HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



259 



land by the secretary of the Bri- 

 tish legation. And Mr. Pink- 

 ney, the American resident at 

 London, in consequence of the 

 orders he had received, demanded 

 the recall of Mr. Jackson; which 

 was, of course, without hesita- 

 tion, acceded to.* 



The marquis Wellesley, the 

 British secretary of state, told the 

 American minister " that his Ma- 

 jesty, was always disposed to pay 

 the utmost attention to the wishes 

 and sentiments of states in amity 

 with him, and had therefore been 

 pleased to direct the return of Mr. 

 Jackson to England. But his Ma- 

 jesty had not marked with any ex- 

 pression of his displeasure the con- 

 duct of Mr. Jackson, whose in- 

 tegrity, zeal, and ability had long 

 been distinguished in his Majesty's 

 service; and who did not appear, 

 on the present occasion, to have 

 committed any intentional offence 

 against the government of the 

 United States." 



Thus ended the third attempt 

 that was made, by the British go- 

 vernment, to accommodate those 

 differences with the United States 

 which had arisen out of the pecu- 

 liar maritime situations of the two 

 countries, and the unfortunate ren- 

 contre, which, in the year 1807, 

 occurred between two of their 

 ships of war. And it is to be ap- 

 prehended that, without a depar- 

 ture of one of the two parties from 

 their respective tenets, no perma- 



nent adjustment of their views, at 

 least as long as the present war 

 lasts, can be expected. The ex- 

 periment of concessions to the ut- 

 most extent to which it was found 

 practicable to carry it, was tried 

 under the Grenville administra- 

 tion ; and consigned to an unequi- 

 vocal form in 1806, between the 

 lords Holland and Auckland, and 

 the Americanminister. Thattreaty 

 was returned unratified, as being 

 yet an insufficient propitiation. 

 The surrender of the right of tak- 

 ing our seamen by force out of 

 American ships was, among other 

 things, expressly refused by the 

 British government. And it has 

 since been as peremptorily de- 

 clared by the Americans, that, 

 without that surrender, no treaty 

 can ever be agreed to. 



The greatargument of the Ame- 

 ricans, is, that the sea is as open 

 to all men as the atmosphere we 

 breathe in. So also was the land 

 before conquests were made, and 

 the boundaries of different states 

 and governments established. The 

 different provinces of the earth 

 have been assigned, in the pro- 

 gress of society, to the nations who 

 possessed the inclination, and the 

 means of acquiring and preserving 

 them. A preponderating power 

 at sea has been acquired by the 

 superior skill and valour of Bri- 

 tain ; and she maintains it in the 

 same manner, as other sovereigns 

 do their territories, by the strength 



• It is to be noticed that the acquiescence in such a demand does not, by any 

 means, carry with it any direct or indirect censure on the recalled minister. During 

 the last war, the recal of our minister, at one of the German courts, was requested, 

 on the plea of personal insult to the sovereign, and granted by the British court, 

 but with strong expressions of the conduct of the recalled minister, who expe- 

 rienced soon afterwards, not only the utmost proofs of his majesty's confidence, 

 but other and more substantial marks of favoiir. This was sir Arthur Paget, fron» 

 the court of Munich. 



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