258 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



that this charge against Mr. Mad- 

 dison and his minister, is not to 

 be found in any of his official let- 

 ters. It was not indeed said to exist 

 in direct terms, but to have been 

 somewhere implied. In every in- 

 stance where Mr. Jackson has oc- 

 casion to mention or alhide to the 

 knowledgeoftherestrictions which 

 ought to have governed Mr. Ers- 

 kine'sconduct, he refers, not to the 

 period when the agreement was 

 concluded, but that of this subse- 

 quent discussion and demand of 

 explanation, when the American 

 government knew every particular 

 of the transaction. 



The president, in breaking off 

 all communication with the Bri- 

 tish envoy, found it advisable to 

 fortify himself with a set of legis- 

 lative resolutions, approving of 

 his conduct in doing so. These 

 resolutions were carried in the 

 house of representatives, after a 

 continued discussion of twenty- 

 five days, and being signed by the 

 president, assumed the shape of 

 a solemn legislative act. But the 

 legislature of Massachuset passed 

 a joint resolution expressive of 

 their opinion that the negotiation 

 with the British ministry had been 

 broken off without any just or ade- 

 quate cause. The line of conduct 

 pursued by the president towards 

 Mr. Jackson, was exactly the same 

 ■with that which he had observed 

 to other British ministers. It was 

 his aim to ascertain beforehand, 



what was the point to which Mr, 

 Jackson would not be able to 

 agree, and thereupon to insist and 

 take his stand. But Mr. Jackson 

 adhered to his orders, which ex- 

 pressly enjoined him not to pro- 

 pose any thing respecting the 

 grand subject of difference, the 

 orders in council, but to receive 

 from the American minister, what- 

 ever might be proposed by him on 

 that head. In plain terms, Eng- 

 land was satisfied with things as 

 they were. The orders in council 

 she said must remain, unless their 

 object could be accomplished 

 otherwise. The main object which 

 the American minister seems to 

 have had in view, in the course, 

 and by the issue of this transac- 

 tion, was, to feed the animosity of 

 the democratic party against Eng- 

 land, and thus to increase the ar- 

 dour which that party had evinced 

 in support of his power. Nor was 

 the appeal of the chief magistrate 

 to the passions of the people made 

 in vain. The British minister was 

 exposed to repeated insults, and 

 nothing but the utmost prudence 

 and forbearance on his part, could 

 have averted the most serious per- 

 sonal danger.* It is but justice to 

 add that all these indecencies and 

 excesses were regretted and repro- 

 bated by all the dispassionate and 

 respectable part of the American 

 community. 



The official account of these 

 transactions was brought to Eng- 



• But it was not possible for the populace to treat the British ambassador »vith 

 greater insolence, nor indeed with so much as he met with at the hands of Mr. 

 Maddison himself. The first time he was invited to the president's house, the no- 

 torious Joel Barlow was selected as a fit guest to meet him. It was broughtas a 

 charge against a former agent from this country, that he had consented to associate, 

 in the president's house, with Thomas Paine. In the present instance, Mr. 

 Jackson certainly carried his forbearance to the utmost pitch which he could ia 

 any way justify to himself or bis sovereign. 



