GENERAL HISTORY. 



[69 



the secrets of his own employers. 

 His lordship then referred to cer- 

 tain points of the papers communi- 

 cated to congress, and to that part 

 of the instructions to Capt. Henry 

 which mentioned the enclosure of 

 credentials to him, and spoke of 

 the probability of the Federalists 

 no longer submitting to the situa- 

 tion in which they had been placed 

 by their government, but eventu- 

 ally looking up to the English for 

 their assistance. Lord H. pro- 

 ceeded to show the dishonourable- 

 ness of such conduct, and the im- 

 probability that Sir J. Craig would 

 have so employed Henry without 

 instructions from his government, 

 or transmitting to it the communi- 

 cations he had received ; and he 

 adverted to the fact, that when 

 Henry claimed his reward, he pre- 

 sented a memorial to the office of 

 the noble secretary of state refer- 

 ring to Sir J. Craig for his conduct, 

 and had in consequence received a 

 letter to General Prevost, the suc- 

 cessor of Sir J. Craig, recommend- 

 ing him to a valuable office in the 

 country which he governeil. Lord 

 H. concluded by moving an address 

 to the Prince Regent, for the pro- 

 duction of copies of all the com- 

 munications made by Sir J. Craig 

 to his Majesty's secretary of state 

 relative to the employment of Capt. 

 Henry in a secret mission to the 

 United States of America ; also of 

 the correspondence between the 

 Becretary of state and Sir George 

 Prevost, on the subject of compen- 

 sations claimed by Captain Henry 

 for his services ; and also copies of 

 all instructions sent to Sir J. Craig 

 from the secretary of state relative 

 to the employment of Capt. Henry 

 in the United States. 



The Earl of Liverpool, in reply, 

 began with repeating his former 

 statement, that the government 

 here had wo knowledge of the em- 

 ployment of the person in question 

 until many months after the trans- 

 action. It was true tliat a person 

 named Lavater, going in 1808 

 from Canada to the United States 

 on his own business, had, of his 

 own accord, opened a correspond- 

 ence with the governor of Canada 

 for the purpose of procuring infor- 

 mation ; and his lordship justified 

 this proceeding by a detail of the 

 menacing attitude with respect to 

 the British American possessions 

 then assumed by the United States. 

 Sir J. Craig sent Henry thither in 

 February, 1809. A great deal of 

 what appeared in the papers was 

 false and unfounded ; but as far as 

 authentic instruction went, he 

 must contend that the directions 

 were not for the purpose of exciting 

 discontent, but wholly for obtain- 

 ing necessary information. With 

 respect to the remuneration of 

 Capt. Henry, as he had a re- 

 commendation from Sir J. Craig, 

 backed by some very respectable 

 persons in London, and it appeared 

 that he had been really employed 

 in services for which a remu- 

 neration had been promised, he 

 (the secretary) had held it his 

 duty to act as was mentioned in 

 the correspondence with Sir G. 

 Prevost. It was not afterwards 

 deemed consistent with delicacy to 

 say any thing which might in the 

 least have reflected upon the cha- 

 racter of Sir J. Craig, who had re- 

 turned home from his government 

 under a mortal distemper, and had 

 survived but a few months. He 

 could not approve the course adopt- 

 ed 



