourn- ed to the twenty-ninth. It was agreed that the negotiation should be carried on by conferences and protocols, the privilege being open to either party of recording their sentiments on the proto- cols. "Whitehall is one of the ancient palaces of Lon- don ; of which, though many alterations have been made, there are portions of architecture in the in- terior that show the traces. The room in Which .( I 1818.] (X)URT OF LONDON. 347 we assembled, had once been llie bed chamber of the Duke of Monmouth ; it was also mentioned, that Gibbon, when a member of the Board of Trade, had often written at the table before us. August 29. The plenipotentiaries met. The protocol of the last conference, as drawn up by the British plenipotentiaries, was rea 1 and adopt- ed. We had also prepared one, brt thf^ foriier was preferred, as shortest. They gave us a cjpy of their full powers. Regular discussions now commenced. The question about the slaves first presented ii.elf. During the war of 1812, great numbers of this de- scription of population belonging to the landed proprietors of the southern states, had found their way to British ships in the Chesapeake, or other waters of the Union. A large portion had gone on board of them, under proclamations from the British naval commanders; some -ithout these incentives. Others had been captured during the progress of the war. Their Ic'iS was heavily felt by the owners. By the fir .31 article of the treaty of Ghent, it was provided, that "a// territory, places, and possessions, taken by either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, shall he restored 348 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. without delay, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any of the artillery, or other public property, originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein after the ex- change of the ratifications of the treaty, or any SLAVES OR OTHER PRIVATE PROPERTY." Slaves came under the denomination of private property, by the highest sanction of our laws. The United States held it to be the true meaning of the foregoing clause, that the British were to carry off no slaves within our limits, and in their possession, at the time of the ratifications of the treaties, whe- ther such slaves were on hoard their ships, or in forts, or other places on shore, held by their troops. Great Britain contended for a more restricted construction. She said, that tltose slaves only were not to be carried off*, who, at the time of the exchange of the ratifications, were in the forts and places where they had been originally taken. This was the ques- tion at issue between the two nations. By far the greater number of the slaves of whom the proprietors had, by one means or other, been despoiled, were attached to places that the British had never reduced or taken, during the war. Very few had been in forts or places so taken, or at all events remained in them, up to the time of the ratifications of the treaty ; in effect therefore, the _j£ 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 349 British construction of the clause would have rendered it nearly inoperative as to any benefit to the owners of the slaves. We unfolded the views of our government on this subject. The British plenipotentiaries replied and stated theirs. Tliey asked whether our claim embraced such of the slaves as had been captured at any periods during the war, carried out of our limits, and then brought back again into some bay or harbour, other than where they had been originally captured. We answered in the affir- mative ; assigning as one reason, that we did not consider even the original capturing of the slaves, under whatever circumstances, justified by the or- dinary usages of war. The British plenipotentia- ries did not accede to this doctrine. No definite proposals of any kind resulted from this day's discnssions. It was agreed that we should adjourn to Friday the fourth of September. The British plenipotentiaries hoped to be ready by that day to submit proposals on impressment, we promising to hand in, immediately afterwards, ours on other maritime questions. We made known our intention not to discuss any maritime question, unless that of impressment was brought forward hy Great Britain, '.a .i:!i « i 5j 1 ' ft ■ I (Vis *' 350 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. September 1. Called on Lord Castlereagh. He had sent a note requesting to see me. His tra- velling carriages were at the door, preparatory to his departure for Dover on his journey to the continent. He remarked, that he had delayed this interview as his last act of business ; but not one least in his thoughts. It was to make a commu- nication to me on impressment. He had reported to the cabinet all that passed at our preparatory meeting at North Cray, making known especially our objections to the condition which went to au- thorise a British boarding officer to call for a list of the crew. The British government felt an anxious desire to accommodate this difficult sub- ject, and had determined upon going all practicable lengths ; he had therefore to inform me, that this condition would be waved. Such had been the determination of the cabinet ; he took great plea- sure he said in apprizing me of it, hoping I would see in it, proof of the friendly feeling which pre- vailed in its councils towards the United States. I replied in suitable terms to his communication. Continuing his remarks, he said, that the course which the cabinet had resolved upon, would prob- ably give a shock to public feeling in England when known; but its members would be prepared to meet it. He concluded by observing, that the 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 35 J great principle being at last settled, viz. that on our engaging lol o employ British seamen, the practice of impressment from our vessels would cease, he hoped all details would be easily arrang- ed ; their proposals, put into form, would be ready as soon as we were prepared with ours on the fisheries and West India trade. A few words were exchanged on other points. Speaking of the trade in time of war with the colonial ports of a belligerent, I perceived a disin- clination in his mind to consider it as among the questions to be treated of. He said that the rule of '56 was one that Great Britain regarded as so well established that he did not see how we could touch it. I replied, that I had been under the belief that the question was to come into the negotiation, whatever might prove its fate ; add- ing, that the two governments had been so near an adjustment of it heretofore, that there seemed no reason to despair now. At this point of the con- versation. Sir William Scott was announced, who had come to say a few words to him. The coin- cidence claims a passing notice. This celebrated judge of the English court of Admiralty, in whose decrees eloquence always unites with learning to stretch the belligerent and depress the neutral claim, was the same whose elaborate judgment in ii iitf.iS \h 352 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. the case of the ImmanucI, had done so much towards fortifying the British government in the very rule we were talking about ! Our conversa- tion dropped. His lordship was on the eve of departure and could not prolong it. He requested I would impart to Mr. Gallatin what had passed on impressment, and gave me his adieus. A few minutes afterwards, his carriages drove off. The affairs of the foreign office were confided, during his absence, to Earl Bathurst ; who receiv- ed, and corresponded with, the foreign ministers. The chief purpose of the congress of Aix La Cha- pelle was, to determine whether the armies of the allied powers should be withdrawn from France this autumn, or remain two years longer. Besides other considerations galling to France in the oc- cupation, the expense, which she was made to bear, pressed heavily upon her. Other European topics were to engage the attention of the con- gress ; and the business of Spanish America was not to be passed by, as Lord Castlereagh had, on a former occasion, intimated to me. t J f'^^.^z . J. 11 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 353 CHAPTER XIX. Progress of the negotiation. A convention concluded. Ques- tions arranged by it, viz. that of the Fisheries — North-wes- tern boundery line — Columbia river and territory west of the Rocky Mountains — Commercial Convention of 1815 — Slaves carried off contrary to the treaty of Ghent. The plenipotentiaries assembled again at Wliite- hall, according to appointment. Having given nn account of the first stages of the negotiation in the order of dates, it is no longer my design to proceed in that manner. It has been seen that the subjects were multifarious. All de^ manded attention ; some, copious discussions. These, with the documents at large, the protocols, the projets and counter-projets, debated and mo^ dified by the scrutiny of each side, would present a mass of matter through which the diplomatist or politician might perhaps wade j but be little at- tractive to any one else. My endeavour will be, to embody an intelligible history of the negotiation, 45 i 9 i: '!;A| iiiREVER, in to fish on Cape Ray 'ape to the irn coasts ; s ; and on im Mount hrough the tely along lice to any any : Also in any of )f the sou- described ; fter settle- f the, soil, he United ng within i coasts in m. But i to enter 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 355 hays or Imrhours on the prohibited coasts for shelter, repairing damages, and obtaining wood and water, subject to restrictions necessary to prevent abuses. Such was the article finally agreed upon. The most difficult part of our task, was on the question of permanence. Britain would not consent to an express clause that a future war was not to abro- gate the rights secured to us. We inserted the word forever, and drew up a paper to be of record in the negotiation, purporting that if the conven- tion should from any cause be vacated, all anterior rights were to revive. The insertion of any words of perpetuity, was strenuously resisted by the British plenipotentiaries. They said that in case of war, the only effect of their omission would be, the necessity of providing in the treaty of peace, for the renewal of the right. We replied that we could agree to no article on the subject, unless the word forever was retained ; or if any counter re- cord was made on the protocol impairing its effect. It was by our act that the United States renounced the right to the fisheries not guaranteed to them by the convention. That clause did not find a place in the British counter-projet. We deemed it proper under a threefold view; 1, to exclude the implication of the fisheries secured to us being a new grant ; 2, to place the rights se- m I ii ?''• 3(56 RESIDENCE AT TIFE [1818. cured and renounced, on the same footing of per- manence i 3, that it might expressly appear, that our renunciation was Hmited to three miles from the coasts. This last point we deemed of the more consequence from our fishermen having in- formed us, that the whole fishing ground on the coast of Nova Scotia, extended to a greater dis- tance than three miles from land ; whereas, along the coasts of Labrador it was almost universally close in with the shore. To the saving of the exclusive rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, we did nf't object. The charter of that company ijc^i' been granted in 1670, and the jeople of the United Stawo Id "ever enjoyed rights in that bay that could trench upon those of the company. Finally, it is to be lemarked, that the liberty of drying and curing on certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland, as secured in the article, had not been allotted to the United States even under the old treaty of 1783. When the convention was made pubHc, it under- went criticism in Britain as too favourable, throughout, to the United States. But this article on the fisheries, was assailed with peculiar force. The leading presses of London, opene i their batteries against it. The claims of the United States were described as of frightful magnitude; [1818. g of per- ►ear, that liles from sd of the aving in- id on the Bater dis- las, along liversally ig of the ;:)ompany, company )le of the I that bay company, liberty of coast of had not nder the it under- ^ourable, s article ir force, i their United ?nitude j 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 357 the concessions by England, as of a character cor- responding. Important maritime interests of the British empire, were said to have been sacrificed. Complaints poured in from the colonies. Tlie legislative assembly and council of Nova Scotia, sent forward remonstrances, with which were mixed up, not unsparingly, charges vof American ambition and encroachment. The tide of complaint was swelled by the recollection of similar alleged sacrifices under the treaty of Paris of 1814. Britain by that treaty, said the journals, had given back, and this when she was at the height of in- fluence and power, to France, her great European rival, the enjoyment of the Newfoundland fisheries, from which twenty years of victorious warfare upon the ocean had totally driven her ; and now the calamity was to be doubled, by a like gift to her rival in the other hemisphere ! British statesmen, more caun, thought and acted othervi .oC. They had not been deterred by the anticipation of clamor from entering into the article. They felt t^al if they had a duty to fulfil by guarding British interf^sts on the one hand, they were not released from the obligation of looking to the just rights of an independent nation on the other. It was in this spirit that a formidable cause of collision was removed, without impairing the :.•:«' hM^r-/'-m".: 368 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. honour, or, as is believed, the essential interests of either country. Yet it is proper for the United States to bear in mind, that Great Britain still holds to the doctrine that the war of 1812 totally abrogated the original treaty of 1783 on the question of the fisheries ; the inference from which may be, that she would also hold this convention of 18 k to be abrogated on the same point by a future way, notwithstanding our insertion of words of perp'jtuity. Hence, apart from the historical interest of this part of the negotiation, there is an existing interest in it from the contingent iniportance of the same question in time to come. II. The second article related to the boundary line, from the Lake of the Woods. This line had been originally laid down in the treaty of 1783. It proved defective, and further provision was made for running it, in the treaty of 1794. Several attempts for efiecting this provision, came to nothing. The cession of Louisiana by Fiance in 1803, gave to the United States new and extensive territory vest of the Mississippi. This altered the relative position of Great Britain and the United States in this quarter, and the hitherto unsettled boundary was now arranged. It was provided, that a line drawn from the most a fM 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 3G9 northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods along the forty ninth degree of latifude due west, should he the line of demarkation, forming the southern boundary of the British territories and the northern boundary of the United States, from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, Li case such a line would not run along the forty -ninth degree, but fall above or below it, then the line was to be traced by first drawing one from, the same poitit, north or south as the case might be, unlil it struck forty nine; from which point of intersection the western line toas to begin. Thus it was definitively settled. An attempt was made by the British plenipoten- tiaries to connect with this article, a clause secu- ring to Great Britain access to the Mississippi, and the right to its navigation. They made a similar claim at Ghent, but withdrew it ; and we declared that we could consent to no clause of that nature. Its omission having, in the end, been agreed to, that subject was also put at rest. Bri- tain under the treaty of 1783, had the right of navigating the Mississippi ; but it was then the western boundary of the United States. Their northern boundary, by the same treaty, was to have been a line running due west from the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods to 47 ■ *■ i._ 1 1 • 4.; i 370 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. the Mississippi, It was afterwards ascertained that a line so drawn, would not strike the Missis- sippi; its head waters not being within British limits, as at first supposed. Hence, all reason for Britain to claim the right of navigating a river which touched no part of her dominions, ceased. The United States have claimed, in a subsequent negotiation, the right of navigating the St, Law- rence, from its sources to its mouth. The essen- tial difference in the two cases, is, that the upper waters of the St, Lawrence flow through territory belonginfj to both countries, and form a natural outlet to the ocean for the inhabitants of several states of the American Union. III. The third article effected a temporary ar- rangement of claims beyond the Rocky Mountains and to Columbia river. I have related what passed relative to the settlement at the mouth of this river, in my interview with Lord Castlereagh in February. That settlement, called Astoria, made by Ameri- cans, was broken up by the British during the war, but fell back to the United States by the treaty of Ghent, on the principle of status ante helium. The British plen'potentiaries manifested a strong desire to connect this subject with that of the boundary line ; and appeared unwilling, except under such a connexion, to agree to the line in any shape. We 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 37 J proposed its extension to the Pacific ocean. The treaty of Utrecht had fixed the forty-ninth degree of latitude as the line between the possessions of Britain and France, including Louisiana, since ceded to the United States. If therefore the United States and Britain arrauixed their claims westward, the same line carried on to the Pacific, seemed the natural one. We contended that, as far as prior discovery could give the right to ter- ritory, ours was complete to the whole, on the waters of the Columbia. It derived its name from the American ship that first entered its mouth. It was first explored from its inland sources under the express authority of the government of the United States. The British traveller, M'Kensie, had mistaken another river for a branch of the Columbia ; the American travellers, Lewis and Clarke, as was now fully ascertained, having been the first to trace the Columbia from the interior to the ocean. Astoria had, as incontestibly, been the first permanent settlement at its mouth. The British plenipotentiaries asserted, that ear- lier voyages of English navigators, amongst them Cook's, gave to Britain the rights of prior discove/y on this coast. They alleged also that purchases of territory had been made by Britain, or her sub- jects, from the natives south of this river, before \l ;-t I ' t I 372 RESI DENCE AT THE [1818. the American revolution. They made no formal proposal of a boundary in these regions, but inti- mated that the river itself was the moFt convenient, and said they could agree to none that did not give them the harbour at its mouth, in common with the United States. To this we could not assent, but were willing to leave things west of the mountains, at large for future settlement. To this they objected, and made in turn propositions objectionable in our eyes. Finally it was agreed, that the country on the north'West coast of America^ westward of the Rocky Mountains, claimed by either nation should be open to the inhabitants of both, for ten years, for purposes of trade ; with the equal right of navigating all its rivers. This "'hole subject was discussed more fully by both nations in a separate negotiation that it fell to my lot to conduct on behalf of the United States, in 1824. Their rights on the north-west coast had been materially enlarged by the treaty of the twenty-second of February 1819, with Spain. By that treaty the Floridas were transferred to the United States, and a surrender made to them of all the rights of Spain on that coast, above the forty-second degree of north latitude. Under this branch of the discussion, might be seen power seeking its own augmentation. How 1818.1 COURT OF IX)NDON. 373 strong the case to illustrate this reflection ! A nation whose dominions in Europe placed her in the front rank of power ; whose fleets predomi- nated on the ocean ; who had subjects in Asia too numerous to be counted ; whose flag was planted at the Cape of Good Hope, and other posis in Africa ; who had Gibraltar and Malta and Heligo- land, enabling her to watch the Mediterranean and Baltic; who had an empire i Jie West Indies, as in the East ; and, added to all, vast continental colonies in America — this nation was anxiously contending for territorial rights in deep forests beyond the Rocky mountains, and on shores which the waters of the northern Pacific wash in soli- tude ! In the time of Queen Mary, when the communication with Muscovy was first opened by the discovery of a passage to Archangel, the En- glish ventured farther into those countries than any Europeans had ever done before. They trans- ported their goods along the Dwina, in boats made of one entire tree, which they towed up the stream to Walogda ; thence they carried their commo- dities a long journey over land, and down the Volga to Astracan ; here they built ships, crossed the Caspian sea, and introduced their manufac- tures into Persia. So far Hume. It makes a parallel passage in their history, to see them at IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ■■"' -.^ 1.0 I.I b.'|2e |2.5 lu 1^ |2.2 ^ 1^ 12.0 11:25 lllll 1.4 mi 1.6 o"^ ^ m ^}. ^j> Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. US80 (716) S73-4S03 .\ 4^ C\ \ '<^>^ ^ > % If **l 3-74 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. the present day pressing forward to supply with rifles and blankets savage hordes who roam through the woods and paddle their canoes over the waters of this farthest and wildest portion of the American continent. I cannot leave this part of the negotiation with- out remarking, that the important question of territorial rights which it involves between the two nations, is still an open one ; and I do not fear to record the prediction that it will be found a question full of difficulty, under whatever admin- istration either of Great Britain or of the United States, it may hereafter be approached. It is not in the genius of either nation read'ly to yield what it believes itself entitled to ; and however strong our own convictions of the just foundation of the whole of our claim on that coast and its interior, the convictions of Great Britain in the stable na- ture of her right, that interferes so materially with ours, is not less decided and unequivocal. Nor will she push it with less zeal ; not more on the general ground of her maritime and commercial enterprise, which are only stopped by the limits of the globe, than on her special desire to foster the growing interests of her colonial settleme^its all over this continent, and those of the trading com- panies that issue from them. [1818. ipply with 'ho roam inoes over portion of tion with- lestion of tween the i I do not be found ^er admin- ;he United It is not yield what ver strong ion of the s interior, stable na- ially with sal. Nor re on the immercial } limits of foster the nejts all ing com- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 375 IV. The fourth article prolonged for ten years the existing commercial convention. By its pro- visions, a reciprocal liberty of commerce is establish' ed between the United States and the British domin- ions in Europe, Importations and exportations into or from either nation^ are to he the same as permitted to other nations, and chargeable with no higher duties. The vessels of each nation, pay equal ton- nage duties in each other^s ports ; and duties upon merchandise imported into or exported from either, are the same whether conveyed in vessels of the one nation, or the other. Other clauses give to vessels of the United States the right of trading with the principal British settlements in the East Indies ; viz, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Prince of Wales'^s Island; but it is only the direct trade between these settlements and the United States, that is opened. The vessels of the United States pursu- ing this trade, or going to China, may also touch for refreshment at the Cape of Good Hope, St, Helena, or other possessions of Great Britain in the African or Indian seas. These are the principal enact- ments of this commercial convention. It was originally negotiated in the summer of 1815, by three public men of the United States, long signa- lized in the home and foreign servi Mr, Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Gallatin. Between the time of ■ I! • <' ( • y 376 RESIDExNCE AT THE [1818. its signature in London, and exchange of ratifica- tions at Washington, an event occurred to modify one of its provisions — an event that fixed the attention of the world. It was determined by the alhcd powers, that Napoleon, whose reign and dynasty closed at Waterloo, should end his days at St. Helena. As a consequence, the ratifications were exchanged, with an exception of the right of touching there, the sentence against the deposed emperor containing a clause, that neither British nor any other vessels, should stop at that island, whilst it remained his prison. The parts of this convention which establish an equality of duties, are liberal and wise. That the interest of nations is best promoted by discarding jealousies, is a truth which, in the abstract, none will contest ; but they should be discarded reciprocally and fully, without any of the reservations for which favourite interests always plead. Whether such reciprocity will ever be found compatible with the separate existence of communities, and all their separate rivalries, is the problem. The doctrine hitherto, has been known but little in the practice of the world. The United States did their part, at the commencement of their historv, towards giving it currency ; not always, however, with the success that attended this convention, the provi- [1818. f ratifica- to modify fixed the ed by the reign and his dnys tifications e right of B deposed cr British lat island, tabhsh an That the iiscarding » none will nprocally for which ither such ! with the all their doctrine s practice leir part, towards , with the :he provi- 1818.] CX>URT OF LONDON. 377 sions of which seemed to serve as a model. With- in short periods after it went into operation, Den- mark, Prussia, the Netherlands, Hanover, Sweden, and the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Lubec and Bremen, formed treaties with Britain, adopting wholly, or in part, its regulations. In some of the instanf^es, I have reason to know, that it was spe- cially consulted as the guide. France too, always slow to enter into compacts of this nature with Britain, at last consented to a similar arrange- ment. Such appears to have been the influence of its example. The United States have long desired to place their intercourse with the colonies of Bri- tain, on the basis which this convention establishes, with her dominions in Europe ; but, as yet , ineffec- tually. V. The fif:h article related to the slaves. I stated, in the last chapter, the nature of this ques- tion. AH attempts to settle it by discussion proved fruitless. It was no question of international law, but of sheer grammar. In the end, we came to an agreement, which this article embodied, to refer it to the umpirage of a friendly sovereign. The Emperor Alexander was chosen. It will be proper to state the issue. The case being sub- mitted to him in full form, his decision was : That the United States were entitled to claim from 48 t 378 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. Great Britain a just indemnijication for all slaves that the British forces had carried away from places and territories of which the treaty stipulated the res- titution ; and thai the United States were entitled to consider as having been so carried away, all slaves who had been transported from the above mentioned territories to British ships within their waters, and who for that reason might not have been restored. This was the construction for which the United States had contended. The emperor caused it to be officially made known, that he had devoted *' all his attention to the examination of the gramati- cal question,''^ and that his decision was founded " on the signification of the words in the text of the article,^'* The broad principle of right under the treaty of Ghent, was thus settled in our favour ; but much remained to be done. The number of slaves car- ried away, their value, and the rightful claimants in every case, were to be ascertained. To effect these objects, a convention was entered into at St. Petersburgh between the United States and Great Britain, Russia lending her mediation. By this instrument, various provisions were adopted for settling, through commissioners and other proper tribunals, the above and all other matters necessary to be adjudged. The tribunals were organized at 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 379 Washington and proceeded to the execution of their duties. Difficulties and delays arose ; to get rid of all which, another convention was concluded at London between the United States and Great Britain, by which the latter agreed to pay twelve hundred thousand dollars in lieu of all further de- mands. This sum was accordingly paid into the treasury of the United States, thence to be distri- buted among the claimants ; Great Britain being absolved from all further responsibility. In this manner the dispute was finally and satisfactorily closed. VI. The sixth and last article was merely one of form, with the usual stipulations for the exchange of ratifications. Looking at the convention as a whole, it must be judged by the nature, rather than number, of its articles. They may be thus recapitulated. 1. In settling the controversy about the fisheries, the calamity of a war was probably warded off. 2. In fixing definitively the northern boundary line, so long uncertain, the seed of future disputes was extinguished at that point. 3. In the temporary arrangement of conflicting claims beyond the Rocky Mountains, something was gained ; for in regard to those interests in the remote west, difficult as I believe they will prove of future set- # fWP : HI 380 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. tlcmcntftime is, for the United States, the best nego- tiator. They are not unaware how they bear upon their fur trade — upon their fisheries and commerce in the Pacific — upon their prospective relations with new foreign states in this hemisphere — and upon their intercourse with numerous tribes of the aborigines. 4. In the renewal for ten years of the commercial convention, limited at first to four, a further and more encouraging example was set of liberal terms of navigation between the two greatest navigating powers of the world. It may be hoped that it will ripen into permanence as between themselves, and continue to shed its influence more and more upon other states. Already it has been again prolonged for another term of years. 5. And, lastly, in the article about the slaves, a foundation was laid for the indemnification ultimately award- ed to the citizens of our southern states, for the heavy losses they had suflfered in being despoiled of this part of their property. 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 381 CHAPTER XX. Subjects which the negotiation left unadjusted, particularly the West India trade and Impressment. Having given the subjects which the negotiation arranged, the task, scarcely secondary, remains, to state those that were not. I. First : the West India trade. Ample dis- cussions were had under this head, and it will be my endeavour to make them intelligible, within as short a compass as the nature of the subject will allow. The general question must be borne in mind, as heretofore explained in the fourth chap- ter, to which some details must now ix^ added ; though these will be pursued no further than is indispensable. I am aware of the impossibility of presenting this part of the negotiation under any attractive garb to the general reader ; but I have to deal with it as a duty, and must hope, that, as a branch, and not an unimportant one, of our re- lations with Great Britain, it will not be wholly I I 5 392 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. overlooked ; promising also in its development, all practicable condensation, as well as exemption from official technicality. It was a cardinal purpose, under our instruc- tions that entire reciprocity should be the basis of any regulations by treaty for opening this trade ; and accordingly we offered the following proposals as essential to the groundwork of our plan : — That the vessels of the United States be permitted to import into the principal ports of the British West Indies, which we enumerated, and into British colonial ports on the continent of South America, naval stores, live stock, provisions of all kinds, tobacco, lumber, and other productions of the United States, the importa- tion of which was allowed from other places. And also that they be permitted to bring back cargoes of sugar, coffee, molasses, rum, salt, and other produc' tions of the foregoing ports or islands, the exportO' iion of which was allowed to other places. The vessels of Great Britain to be confined to the same articles of trade, so that they might have no advan- tage over those of the United States ; the tonnage duties on the vessels of each nation to be the same ; and each to be allowed to touch during the voyage, at one or more ports of the other, to dispose of inward or ship outward cargoes. Duties of import and export to be the same on all cargoes, whether carried [1818. elopment, 3xoniption r instruc- e basis of lis trade ; proposals n :— That I to import 3st Indies^ onialports tores, live mber, and 3 importa- :es. And cargoes of r produc- exporta- ps. The the same 10 advan- tonnage he same ; oyage, at f inward port and r carried 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 383 in American or British vessels, and neither jmrty to charge higlier dtities upon the productions of the other, than were charged on similar productions in their trade with other places. Regarding the colo- nies of Britain in North America, we proposed, that both American and British vessels be allowed to import into them, from the United States, the same produc- tions as allowed above, and bring back any produc' tions of those colonies, admitted into the United States from other places ; tonnage duties upon the vessels of each nation, to be equal here also ; and the duties on all cargoes to be the same, whether carried in the vessels of the one fiat ion or the other. The British plenipotentiaries on receiving these proposals, declared them to be inadmissible. They amounted, they said, to a much greater departure from the colonial system of Britain, than she was prepared to sanction. They alleged the impossi- bility of breaking down the system, favoured as it still was by public opinion, and leagued in with various interests, national and individual. The trade of their North American colonies in salted fish and lumber, the export trade in beef, pork, and flour, from Ireland, the British shipping interest, and the interest of non-resident West India plan- ters, were among those to which they referred. They were wiUing to admit reciprocity in the .• f- { ^ ? 384 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. trade^ (tonnage it will be born in mind is not includ- ed under this term) between the United States and West Indies, to a certain extent ; but our plan opened it too far. They were willing to open, for example, all the ports wc had enumerated, (IJer- muda being of the number) except St. Christophers, St. Lucia, Demcrara, Esscquibo, and Berbice ; the exception of the three last, growing out of their engagements with Holland. But if they admitted a specified number of articles in the direct trade with the Islands, they thought that we ought to consent to a larger list in the trade with Halifax and St. Johns on the North American continent ; and also with Bermuda ; we ought not to ask that the trade be confined to the same articles with all their possessions, insular and continental. They claimed also a right for their vessels coming from Great Britain, to touch at any port of the United States and take cargoes for the West Indies ; alleging that without this right, the proximity of the United States to the Islands would give our vessels an undue advantage, and they were willing to agree to a provision that our vessels should have the same right ; a provision, however, the reciprocity of which would have been only nomi- nal. In the end they remarked, that one of our proposals went the length, in eficct, of restraining [1818. lOt includ- Itates nnd our plan open, for ted, (Ber- istophcrs, bice ; the : of their admitted rect trade ought to h Halifax ontinent ; ask that cles with tal. They ling from le United t Indies ; ►ximity of give our e willing s should ever, the ily nomi- le of our straining 1818. J OOtJlT OF LONWIN. 385 (rreat Hritain from hiyin^ higher duties upon urticloH imported into her Islands from the United States, than on similar articles coming from her ow!i possessions in North America ; to which they very pointedly objected, urging the natural right of Great Britain to resort to duties of this kind for the purpose of favouring the productions, agricul- tural or otherwise, of any part of her own do- minions. Wo did not pretend to deny this last principle ; but remarked, that truth in abstract propositions, did not always bear enforcement inter-nationally. We contended that the application of this princi- ple to the trade in question, would prove altogether unjust to the United States. Britain made a dis- tinction, which of course she had the right to do, in her commercial intercourse between her home dominions and colonies. She even drew a distinc- tion in the regulations of trade between her North American colonies, and her West India Islands. The United States were therefore, in a commercial view, obliged to consider each of these portions of her empire, as so many distinct countries. To the United States, they were distinct, as well by geographical situation, and nature of their pro- ductions, as by this policy of the parent country. Nor was this mere theory. In the business of 49 •I i- u u ■I m aL %m #^^ '\\] 385 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. trade, it worked tangible results. The United States made an offer to lay no higher duties on productions imported into their ports from British Islands, than on similar productions from other foreign countries. Britain met this by apparent, but owing to the division of her dependencies into separate countries for commercial purposes, cer- tainly not by real justice j she offered to lay no higher duties on productions imported from the United States into her Islands, than were charged on similar ones from other foreign countries. Now, this offer would be reciprocal in words only, unless it went farther ; it ought to add, than upon similar productions from any other place, according to our proposals. The reason was obvious ; the British Islands were supplied with similar produc- tions from no other foreign country than the United States, The only similar ones, in amount deserving to be mentioned, would go from the North American colonies of Britain herself. The only competition in the supply would therefore be, between these latter colonies and the United States; whereas, there would be a real foreign competition on the productions imported into the United States from the British Islands ; similar ones being con- stantly imported, and in large amount, from the Islands or colonies of other foreign powers. [1818. le United duties on )m British •om other apparent, incies into )Oses, cer- to lay no from the ■e charged countries. 'ords only, than upon according nous; the ir produc" than the n amount from the elf. The refore be, d States; mpetition ed States eing con- from the powers. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 337 Hence the clause would be operative for Great Britain, and only nominal for the United States. It was plain that the former could turn it to her own account; her vessels might come to the United States from her Islands, with the produc- tions of the Islands ; whilst the vessels of the United States would find little encouragement in going to the Islands with the productions of the United States, because British productions of the same kind would get there in British vessels from Halifax, St. Johns, or other British possessions, under duties sufficiently low to vanquish American competition. Such was our answer to this objec- tion. At first sight, the objection wore a fair appearance. It seemed unreasonable to say that Britain must not be left tt liberty to foster, by high duties, as she saw fit, the productions of any part of her own dominions. But unless the United States took this ground, they could secure no sub- stantial reciprocity to their own vessels in carrying on the trade to be a rranged ; and this, plainly because Britain stamps upon her colonies, as regards the interests of navigation and trade, the double aspect described — one making them separate communi- ties — the other part and parcel of the same empire with the mother country — as it may serve to be- nefit the latter, or bear hard on foreign nations ; 1-! H. /* ?{ < • ■;< .'5 ^] # 388 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. particularly, from the causes stated, on the United States. We alleged also the inexpediency of consenting to a limited number of articles as the objects of a direct trade between our ports and the Islands, and allowing an indefinite or even larger list to go circuitously. The effect of this would in like manner be, what the United States aimed at pre- venting — a disproportionate employment of British tonnage. The articles not allowed to go to the Islands directly, would be sent through Halifax, St. John's or Bermuda. To these ports, it is true, they might go in American vessels ; but, arrived there, they would be transferred to British vessels, and carried to the Islands exclusively in the latter. It was a main point with the United States to guard their own shipping from this source of danger. It was so that we reasoned. Nevertheless, it was our duty to pay a just regard to the consider- ations which Great Britain had presented; and we expressed a desire to listen to any specific pro- posals she would make. We asked for a scale of duties that would exhibit the maximum of those intended for the protection of the agricultural or other produce of her own dominions ; but no such document was prepared for our consideration. In [1818. the United consenting )jects of a ilands, and list to go Id in like led at pre- ; of British go to the h Halifax, , it is true, It, arrived sh vessels, the latter. States to source of theless, it consider- ited ; and Bcific pro- a scale of of those ultural or t no such tion. In 1818.1 C»URT OF LONDON. 339 further reply to the British doctrine about duties, we naturally remarked, that, if enforced against the United States, the latter ought undoubtedly to retain the option of laying higher duties on the productions of the British Islands, than on those of countries where the productions of the United States were, or might be, received on better terms than in the British Islands. We also declared that we could agree to no proposals for regulating the intercourse with Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick, unconnected with the Islands. After these and other particulars had been fully canvassed, it became evident that the parties were too wide asunder to give hope of meeting on ground that would satisfy both. The British plenipotentiaries candidly expressed themselves to this effect ; but, as we invited proposals, they gave them. Their proposals adhered to the principle of protecting the productions of their North Ame- rica colonies, by levying higher duties on similar productions from the United States. They also claimed the right for British vessels sailing from the European dominions of Britain, to touch at ports of the United States for the purpose of tak- ing in cargoes for the West Indies. In other respects, as these nominally, they admitted the principle of reciprocity, as far as the trade was to if >. I 390 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. be open. But they restricted it in a way to be little acceptable to the United States. Neither sugar, nor coffee, was allowed to be among the direct exports to the United States from the Isl- ands, although we would have consented to a limited amount of each ; nor were salted provi- sions of any kind, including fish, nor lumber, gene- rally, for under the last head there were slight exceptions, to be allowed among the imports into the Islands, from the United States. Yet it was proposed that not only sugar and coffee, but all articles of the produce or manufacture of any of the British dominions^ and even East India articles, should be admitted into the United States through the circuitous channels of Bermuda, Halifax and St. Johns It was also asked, that, in the whole trade, Britain, by all the regulations of the United States, should stand upon as good a footing in their ports, as any other foreign nation. Such were the main features of their proposals. Britain would agree to no arrangement of the intercourse by land, or inland navigation, with her American continental possessions bordering on the United States, different from the one rejected with the four articles submitted by Lord Castle- reagh. Nor would she let us take our produce [1818. vay to be Neither nong the i the Isl- ited to a ed provi- der, gene- 3re slight ports into et it was le, but all any of the 1 articles, a through Hfax and he whole he United g in their were the it of the with her jring on rejected Castle- produce ISlS.l COURT OF LONDON. 39 1 down the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal, or down the Chambly as far as t^e St. Lawrence. On referring her proposals to our government, with all the views elicited from her plenipotentia- ries, they were unequivocally rejected. In pro- gress of time, renewed negotiations were held between the two governments, some whilst I remained at the British court, some afterwards. Each government gave up some of the ground taken in this negotiation ; but no arrangement, by treaty, has ever yet been made upon the subject. The trade stands upon regulations adopted by the statutes of each nation, which each is at liberty to modify or recall. Until opened by these regula- tions, the prohibitory laws of the Union would not allow supplies from the British Islands to come directly to the United States, or to go directly from the United States to the Islands, in the vessels of either power, Tho reason was, that as Britain would not allow them to come and go in this manner, on terms that the United States deemed of equal advantage to their vessels, they preferred that the direct intercourse should cease altogether. It is obvious, that the dispute was about tonnage, rather than the productions or merchandize of either party. These were still permitted to be M if J* Ij: •(- i« t " 392 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. consumed in the territories of each ; but it was necessary to import them in round-about ways. On a Spanish ambassador once representing to Cromwell that the Inquisition and colonial trade, were his master's two eyes, Cromwell replied, ^\ Then I must trouble your master to put out his two eyesJ^^ We cannot address England in such lan- guage, although England did Spain ; but we may at least remark, that as far as she enforces her colonial system in her intercourse with other na- tions, the latter will, so far, lose the benefit of equal competition. The United States cannot, it is true, complain that she violates any of their rights in allowing the vessels of her own subjects in her North American colonies, to trade with her Isl- ands on better terms, than the vessels of the United States ; but, to whatever extent she does so, it is manifest that, to the same extent, American ton- nage must labour under intrinsic disadvantages, and the British be likely to shoot ahead of it ; which is the basis of the competition at present. , II. I come, secondly, to Impressment. Faithful as were our labours on this subject, disappointment was their portion. A recapitulation of the causes, has high claims to the^ attention of both nations, and I would even hope to that of readers of all classes in both. * ^f ^y ,^ i^tw*' 'Mi [1818. lit it was t ways, icnting to ial trade, 1 replied, mt his two such lau- t we may brces her other na- it of equal , it is true, rights in ^ts in her 1 her Isl- he United s so, it is ican ton- A'antages, d of it; iresent. vi Faithful intment e causes, nations, irs of all m 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 393 It may be remembered, that I delivered to Lord Castlercagh two propositions, which, taken to- gether, embodied an offer by the United States to exclude, by all the means in their power, British seamen, native born as well as naturalized, from their service. As an equivalent, they demanded that impressment from their vessels should be totally relinquished. The stipulation for excluding seamen, was to be reciprocal. The United States agreeing not to employ British seamen, it w^as no more than just that Britain should agree not to employ American seamen. The exclusion was to extend to the public and private marine of both nations. It cannot escape remark, that the United States, by such an offer, overlooked the estimate of pecu- niary advantage to their merchants, for the pros- pect of durable harmony with Great Britain. Wa- ges were higher in their merchant service, than in the British. To exclude British seamen from it, would have been likely to raise them still higher. On the other hand, the stipulation of Britain not to impress our seamen, would have been remote in its practical operation. It was necessarily contin- gent upon the event of a maritime war with other powers, as she does not impress from American vessels in time of peace. Hence, the onerous part, 50 Ij IMI -li 1; n\ <. l^' i!^lM^ hi i 394 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of the engagement would have been to us imme- diate ; the benefit distant. Our offer to exclude all natural born British subjects from our service, it will also be remem- bered, was at first rejected ; but it was afterwards agreed that it should be considered. Two condi- tions were annexed to it by Lord Castlercagh. One, that any treaty containing the mutual stipu- lations, should be revocable on short notice by either party. This would serve, he thought, to tranquilize those persons in England who would otherwise be disposed to think the arrangement derogatory to the rights of England ; whilst the treaty, as he hoped, womd be gradually sliding into permanence. The other condition was, that the British boarding officer entering American vessels at sea for purposes agreed to be lawful in time of war, and finding British seamen, or men suspected to be such, should be allowed to make a proces verbal of the fact, to be presented to the notice of the American government ; but the offi- cer to be prohibited taking away the men. This latter condition seemed to imply distrust of America. It breathed suspicion, that the regu- lations for excluding British seamen would not be fully executed. If objectionable on this ground, it was more so on others. It did not ask in terms, . I 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 395 that the boarding officer calHng for a list of the crew, should have the power of mustering them ; but the mere view of the paper would be useless without that power. The men must have been inspected for the purpose of compari- son with the list. Such inspections had been found among the most insupportable aggravations of im- pressment. Their tendency, in every instance, was to produce altercation between the foreign officer and the master of the American vessel. If the officer made a record of his suspicions, the master, and seaman, must have the privilege of making a counter record. Where then would be the end, or what the good, of these tribunals of the deck ? We did not desire the first condition, but were willing for the sake of settling the ques- tions to come into it. To the second, we declar- ed our utter repugnance and unequivocal dissent. It will be further remembered, that Lord Castle- reagh withdrew the second ; which brings me to the footing on which the subject was taken up in the negotiation. Repeated advances having been made by the United States, the understanding was, that Britain should now bring the subject forward in a shape matured for discussion. The leading principles seemed to have been settled. It remained, as we »H*I mii im i 't':' 395 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. thought, only to settle details. At the third con- ference, the British Plenipotentiaries submitted a projet of six articles designed for the regulation by a separate treaty, of the whole subject. I have abstained almost wholly from presenting at large the documents of the negotiation, susposing that I could cause their essential matter to be sufficiently understood by description. But the gravity and interest of this question, renders it proper to set forth the British projet in its precise terms; a course the more proper, as I inserted in the same way the American propositions. It here follows : " His Majesty, the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the President of the United States of America, being animated with an equal desire to remove by amicable regulations the inconveniences which have arisen from the difficulty of discriminating between the subjects and citizens of the two powers respectively, have determined to proceed, without prejudice to the rights of either power, to frame such conventional arrangements as may obviate the evils which might hereafter again result from the circum- stances above stated, to the public service, the commerce, or the subjects or citizens of either of the high contracting parties. In pursuance of so [1818. third con- ;ubmitted a regulation ct. I have ng at large )sing that I sufficiently gravity and oper to set ) terms; a n the same ;re follows : d Kingdom President of mated with regulations from the le subjects vely, have ice to the mventional vils which le circum- ervice, the either of ance of so 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 397 desirable an object, his said Majesty and tho Pre- sident of the United States have nominated pleni- potentiaries to discuss and sign a treaty to this effect. His Majesty the king of the United King- dom of Great Britain and Ireland, has nominated the Right Honourable Frederick John Robinson, and Henry Goulburn, Esquire, and the President of the United States has nominated Albert Gallatin and Richard Rush, Esquires, who, having exchang- ed their full powers, found in good and true form, have agreed upon the following articles. 1. " The high contracting parties engage and bind themselves to adopt without delay, and in the manner that may best correspond with their respective laws, such measures as may be most effectual for excluding the natural born subjects and citizens of either party from serving in the public or private marine of the other : Provided always, that nothing contained in this article shall be understood to apply to such natural born sub- jects or citizens of either power as may have been naturalized by their respective laws, previous to the signature of the present treaty. And such measures, when adopted, shall be immediately communicated to each party respectively. 2. " For the better ascertaining the number of persons on either side that may fall within the fi ihf mm- 398 RESIDENCE AT TIIE FlSlS. exception contained in tfic preceding article, the high contracting parties engage to deliver, each to the other, within twelve months from the ratifica- tion of the present treaty, a list of all persons fall- ing within the said exception, specifying the places of their birth, with the date of their becoming naturalized. And it is further agreed, that none other than the persons whose names shall be in- cluded in the lists, shall be deemed to fall within the said exception. 3. "The high contracting parties however reserve to themselves the power to authorize and permit by proclamation, their respective subjects or citi- zens, to serve in the public or private marine of the other country. And it is hereby expressly under- stood, that, as long as such permission shall remain in force, it shall be competent for the government of the other power, notwithstanding the engage- ment set forth in the first article of this treaty, to admit the performance of the said service. Pro- vided always, That whenever the power so granting permission to the said subjects or citizens to serve in the marine of the other, shall withdraw the same, notification thereof shall forthwith be made to the other contracting party, and, on receipt of such notification, the power receiving the same shall, forthwith, notify it in the most public and li ' [1818. •tide, the r, each to e ratificn- rsons fall- thc places becoming that none lall be in- all within er reserve id permit fs or citi- ine of the ily under- ill remain vernment engage- reaty, to e. Pro- granting to serve raw the be made ceipt of e same lie and 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 399 official manner, and ^liall use its utmost endeavours to restrain the Kuid subjects or citizens of the other party from further ser\ ing in its public or private marine, and shall t n force the e^cclusion of such of the said subjects or citizens of the othor power as may then be in its service, as if no such |)ermis- siou had been promulgated. 4. " In consideration of the stipulations con- tained in the preceding articles, it is agreed by the high contracting parties that, during the contin- uance of the present treaty, neither power shall impress or forcibly withdraw, or cause to be im- pressed or forcibly withdrawn, any person or per- sons from the vessels of the other power when met upon the high seas, on any plea or pretext whatsoever. Provided always, That nothing con- tained in this article shall be construed to apply to the vessels of either power which may be within the ports, or within the maritime jurisdiction of the other, and also provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair or affect the established right of search as authorized in time of war by the law of nations. 5. " The high contracting parties have agreed to extend the duration of the present treaty to ten years, and they reserve to themselves to concert, as to its renewal, at such convenient period, previ- i Wf 1/ i 1^ J- J, •I i <^^^ 400 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. ous to its expiration, as may ensure to their re- spective subjects and citizens, the uninterrupted benefit which they expect from its provisions: Provided always, that either power may, if it deem it expedient, upon giving six months previous notice to the other, wholly abrogate and annul the present treaty. 6. " It is agreed that nothing contained in the preceding articles shall be understood to affect the rights and principles on which the high contracting parties have heretofore acted, in respect to any of the matters to which these stipulations refer, except so far as the same shall have been modified, restrained, or suspended, by the said articles. And, whenever the present treaty shall cease to be in operation, either by the expiration of the term for which it is enacted, without any renewal of the same, or by the abrogation thereof by either of the high contracting parties, as hereinbefore provided, or, (which God forbid) by any war be- tween them, each of the said high contracting par- ties shall stand, with respect to the other, as to its said rights and principles, as if no such treaty had ever been made." In submitting these articles, the British pleni- potentiaries expressed upon the protocol their conviction, that, under all the difiiculties that sur- [1818. their re- iterrupted revisions : if it deem previous annul the led in the ► affect the ontracting 3ct to any ions refer, 1 modified, 1 articles. 1 cease to on of the y renewal by either Ireinbefore ly war be- ting par- ', as to its |reaty had Ish pleni- Icol their that sur^ 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 401 rounded the question, they would be sufficient to satisfy us of the earnest disposition of Great Britain to go every practicable length in a joint effort for their removal, so as to connect the two countries in the firmest ties of harmony. It was with this solemnity that the subject was presented to our consideration. It received from us a deliberate and anxious attention. We brought to the task an unaffected desire to smooth down every obstacle. It was not to be supposed that a subject that had divided the two nations for five and twenty years, and been the principal cause of a war, could be definitively arranged by the first projet of a treaty drawn up by one of the parties. But we hailed the entire plan as the harbinger of adjustment, believing that we saw in its spirit and outline the sure hope of success. Taking an interval for advisement we said, that the proposals heretofore made by the United States could leave no doubt of their con- stant desire to settle this question, and declared our readiness to agree, with some amendments, to the plan submitted. We added our full expec- tation that, founded as it was in mutual confidence, it could not fail to have a happy effect towards rendering durable the relations of amity so happily subsisting between the two countries. These 51 w I illl 402 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. sentiments we, too, recorded with like solemnity on the protocol. Several of our amendments were only verbal. We did not think that the recital in the preamble met the whole case on both sides, and offered alterations, some of which were approved. To the clause under which there might have been a claim to continue impressment in the narrow seas, we objected, and it was, in effect, withdrawn. Nor did we like the particular mode, or place, in which Britain reserved the right of search at the close of the fourth article. We suggested, in lieu of it, that the words should go to a different article, and provide that neither party should be affected by the treaty " in any of their belligerent or neutral rights as acknowledged by the law of nations, except so far as modified, restricted, or suspended by the treaty."*^ It becomes unnecessary however to dwell on these and other points as to which the parties did not agree at first, since they might have agreed ultimately, had it not been for two that proved fatal! to the plan. To the explanation of these I therefore confine myself. The second article, with a view to ascertain the persons who were to be excepted from those in- tended to be excluded from the sea service of either nation, provides, that each shall furnish the [1818. I solemnity »nly verbal. e preamble md offered roved. To ave been a arrow seas, Irawn. Nor 5e, in which the close of lieu of it, article, and affected by or neutral ions, except ded by the er to dwell the parties ave agreed at proved of these I Icertain the those in- service of \urnish the 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 493 other with a list of their names. This list was to specify the place of their birth, and dates of their naturalization ; and none but persons whose names were upon it, were to fall within the exception. To this provision we were obliged to object, our laws not enabling us to meet all that it required. As a substitute we proposed that " no natural born sub- ject or citizen of either power whose name should not be included in the list, should be deemed to fall with- in the exception, unless he produced proof of his HAVING been duly NATURALIZED PRIOR TO THE EX- CHANGE OF RATIFICATIONS OF THE TREATY." Reasons must be given why the United States could not comply with the British article as it stood. Anterior to 1789, aliens were naturalized according to the laws of the several states com- posing the Union. Under this system, the forms varied and were often very loose. The latter was especially the case when they were drawn up by justices of the peace, as sometimes happened. Since that epoch, the forms have been uniform, and are only permitted before such courts of re- cord as are designated by the laws of the United States. But the designation includes not only courts of the United States, properly so called, but courts of the several states. Minor children also of naturalized persons, if the former be within • 'it .■■HI I : ^fMf fi 404 RESIDENCE AT THE f 1 8 1 8, the limits of the Union, become, ipso facto,, natural- ized. It must be added, that, for several years no discrimination as to the birth place of aliens was recorded. If attempts were made to procure the lists required, a first objection might have been that the courts of the several states were not bound to obey, in this respect, a call from the general government. But granting that all obeyed, the lists would have exhibited nothing more than the names of British natural born subjects, naturalized during a period of nearly thirty years. They would not designate seamen^ the law not having required a record of the occupation ; nor would they embrace minor children, their names never having been directed to be registered. There was but one other source from which lists could have been derived, and here only partially. By a law of 1796, collectors of customs were required to keep books in which the names of seamen, citizens of the United States, were, on their own applica- tion, to be entered. Under this law, as may be inferred from its terms, the entry of names was not full ; nor did the law draw a distinction be- tween native citizens and citizens by naturalization. From this summary it is manifest, that a com- pliance with the British article would have been impracticable. The unavoidable consequence of m 'it>. [1818. fo, natural- eral years e of aliens to procure have been 3 not bound he general beyed, the *e than the naturalized Eirs. They not having nor vsrould imes never There was could have By a law •equired to ten, citizens n applictt' as may be names was nction be- ralization. ;hat a corn- have been uence of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 405 consenting to it would have been, that aliens na- turalized before the treaty, and entitled by our laws to all the rights of citizens, would, by an ex post facto and there foie unconstitutional mea- sure, have found themselves excluded from follow- ing the seas as an occupation. All these obstacles we presented to the British plenipotentiaries ; and they were plainly such as we could not remove, whatever our desire. But we urged, that the condition required, appeared unnecessary. By the substitute we proposed, every native born subject of Britain claiming the right of serving in our vessels, and not being able to show his name upon the lists, would have to adduce other proof of his naturalization. This other proof must have been, either the original certificate of naturalization, or an authentic copy. It could have been on no better proof, that any names would have been returned in the lists. If minors claimed the benefit of the exception, legal proof must have been given of their identity ; to which must have been subjoined, proof of the naturalization of their fathers. We urged also the right reserved to either party of annulling the treaty at will, as affording a sufficient security. It was a reservation, not of our choice, but acqui- esced in, to avoid objection, and supersede the 4 , L,. . A 4- 3:1 m V 'U 406 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. necessity of details too complicated. It gave Bri- tain a remedy in her own hands against deviations from the true spirit of the compact, whenever she believed any were committed. But we could not prevail upon the British pleni- potentiaries to recede from their ground. They appeared to have taken up an impression which we were unable to expel, that great numbers of their seamen intended by the treaty to be excluded, would, but for the condition annexed, find their way into our service. An error insensibly prevailing in Britain, seems to lie at the root of the whole evil. It consists in supposing that the United States cannot obtain seamen of their own, but must depend upon Britain for theiii. Why, any more than on Britons to till their farms, or build their houses, seems strange ! I will give an instance of this error. When the Franklin anchored off Cowes, visiters came on board in great numbers. The ship's decks were of course filled with her seamen ; who, to be sure, looked like English seamen, and spoke the same language. Soon the rumour went that many were English. All rumours grow ; and so this. In a fortnight, I read in the London prints, thrJ more than one-third of the whole were native born British subjects ! The news passed from journal to jour- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 407 nal, fixing itself, no doubt, as a positive fact in the belief of many an honest Englishman, who would have been ready on its authority to utter indignant complaints against America, for thus drawing away his majesty's seamen ! The commentary upon the supposed fact is, that Commodore Stew- art informed me, that out of his crew, of upwards of seven hundred men, twenty-five would include all of foreign birth. Of these, half were from parts of Europe, other than Britain. I would not fall into the indecorum of supposing, that errors so gross as this, could ever be committed by persons having better opportunities, above all, official op- portunities, of information ; but it points to the popular misconception. I fully believe, and this not as an unexamined opinion, that the proportion of native American seamen on board American ships of war, will always be found greater than of native British seamen on board British ships of war. The relative size of the two navies consi- dered, it is indeed, demonstrable, that the United States are better able to man theirs with native American, than the British theirs with native British. The other part of the projet that produced fatal diversity, was in the first article. It ran thus: ^^ provided always, that nothing contained in this m'JPI "ti ', \ t r; , ■ 4:,). 408 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. article shall be understood to apply to such natural born subjects or citizens of either power, as may have been naturalized by their respective laws previous to the SIGNATURE of the present treaty,''^ In place of SIGNATURE, WC prOpOSCd " EXCHANGE OP RATIFICA- TIONS." To the former, we could not consent. It would have brought with it the same conse- quence — that of violating our Constitution. The obligations of a treaty are not complete, until ex- change of ratifications. To exclude from our ser- vice, subjects naturalized prior to that date, would have involved the objection of ex post facto. The British plenipotentiaries would not agree to drop their word. Here too was manifested what, to us, seemed needless apprehension. As by the laws of the United States a residence of five years is one of the pre-requisites to naturalization, the number of British seamen who could have come in between the two dates, must have been extremely small ; not worth consideration, as we supposed, in a national point of view. But we could not succeed in making the British plenipotentiaries think so. The subject was debated until the closing hours of the negotiation, and then fell to the ground. It put the seal to the failure of our efforts. We had offered all that was possible under our Constitu- tion and laws. We could go no farther. 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 409 I pause, for a moment, on this authentic p^^rra- tivc. I look back, with unfeigned regret, on the failure it records. Perhaps I may be wrong, for I speak from no authority ; but I am not able to divest myself of an impression, that, had Lord Castlereagh been in London, there would not have been a failure. I am aware that he was kept in- formed of the progress of the negotiation ; we had reason to believe that the documents were regu- larly sent to Aix la Chapelle for his inspection ; still, he could not share in the full spirit of all that passed. He had the whole European relations of Britain at that time in his hands, with those of the continent also to discuss. Impressment, although in truth a primary concern, could not, at such a season, have commanded all his thoughts. But I know how anxiously he entered into it, before his departure. He saw that the great principle of ad- justment, had at last been settled ; and I can scarcely think that he would have allowed it to be foiled, by carrying too much rigour into details. It is no part of my present purpose to draw the full character of Lord Castlereagh in his connexion with England, or Europe ; but there was this in him, which his opponents did not deny, and history will award — an entire, I will add, a noble fearless- ness. He knew that a treaty relinquishing im- 52 IHI 'I 1*^ lit m 4X0 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. pressmcnt, no matter what the terms, would ex- cite clamour in England, come when it would ; but having made up his mind to the justice and policy of such a treaty, he would have faced the clamour. I believe that he set a high value upon a good un- derstanding with the United States ; and that he was sincerely anxious, not in words only, but by deeds, to promote it. I never saw any little jealousy in him of their rising power and greatness, although awake to both ; for he saw in Britain enough of both, to place him above little jealousies ; and if I have not assumed too much in my con- jectures as to his feelings on this subject of im- pressment, who will say that his wisdom and patriotism would not have been signally manifest- ed? Seamen, as a race, are shortlived. The constant hardships to which they are exposed, soon wear down those whom the tempest and all other perils spare ; and had the arrangement been perfected, the lapse of a few years would have swept away the whole stock of naturalized British seamen in the United States ; whilst the treaty abolishing impressment firom American ships, would have remained a durable monument of the statesmanship of the British minister under whose auspices it would have been concluded. This subject falling through, others of a raari- 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. ^H time nature were withdrawn. It had been airreed that none were to be proceeded with, if we failed on impressment. Wc had offered articles on blockade ; contraband ; trading with the colonies of a belligerent ; for the regulation of proceedings in prize cases, and the conduct of privateers and let- ters of marque. Britain had joined in offers on most of them — omitting however the third. Their dis- cussion was carried on to some extent, but given over when discovered that we could not arrange the point on which all depended. A few words more. The failure to accommo- date this formidable source of strife between the two nations, is only postponed, not defeated. If removed in no other way, it will cease, ultimately, through the cessation of the practice as a home measure in England. It cannot endure much longer ; it is impossible. Englishmen will get their minds open to its true nature. It is the remark of a sagacious historian of their own, that nations long after their ideas begin to enlarge and their manners to refine, adhere to systems of su- perstition founded on the crude conceptions of early years. It is the same with public abuses. The English part, reluctantly, with those sanctioned by time; but at length, public scrutiny and the moral sense of the nation, fasten upon them ; as ' i M 412 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. in tho case, for example, of the slave trade. Rea- son emerges, as from a cloud ; the abuses fall, and loud reprobation succeeds to the long tolerance that kept them up. Indications are not wanting of this coming change as to impressment. I could refer to some, derived from private intercourse of a high kind ; but for this, I should have no war- rant, and will take other and public demonstrations. Perhaps no association of men in that kingdom are more likely to form sound opinions on this sub- ject, than the ship owners of London. This body, at a meeting in September 1618, and what Briton will not hear the fact with pleasure, deliberately condemned the practice. The report of their com- mittee, dwells upon it as every way inexpedient, (apart from other objections,) and suggests mea- sures for its total abolition. There is something, if possible, more strong. Sir Murray Maxwell, a distinguished officer in the British navy, when a candidate to represent the great commercial interests of Westminster in the House of Commons, as I have mentioned on a preceding page, made an appeal upon the same subject, too remarkable to be forgotten. Addressing himself to assembled thousands round the hustings, he said, that if his opponent could show that he had been ** for fifteen years engaged 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 4^3 in promoting a political scheme of such national importance as the one that he (Sir Murray) had been labouring at, he would withdraw from the contest ; he meant, the efforts he had made, in cou' cert with many of his brother officer Sj to do away the practice of impressment,''^ Need I go further ? If the conviction of the impolicy and enormity of this practice — this stain upon British humanity and justice — this merciless violation of the dearest of human rights — has found its way into the circle of ship owners, and naval officers, is it conceiveable that the conviction will stop there? No, it will spread, until echoed by the voice of all Britain — until the horrors of the press-gang, and the hor- rors of the slave ship, will be spoken of in the same way. British moralists will deplore it, British orators will denounce it, British legislators extir- pate it; and British historians, in recording its long existence as a remnant of barbarism and tyranny, utter sentiments of sober joy at its downfal. Finally, I superadd my testimony to that of every other American, that the United States can- not again permit the exercise, by any foreign power, of impressment on board their vessels at sea. After the incontestible facts set forth in the twelfth chapter of this work, they would be untrue •5' \r 4^4 RESIDENCE AT THE 1*1818. to themselves, and the race they spring from, if they did. I have gone through the topics of this negotia- tion. I have given, succinctly, but I trust accu- rately, those comprised in the convention ; I have set forth, I hope intelligibly, and enough at large, the causes of disappointment as to others. May the day soon arrive v^hen the adjustment of at least that of impressment, may cemect by yet closer ties two nations that ought to feel and act like friends, instead of pouring out their blood in battle. 11 i 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 415 CHAPTER XXI. The English in the autumn. Inauguration of the Lord Mayor. Death of the Queen. Whilst the negotiation was going on, its busi- ness absorbed attention. Of other occurrences during its pendency, I have therefore little to say. We dined with some of the cabinet ministers and diplomatic corps. On one occasion, a portion of the ambassadors of the great powers and several of the ministers plenipotentiary, gratified me by dining at my house, to meet Mr. Gallatin. Some of them had taken a lively interest in the progress of our negotiation ; nor did I scruple to impart to them, in fit ways, and to the proper extent, its events. Seldom have the United States occasion for concealment in any of their public policy or acts ; and no where is the maxim more appli- cable than in diplomatic circles, that, to get con- fidence, it must be given. A French philosopher has said, that every day 416 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of his life formed a page of his works. I cannot claim this merit, if merit it be. It was not my habit to note down, as a daily task, the personal scenes in which I was intermingling, but gave my- self to the practice only according to my inclinations and opportunities; during the negotiation, and for the ramainder of the year, it so fell out that I scarcely indulged in it at all. Soon after the close of our joint labours, Mr. Gallatin returned to Paris, leaving me to regret the loss of a colleague so enlightened. . .^ ^ . . . « ; In the west-end of London during the autumn, little is seen but uninhabited houses. It brings to mind the city in the Arabian Nights, where every thing was dead. The roll of the carriage, the assemblage in the parks, the whole panorama of life, in that great portion of English society where amusement is the business of life, stops. Pass Temple Bar, and winter and spring, summer and autumn, every day of every season, present the same crowds. Nothing thins them, and their in- crease would seem impossible ; but the depopula- tion of the west-end, is nearly complete. The adjournment of parliament is the first signal for desertion. Every where you see post chaises and travelling carriages with their light and live- ried postillions, issuing from the squares and ' 2818.1 COUR'I OF LONDON. 4^7 sweeping round the corners ; the servants sitting down in seats outside, and the luggage concealed in the capacious box on top. Four horses arc driven, contrary to the custom with the town car- riage, in which you see but two. For a while this movement is constant. The gay emigrants find their country seats all ready for their reception. Thiebault tells us, that the king of Prussia had libraries at several of his palaces, containing the same books, arranged in the same order ; so that when going from one to another, the train of his studies might not be broken. So the English on arriving at their seats, even if they have several, which is often the case, find every thing they want; unlike the chateaux in the provinces of France, which are said to be ill-furnished and bare, compared with the fine hotels of Paris. The next great egress, is on the approach of the first of September. That day is an era in Eng- land. Partridge shooting begins upon it ; and all who have not left town with the first flight, now follow. Ministers of state, even lord chancellors, can hardly be kept from going a-field. When our conference of the twenty-ninth of August was fin- ished, my colleague and I, without reflection, nam- ed the first of September for the next meeting. 53 m M' 418 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. " Spare us,^'' said one of the British plenipoten- tiaries ; " it is the first day of partridge shooting /" The famihes that flock into the country, gene- rally remain until Christmas, the hospitalities con- nected with which usually close with twelfth-night, or soon afterwards. Some stay much longer. Cabinet ministers and the diplomatic corps, are among the few persons left in the metropolis, and these in diminished number. The latter are often of the invited guests, when the English thus ex- change the hospitalities of the town for those, more prolonged and magnificent, at their country abodes. Field sports are added to the festivities ; hunting of all kinds, the fox, the hare, the stag ; shooting, with I know not what else, including archery, of the days of the Plantagenets ; which last pastime, like the chase, is sometimes graced by the competitions of female agility. But foreign ambassadors and ministers do not always find it convenient to profit of these invitations. If not every day engaged in negotiations, one seldom goes by with those representing countries in large intercourse with England, unmarked by calls upon their official time ; and like men of business every where, they must be at the place of their business, to do, or to watch it. But if, for the most part, cut off from these rural recreations, there is one [1818. lenipoten- \hooling /" try, gene- lities con- ilfth-night, ;h longer, corps, are )polis, and r are often ih thus ex- for those, ;ir country festivities ; the stag ; including its ; which [les graced ?ut foreign ays find it s. If not ne seldom es in large calls upon ess every Ir business, |most part, ere is one 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 4^9 way in which they partake of the results ; I mean in abundance of game for their tables. Amongst the persons to whom mine was indebted through- out the autumn, I must not forget one of the British plenipotentiaries ; and, let me here add, that if not of the same mind with us on all official discussions, they both made us sensible, in all ways, of their personal courtesy. The enthusiastic fondness of the English for the country, is the effect of their laws, and principally of those relating to descent. Scarcely any per- sons who hold a leading place in the circles of their society, can be said to live in London. They have houses in London, in which they stay while parliament sits, and occasionally visit at other seasons ; but their homes are in the country ; their tun tted mansions are there, with all that denotes perpetuity — heir-looms, family memorials, the li- brary, the tombs. This spreads the same ambi- tion among other classes, and the taste for rural life, however diversified or graduated the scale, becomes widely diffused. Those who live on their estates through successive generations, not speak- ing of those merely who have titles, but thousands beside, acquire, if they have the right qualities of character, an influence throughout their neigh- bourhood. It is not an interest always enlisted on ii 420 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. the side of power and privilege ; on the contrary, there are numerous instances in which it has been used for ages in furtherance of popular rights. Let me mention as one, and a signal one, Mr. Coke of Norfolk, the invariable friend of the United States, whose abundant and cordial hospitalities, it has been my lot, in common with so many other Americans, to experience at Holkham. It is this which lies at the root of the desertion of the west- end of the town when parliament rises. The per- manent interests and affections of the leading classes, centre almost universally in the country, and these classes are constantly enlarged by addi- tions from those who amass wealth through manu- facturing and commercial industry 5 who so often make it the end and aim of their accumulations, to purchase landed estates and live upon them. Heads of families go into the country to resume their stand in the midst of the feelings and attach- ments to which I allude ; and all to partake of the pastimes of the country life where they flourish in pomp and joy. In other parts of London, in the vast limits be- tween Temple Bar and the Tower, the crowds, I have said, continue the same. Even Ijere, how- ever, the passion for the country peeps out. Every evening, when business is over, the citizens may 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 421 be seen going to their cottages that skirt the wide environs towards Highgate, Hornsey, Hackney, Stratford, Clapham, Camberwell, Greenwich, and in all directions. I heard a physician call the Ta^ks near London, the " lungs of London,''^ These little retreats, many of them hidden amidst foli- age, and showing the neatness that seems stamped upon every thing rural in England, in like manner serve the citizens as places in which to breathe, after the pent-up air of confined streets and count- ing rooms. To the latter they return on the foUowing morning to plan operations that affect the markets and wealth of the civilized world. On the ninth of November, I dined at Guildhall. It was the day of the inauguration of the Lord Mayor ; for so it is, that the season at which the royal palaces are shut, and all the west-end silence and gloom, is the very season when official splen- dour in the city is highest. Mr. Alderman Atkins had been the successful candidate. There was the grand procession upon the Thames, and through the streets. I need not give a description of it ; it has been as often described as St. Paul's cathedral, or Westminster Abbey, and it does not fall within my design to repeat such things. The dinner was in the large Gothic hall. There sat down to it about nine hundred persons. The giants 422 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. and knights clad in steel, the band of music slowly moving round the hall, the aldermen in their cos- tumes, the sheriffs with their gold chains, the judges in their robes, the Lady Mayoress in her hoop, with long rows of prosperous looking citi- zens, presented a novel and animating mixture of modern manners with symbols of the ancient banquet. The lights, the decorations, the variety and profusion of food and wines, gave a high im- pression of municipal plenty and munificence. The premier, Lord Liverpool; Lord Bathurst, Lord Sidmouth, and Mr. Vansittart, as cabinet ministers, were guests ; with many other official characters. One of the knights wore the helmet which the city of London gave to Henry the Seventh. Its weight was fourteen pounds. The other knight, wore the entire armour of Henry the Fifth ; which was that of a small man. Lord Sidmouth, near to whom I sat, remarked, that all the armour of that day and earlier, indicated the stature to be smaller than at present ; which brought to my mind what Sir John Sinclair said, at Ormly-lodge. The rea- sons assigned were, improved agriculture, and bet- ter personal habits from the greater diffusion of comforts among the people through the increase of wealth and science; also, the disappearance of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 433 certain diseases, as leprosy and scurvy, and the advancement of medical knowledge. Mr. Van- sittart said, that the remains of Roman armour had shown the Romans to be a smaller race of men than the moderns. After the King, Prince Regent, and members of the royal family, had been given as toasts, the lord mayor proposed my name, that he might make it the medium of cordial sentiments towards the United States. These the company received with applause. In returning thanks, I reciprocated the friendly national feelings he had expressed. Before going to dinner, we were in the council room. Among the paintings, was a very large one of the scene between Richard the Second and Wat Tyler ; another, of that between Mary of Scots and Rizzio ; one of the Seige of Gibraltar, by Copley ; and other pieces. But I looked with chief interest at the portraits of the naval com- manders. Pausing at Nelson's, Lord Sidmouth said, that in the course of a visit he had had from him three weeks before the battle of Trafalgar, he described the plan of it with bits of paper on a table, as it was afterwards fought. When we came to Duncan's, he recited the lines by Lord Wellesley, on the victory over the Dutch, off Cam- perdown ; at Howie's Mr. Vansittart said, that just f-IH! V I-: ^,r"i ^^■ir 424 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. before his great battle with the French fleet, the sailors expressed a wish for a little more grog ; Howe replied, " Let 'cm wait ''till its overj and we'll all get drunk together,'''' At Rodney's, some con- versation took place on the mancruvre which he first practised in his victory over De Grasse, of breaking the enemy's line. I asked, whether the success of that mode of attack did not essentially depend upon the inferiority of your enemy, espe- cially in gunnery. It was admitted that it did, and that Lord Nelson always so considered it. The Marlborough, Rodney's leading ship, received the successive broadsides of twenty-three of the French ships of the line, at near distance, and had not more than half a dozen of her men killed. My motive to the inquiry was, a remark I once heard from Commodore Decatur of our service; viz. that, in the event of English fleets and those of the United States meeting, the former would probably change entirely their system of tactics in action. I discovered, in the same conversation, that our officers had minutely turned their atten- tion to the fleet tactics of England, and were masters of the points on which all her great battles by sea, for a century past, appeared to have turn- ed. Speaking of naval science in England, Lord Sidmouth said, that it had greatly improved of late 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 405 years ; that Lord Exmouth told him that when ho was a young man, it was not uncommon for Hcu- tenants to be ignorant of lunar observations, but that now no midshipman was promoted who could not take them. He intimated his belief, that naval science generally, and particularly naval architec- ture, was destined to far higher advances than it had yet reached. Talking of government. Lord Sidmouth remarked, that the main fault was governing too much; so masters were apt to govern their servants too much, as parents their children. Of Chesterfield's letters, he said, that they were not in vogue as models of educa- tion in the classes for which they seemed intended, adding, that truth, courage, and the maxims of Christianity, were the leading points of education with those classes. After dinner we went into the ball room, where a ball terminated the festivities. I should not soon have done if I were to men- tion all the instances of which I chanced on this occasion to hear, of riches among mechanics, ar- tisans, and others, engaged in the common walks of business in this great city ; but I will make a few selections. I heard of haberdashers who cleared thirty thousand pounds sterling a year, by retail shopkeeping ; of brewers, whose buildings 54 m iff nv: ; 426 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1818. and fixtures necessary to carry on business, cost four hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; of silver- smiths worth half amilHon ; of a person in Exeter change who had made a hundred thousand pounds chiefly by manufacturing razors ; of job-horse keepers who held a hundred and forty thousand pounds in the three per cents; and of confec- tioners and woUen drapers who had funded sums still larger. Of the higher order of merchants, bankers, and capitalists of that stamp, many of whom were present, whose riches I heard of, I am unwilling to speak, lest I should seem to ex- aggerate. I have given specimens enough. During the late war with France, I was told, that there had once been recruited in a single day in the country between Manchester and Birmingham, two thousand able bodied working men, for the British army. It is the country so remarkable for its collieries, iron mines and blast furnaces. A portion of it is sometimes called the Jire coun- try, from the flames that issue in rolling volumes from the lofty tops of the furnaces ; which, seen in all directions by the traveller at night, present a sight, that, in contrast with the surrounding dark- ness, maybe called awful, making you imagine some great calamity announced by these beacon fires. In going over sQme parts of this extraordinary •i \ [1818. 3B8, cost of silvcr- n Exeter (1 pounds job-horse thousand f confec- ided sums lerchants, , many of 3ard of, I em to ex- enough, told, that Tie day in •mingham, in, for the rkable for aces. A fire coun- ig volumes |hich, seen t, present iding dark- gine some lacon fires. Iraordinary 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 4^7 country, you are told that human beings arc at work in the bowels of the earth below, into ^^hich they descend through deep shafts cut through its desolate surface. A member of the diplomatic corps on hearing of the above enlistment remarked, that could Bonaparte have known that fact ; could he have seen the whole region from which the men came, bordering also as it does upon a country of the highest fertility for crops of grain ; seen the evidences of opulence and strength in its pub- lic works, its manufacturing establishments and towns, and abundant agriculture, notwithstanding the alleged or real pauperism of some of the dis- tricts, it would, of itself, have induced him to give over the project of invading England. In like manner, let any one go to a Lord Mayor's dinner, not simply to eat and drink, but to regard it under other aspects ; let him be told of the enormous sums owned by those he will see around him and others he may hear of, not inher- ited from ancestors, but self-acquired by individual industry in all ways in which the hand and mind of man can be employed, notwithstanding all that the taxes take away, and he will hesitate before he predicts the ruin of England from any of her present financial difficulties. Predictions of this ill i\ / Iii-I \ * il ii 1 .. 428 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. nature have been repeated for ages without coming to pass. Rich subjects among the active and working classes, make a rich nation. As the former increase, so will the means of filling the coffers of the latter. Let contemporary nations lay it to their account, that England is more pow- erful now, far more, than at any former period, notwithstanding her debt and taxes. This know- ledge should form an element in their foreign policy. Let them assure themselves that instead of declining, she is advancing ; that her population increases fast ; that she is constantly seeking new fields of enterprise in distant parts of the world, and adding to improvements, already costly and stupendous, scattered over the face of her Island at home, new ones that promise to go beyond them ; in fine, that instead of being worn out, as is so often supposed on grounds that seem plausible, she is go- ing ahead with the buoyant spirit and vigorous ex- ertions of youth. It is an observation of Madame de St^el, how ill England is understood on the con- tinent in spite of the little distance that separates her from it. How much more likely that nations be- tween whom and herself an ocean interposes, should fall into mistakes on the true nature of her power and prospects ; should imagine their foundations to [1818. t coming itive and As the Mling the y nations lore pow- r period, [lis know- ir foreign at instead )opulation iking new the world, ;ostly and t Island at them ; in s so often she is go- rorous ex- Madame n the con- separates lations be- |es, should ler power Idations to 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 429 be crumbling, instead of steadily striking into more depth and spreading into wider compass. Britain exists all over the world in her colonies. These give her the means of advancing her indus- try and opulence for ages to come. They are portions of her territory more valuable than if joined to her Island. The sense of distance is destroyed by her command of ships, and becomes in itself an advantage, as serving to feed her com- merce and marine. Situated on every continent, lying in every sea, these, her out-dominions, make her the centre of a trade now unparalleled yet perpetually increasing ; — a home trade, and, in effect, a foreign trade ; for it yields the advantages of both — the whole being under her control. They take off her redundant population, yet make her more populous ; multiply the demand for her manufactures, as the foreign demand slackens by other nations manufacturing for themselves ; and are destined, under a policy already commenced towards them and to be more extensively pursued, to expand, we can hardly say how far, her empire, commercial manufacturing and maritime. Her oriental possessions, had she no others, open to her, under a more unfettered administration of their affairs, prospects of industry and riches yet un- tried, but of the greatest promise. It is a saying ri f i ':i 430 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. of her manufacturers, that she could not only supply this globe with manufactures but other planets, if their markets were open; figures of speech, although exaggerated, seeming alone adequate to express her capabilities in this line. It belongs to such reflections to add, that even Bermuda, that speck in the ocean, the place that hitherto poets and tourists have chiefly written about, is destined, under a policy now meditated, to become in another age a depot of British naval power (in connexion with the use of steam) such as no single spot on this hemisphere has before witnessed. Whatever changes may take place in the form of her government, will make little dif- ference in these reflections ; for, did she advance less in political or maritime power under the com- monwealth, than under her kings ? I repeat it — let other nations, let the United States in particu- lar, look to these things, making them an element in their foreign policy. I intend no idle or over- strained exhibition of British power and resources, but write with different views, and on a foundation of what I believe to be truth. On the seventeenth of November, died the Queen. She expired at Kew palace, after a long illness. The last time I saw her, was at an enter- tainment at Carlton House. There, as at the [1818. not only ut other gures of ig alone this line, [hat even lace that ^ written leditated, ish naval lam) such as before e place in little dif- 5 advance the com- Espeat it — particu- element or over- esources, lundation [died the ler a long an enter- is at the of 1818.1 COURT OF LONDON. 43 X royal marriage, she had been distinguished by her affability. Going away, gentlemen attendants, and servants with lights, preceded her sedan ; whilst the company gave tokens of respectful deference. Now, she had paid the common debt of nature. The event was communicated to me in a note from Lord Bathurst, received the same evening ; a form observed towards all foreign am- bassadors and ministers. The same form is ob- served towards them — and to the minister of a republic it seems curious — on the occasion of the any infant prince or princess within the he royal family. I'he Queen enjoyed, in a high degree, the re- spect and affection of a very large portion of the inhabitants of Great Britain. For more than half a century, her conduct upon the throne had been to the nation satisfactory. There were periods when it was said, that she had interfered beyond her sphere in public affairs ; but besides the obsta- cles to this, under a constitutional government like that of England, however frequent may be the instances in arbitrary governments, there never appears to have been any sufficient evidence of the fact. Colonel Barr^, the bold and eloquent cham- pion of the colonies during the American war, eulogized, in one of his opposition speeches, her bii'^ pa ■ i "-'a m :!: 1^ i i 432 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. " unassuming virtues ;" and it seems agreed, that in the relations of private hfe, her conduct was always exemplary. The public voice adds, that the British court maintained in her time, a char- acter of uniform decorum and chastened gran- deur. Her funeral was on the second of December, at Windsor. The body had lain in state for the time usual. The procession moved from Kew; where I went, with my sons. The multitude was so great, of carriages, persons on horseback, and foot passengers, that it might be said to form a compact mass from London to Kew, a distance of eight miles. It continued, as long as I looked, to press forward. As night came on, the road was lighted with torches borne by the military. These, gleaming upon the soldier's helmets, and partially disclosing the hearse, and long solemn procession winding its slow way with its trappings of death, now hidden by interposing obstacles, then re-appear- ing, presented a spectacle for the pencil or the muse. The interment took place in the royal chapel of St. George. There, for centuries, had reposed the remains of kings and queens ; and there, they had mouldered, like peasant's, to dust. Around the vault, seen by dim lights in the Gothic interior, were assembled the Prince Regent, and other [1818. !ed, that luct was ds, that a char- ed gran- jmber, at ) for the •m Kew; tude was back, and to form a istance of looked, to road was These, partially )rocession of death, •e-appear- the muse. chapel of reposed lere, they Around interior, md other 1818.] COURT OF LONDON. 433 members of the royal family, with a few of the personages who composed the funeral train, listen- ing to the service and anthems for the dead. Canning was of the number — Canning, with sensi- bilities always quick to whatever in human scenes might awaken moral reflection, or lift up the tone of the imagination. On the third of December, the theatres were re-opened. I went to Drury Lane. The house was crowded, and every body in black for the Queen. Orders for a court mourning, take in only a limited class ; but the streets, as the theatres, aie filled with persons of all classes, who put it on. Even children, in many instances, wear it; and servants. Such is the usage of the country. The play was Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin, a new tragedy, by Mr. Howard Payne, a young American. I felt anxious for an author who was my countryman, and had the gratification to wit- ness his complete success. When the piece was announced for repetition, bursts of applause fol- lowed, and the waving of handkerchiefs. On the twenty-second of the month, accidents occurred all over London from a remarkable fog. Carriages ran against each other, and persons were knocked down by them at the crossings. The whole gang of pickpockets seemed to be let 55 434 RESIDENCE AT THE [1818. loose. After perpetrating their deeds, they eluded detection by darting into the fog. It was of an opake, dingy yellow. Torches were used as guides to carriages at mid-day, but gave scarcely any light through the fog. I went out for a few min- utes. It was dismal. >«^l: :i f;n failed, through causes which the United States could '^lOt pre- vent, and sincerely deplored. When p ice w'h the Indians had been interrupted, it was nev- t by the wish of the United States. In i^^r border strife that preceded open hostility, aggression almost necessarily came from the Indian. He lived in the forest ; his attack upon the whites, was under cover of night, or from his uiabush by day ; whole families were thus surprised and cut off by him, whilst pursuit could hardly ever reach him, until the tardy force of government was called out. In this manner ha^ipyu - v jotier inhabitants been slain throughout successive generations. But, left to himself, the Indian was not always a dangerous neighbour. If, when roused, he took his revenge, h^^ras ijo^Lpplitute of peaceful virtues; and he was, iTOeover, essentially the weaker party. When the government moved its force, which long experience had shown it was 56 4 *S^' f '^^ I' 'i h i I'll. If: .1' ;i 'J- 442 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. ever slow to do, he was sure in the end to suffer, and be overcome. Hence, if nothing else pre- vented his incursions, self-interest would be a check, were it not for the intermeddling of others ; who, with the double guilt of real enmity to the Indian and the United States, became the party truly responsible for the fate that awaited the former, as well as the butcheries inflicted upon the inhabitants of the latter. And here, I said, I came to a painful, but indis- pensable, part of my duty. I was compelled to declare, that my government, resting upon suffi- cient proofs, was satisfied, that our Indian wars generally, with the massacres on the frontier always their preludes, had originated in one and the same cause. That they had been produced by British traders, intruding themselves, with evil intentions, among the Indians. To recapitulate the proofs, would not be difficult — American history contained th^|g|l^ single instance might be adverted to. The events of the late war which threw the baggage of General Proctor into the hands of the Americans, had put the government of the United State%^^30sses^n of documents to show, that if notffl^%e Thdian wars which President Washington had been compelled to wage, the most formidable of them, were insti- i i Vi'0i,fl~ 1819.1 COURT OF LONDON. 443 gated and sustained on the side of the Indians by- British traders. The enormity of such conduct was the more felt in the United States, as it was there alone that its consequences were experienced. It was known how explicit had been the refusals of the government of the United States to admit, under any pretence whatever, British traders among the Indians within their borders; from what motives, might be conjectured from all that I was saying. That his majesty's government had disowned all connexion with these agents in their work of death, was well known ; which o.dy ex- hibited their crimes under a deeper dye, seeing that they persevered in perpetrating them in the name of his majesty's government, mocking its justice, abusing its dignity, and misleading the poor Indian but the more fatally by claiming to be invested with its high auspices and support. Here was the fountain of the evil. If any long train of outrages and sufferings along their frontier, could be supposed to affect the sensibilities of a people, it was such as I was obliged to bring into view. ? It was under the recollection of them all, that the government of the United States, was forced to regard the cases of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. The necessity of reviewing proofs against them, was superseded by what Lad passed at our inter- ! I 4 !f 444 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. view on the seventh instant. His majesty's go- vernment had acquiesced in the reality of their guilt, by refusing its avenging arm in their behalf. It only remained for me to strip their punishment of the features of harshness which, imperfectly understood, it might seem at first sight to wear. This I could not do more effectually, than by de- claring it to be the belief of my government, that it was to these two individuals that the war with the Seminole Indians was to be ascribed. That with- out their instigation, it never would have taken place, any more than the massacres which pre- ceded and provoked it ; the massacre of Mrs. Gar- rit and her children; the massacre of a boat's crew with a midshipman at their head, ascending the Appalachicola, in time of peace; the mas- sacre, upon another occasion, of a party of more than thirty Americans, amongst whom were women and children, with other massacres alike shocking. As to Ambrister, he had been taken in arms. He had dispensed with the necessity of evidence, by pleading guilty to the charge of leading on the Indians against American troops. And in what light did Ambrister stand ? We find him deceiv- ing them by representations which he knew to be untrue ; striving to rouse them by artfiil falsifica- ^ [1819. jr's go- )f their behalf, ishment erfectly 5 wear. by de- t, that it with the lat with- e taken lich pre- Irs. Gar- a boat's 3cending he mas- of more Q were 'es alike in arms. Evidence, on the I in what deceiv- kw to be falsifica- 1819.1 COURT OF LONDON. 445 tions of the treaty of Ghent, and unfounded asser- tions of ill treatment from the Americans. At another time he is seen applying to the British minister at Washington, to the British governor at New Providence, and, indirectly, to the British government itself, for arms and ammunition for the Indians ; drawing on the war by impressions made on their minds, that they would be upheld by Britain; and presumptuously usurping the highest official names in Britain, the better to carry on his designs. He was the patron of the Indians, the penman of their petitions, the spokesman at their councils j these were the methods by which he worked upon their passions — these the testimo- nials of his guilt. It was a guilt to which, in the eye of the government of the United States, the credulous Indian whilst perpetrating his worst enormities, was only sacondary. It therefore called for the last punishment. As connected with the general subject of Indian cruelties, I spoke of the massacres of American prisoners during the late war, by the tribes asso- ciated with the British army. I brought into view those committed after the battle on the river Raisin. On that occasion, American officers, who had surrendered, were scalped and murdered in the presence of British officers, the latter declar- ^ k It |: I |; i ^1 ' 445 RESIDENCE AT THE ' ' [1819. ing their inability to restrain the ferocity of the Indians. Among tho victims, was Captain Hart, the brother-in law of Mr. Clay, the speaker of the house of representatives of the United States. The public sensation under such horrors might he easi- ly imagined. Congress had been compelled by its highest duties to pass a law authorising retaliation on captive British officers, in case of their repeti- tion ; the executive government of the Union hav- ing previously and repeatedly proposed to Great Britian, that neither country should, under any circumstances, employ these savages as auxilia- ries in battle. His lordship asked, if it anywhere appeared that there had been a connexion between Arbuth- not and Woodbine, the evidence before the court martial, as far as he recollected, not disclosing that fact. Here I gave him a copy of the journal, in Arbuthnot's hand-writing, kept in October and November 1816, when he and Woodbine arrived in the vessel of the former at Suwahny, from Nas- sau. This document established a connexion be- tween the two, and moreover showed that Wood- bine, in Arbuthnot's presence, made promises to the Indians of support from Great Britain, which Arbuthnot knew to be unwarrantable. The latter instead of contradicting them, became party to the *< 1819.1 COURT OF LONDON. 447 deception by repeating the same promises him- self. His lordship next inquired if there was any evi- dence that he was apprized of the true construc- tion of the ninth article of the treaty of Ghent. Passing by the obvious import of the article, that it applied only to Indians with whom the United States had been actually at war, I replied, that there was also positive proof, to fix upon him this knowledge ; viz. a letter received by him from Mr. Culloh, written in the name of the command- ing officer of Fort Gaines, in which he was ex- pressly informed, that such was its meaning. A copy of this letter, I also handed to his lordship. I drew to a conclusion by saying, that both of these unhappy individuals had clearly then drawn upon themselves *heir doom. That towards those who could deliberately become the means of havoc and bloodshed, upon so great a scale, the extension of a lenient treatment by the United States, would be to forget what they owed to their own citizens. Long had they borne the evils inflicted by such guilty agents. If a necessary justice had at length, for the first time, held up to public example two of them, there was room for the hope, that, painful as was the occurrence, it might be productive of future good to the cause of hu- 448 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. manity. I was directed by the President to say, that whatever deep regret might belong to the occasion, there appeared to be no ground of cen- sure. The commanding general stood high in the confidence of his country, had added to its glory, and was believed on this, as other occasions of his life, to have been animated only by a sense of the public good. It was scarcely necessary for me to add, that those who mixed themselves up with hordes, whose modes of warfare subjected to de- struction, with torments, all who fell into their hands, excluded themselves from the pale of those merciful protections which civilized warfare de- lighted to throw over captives. To have allowed these individuals a trial at all, was an indulgence. His lordship said that he would take into con- sideration what had fallen from me, as well as the fresh papers I had submitted, before offering any thing on his part. He asked if I had any fur- ther documents to lay before him. I said none. Will no others be laid before Congress, he inquir- ed? He had here in his mind the letter of Mr. Adams of the 28th of November 1818, to the min- ister of the United States at the court of Spain, containing so ample a vindication of the principal events of the Seminole war, including the execu- tion of the two British subjects. I answered, that ■7^ [1819. t to say, r to the I of cen- 'h in the ts glory, ns of his se of the for me to up with 3d to de- ito their I of those rfare de- 3 allowed lulgence. into con- well as offering any fur- d none, inquir- of Mr. he min- |f Spain, trincipal execu- ed, that 1819.1 CX)URT OF LONDON. 449 the President would in all probability communicate to Congress other documents than the bare pro- ceedings of the court martial ; if so, they might be expected in England by early arrivals. In the end he remarked, that he greatly lament- ed the whole occurrence. It was exciting strong sensibility in England. On this topic, he dwelt with some anxiety ; giving expression however, for himself, to none other than assuaging sentiments. In this spirit the interview had been conducted ; and in this spirit it terminated. I need hardly add, that the explanations on my side, were afforded with all the conciliation of manner that might comport with the necessary enforcement of their truth. January 14. Received a note from Lord Cas- tlereagh requesting me to call on him. On my arrival he said, that the cases of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, were making a deep impression on the public mind ; he witnessed it with concern, as he knew not what turn the subject might yet take when parliament met ; he saw nothing objectionable in the general character of my explanations ; on the contrary, on revolving in his mind all that I had said, there were parts which it was rather his de- sire I would repeat for his more full information. This I did, with the necessary amplifications. I 57 \,ini-'*>r^'./'^lj^^¥^i. . ,) 7. ,-• n t'r?f? 450 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. epoke of the war with the Creek Indians in 1813, and the barbarities at Fort Minims that provoked it. These, there was much reason for believing, had also been instigated by guilty subjects of Britain. His lordship requested I would furnish him with a copy of the treaty of peace concluded on that occasion, and a copy of the act of Congress I had mentioned, authorising retaliation. January 15. Furnished I^rd Castlereagh with a copy of the act of Congress of the third of March 1813, authorising retaliation, as mentioned to him ; and a copy of the treaty of Fort Jackson of the ninth of August 1814. I had expected that he would say something of the views of his majesty's government respecting the Indians along our frontier, in pursuance of his intimation on the ninth instant; but he did^not. Nor did any further explanations or remarks, of an official nature, pass between us relative to these executions. They subsequently became the subject of parli- amentary inquiry. Commentaries that might have been anticipated, were made in debate; but the ministers maintained their ground. Out of doors, excitement seemed to rise higher and higher. Stocks experienced a slight fall, under an appre- [1819. in 1813, )rovoked )elieving, bjects of 1 furnish ;oncluded Congress jagh with of March id to him ; ion of the lething of especting nee of his did 454 RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1810. bable return homo in May, was >i:v' .'loncd. A frigate was to be sent for him. I ^/>ke of the satisfaction his diplomatic career had given at Washington ; and from authority, having been directed by the President to say so to Lord Cas- tlereagh. Paris and French society were favourably spo- ken of. The Duke of Wellington and Lord Fitz- roy Somerset, took a leading share in what was said. Mention was made of a solemn celebration a few days ago, at the chapel of the French embassy in London, to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of Louis the Sixteenth . The priest read the will of Louis. Lord Fitzroy Somerset in describing the good accommodations of the house in Paris, in which the Duke of Wellington resided when last there, said it was the same that President Monroe had occupied during his mission to France. We heard of the exploits of one of the company during the late shooting season. Eight hundred and twelve partridges, and three hundred and thirty pheasants, were the fruit of his markman- ship. Other exploits of the same nature were spoken of; some that exceeded them. A gentle- man was named on whose estate at the preceding season, three thousand hares were shot, by him- ' self and friends ; all explained, I might add, by the [1810. ncd. A ve of tho given at ng been >r(l Cas- ibly spo- )rd Fitz- hat was ebration embassy rsary of ^e priest nerset in le house resided resident France, ompany hundred ed and rkman- e were gentle- ceding y him- by the ISVJA COURT OF LONDON. 455 game monopoly. Something remarkable for num- bers, in another way, huppened to be mentioned ; viz. that Colonel Vivian, aid to the Prince Regent, was one of twenty-six children, and the Bishop of Norwich tho youngest of thirty. Painting became a topic. The collections in France, Spain, and the Low Countries, were fami- liar to some of the company. My attention was most excited by what was said of a picture of the Black Prince, lately picked up for a few francs at a sale on the continent. Mr. Pole said there were good grounds for believing it to be an original, formerly of the royal collection in England. The account given was, that James II. took it with him to France, when he abdicated, since which it had been lost sight of, until traced by chance at this sale. Lord Westmoreland had his doubts, from the circumstances under which James left England ; Mr. Pole saw no incompatibility ; which led to conversation on the personal fortunes of that monarch. The picture afterwards turned it upon the Plantagenets. It was remarked, that the Duke of Wellington had won a battle in Spain, on the precise ground where the Black Prince gained one ; that both had fought in the cause of the crown of Spain, one for the restoration of Peter of Castile, the other for that of Ferdinand the Seventh ; each 1-1 if *l.s Ml .51. ill ill n ■'i'; n 456 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. Spanish monarch haying been ejected by the French. These were close parallels it must be admitted. Another was probably in the thoughts of the company — the fields of Poictiers and Waterloo. All, I believe, would have destined the picture, if genuine, to the ownership of the Duke of Wellington, as a companion to the colossal statue of Napoleon, at Apsley-house, his town residence. Sir Felton Harvey and Lord Fitzroy Somerset, had each lost an arm in the battles of the duke. The duke himself had never been wounded. Others of his military suite, had been maimed or killed by his side. Sir Felton had been with him in most of his campaigns in the Peninsula. Speaking of him, he said to me, that his self-possession was remarkable, enabling him to sleep soundly on the brink of danger. Often, in the hottest parts of a campaign, after lying down, under his usual order to be awoke if necessary, he had known him called up repeatedly within a few hours, by the arrival of expresses ; and, if no movement were required, drop asleep again in a moment. It was such con- versation and more, that the evening brought with it, our fair countrywomen often and gracefully contributing their parts. Of Sir Felton Harvey, as amiable as brave, say those who know him best, I subsequently heard an % [1819. 3 French, idmitted. J of the i^aterloo. picture, Duke of il statue 3sidence. omerset, he duke. . Others killed by in most iking of don was r on the rts of a al order n called arrival equired, ch con- rht with acefully ve, say 3ard an 1819.1 CX)URT OF LONDON. 457 auecdot^i*^ It may be in ^nt, but I have not seen >#il*-: Whilst one of the battles in Spain was raging, the duke gave hina an order, to convey to another part of the field. /Half across it, a French officer was seen galloppkig towards him. Sir Felton's sword hung by his side, though he could not wield it ; it .,was his right arm he had lost, and the other held the bridle ; but he faced the foe, looking him defiance. As they swiftly drew near, the French- man raised himself on his stirrups, !iis sword up- lifted. Discovering, at the very moment for the stroke, his adversary to be defenceless, he brings down his weapon in the form of a complimentary salute, and rapidly passes on ! Such acts give to war touches of moral beauty, in spite of its evils. After the battle, the restless courtesy of Harvey sought in vain for the chivalrous Gaul. There was too much reason to think he had fallen. He made no boast of sparing life, but gave his salute in sile jce. ^ January 26. Mr. ****** called on mc. He had applied by note for an interview, stating himself to be connected with . It was his purpose to ask some information relative to the formation of the navy board of the United States, and other matters belonging to the civil organiza- 58 .^j^^^ymiha-. Q! I I-. I ■'Vi 1i i t l^i 45Q RESIDENCE AT TIIE [1819. tion of our marine. iK'talked a good^^leal^his remarks being sometimes more full than the mere desire for information seemed t0||^quire. A foolish story was flying about the stress, of Bonaparte's escape from St. Helena, — the slbry adding, thf^t a fast sailing American schooner had been in the plot. This led him to speak of the achiev^ipients of the American navy, upon which he touched with sufficient complaisance; but wound up with an allusion to the action between the Chesapeake and Shannon. That, on the whole, ought to be con- sidered, he thought, the fairest criterion of the naval prowess of the two countries, frigate to fri- gate. I did not argue with him, and he soon left me, after the somewhat singular topics it had been his pleasure to indulge in. I am bound to add, that it was the first and only time it had been my lot to hear any broached in England, not suited to ' the good feelings of conversation. The Chesapeake, it is true, was captured. The British captain sought the battle with a lofty, daring, spirit, and won his prize gallantly. I^et no American gainsay this ; for is it for Americans, to rob valour of its renown ? We heard how the exploit was hailed in England ; the more, as it SGimed to break the t»pell of a series of naval encounters between the two nations, that had ■•# [1819. :he mere m 1 foolish laparte's y, thc^t a h in the v^mients had with with an sake and be con- i of the e to fri- 50on left ad been to add, )een my uited to The lofty, liCt no ans, to ow the as it naval it had 1819 1 COURT OF LONDON. 459 terminated H^inst her.^^'feut, however welcomed there, whatever joy it created, I do not think that it equalled, nay I am sure that it did not, the op- posite feeling here. I remember, who among us can forget, the first rumour of it ; I remember also the confident — the universal — incredulity, with which, at first, it was received ; then I re- member, how the post offices, for several days, were surrounded by inquiring thousands ; how even groups of citizens rode out on the highways, striving to catch something by anticipation as the mail approached, under the startling reports that were successively coming in. At last, when hope was gone — when the certainty of her capture could no longer be hidden, I remember the public gloom. Solemn processions, funeral discourses, testified it ; from north to south — in the sea ports — in the interior — every where, it was the same. " Don^t give tip the ship,'''' the dying words of Lawrence, slain by the first broadside, were on every tongue. Wrapped in his flag as a ^\iiiding sheet, his remains were conveyed by the victors to Halifax, and committed to British earth, with honours due to the brave ; but, not long did theyllie there. When peace came, a vessel fitted out by the spontaneous, affectionate, patriotism, of twelve New England sea captains. ? ^'^ 460 RESIDENCE AT THE [1819. and by them exclusiveljffiianned, riwe thcte back to his country — the country he had honoured, the country that loved him. There they repose, under the laurel as the cypress j for he too, in his turn, had formerly, and as gallantly, triumphed, ship to ship, over the proud flag of England. Others, may augur the naval destinies of the United States from their victories; I, from the grief that followed this defeat. It illustrated the intensity of feeling existing among a people where each one, under their noble institutions, identif cd himself with the nation.j and seemed as sorely struck down by a public calamity, as if it had been a personal blow. What mtiy not be hoped of such a people in the achievements of war — ^what, in all i-iiat may advance their pros- perity and glory in peace — if true to themselves, and to their happy and powerful Union ! «t :| M THE END. • i ^ #■ '^ -^^ «^ 8276 4 [1819. ni back loured, repose, too, in mphed, ngland. of the om the istrated people tutions, med as as if it not be ents of pros- iselves, %