166 LON 
unification-of origin, that is, of the nature of the goods 
they carried, and that no part of thele was Englilh. 
The wants of men, not the lefs importunate that they 
were luxurious or artificial, having, opened back-doorsto 
various Engiilh articles, both manufactures and colonial 
produce, he enforced the execution of his decrees againlt 
Englilh commerce, by means of new regulations, with 
greater and greater rigour. In eonfequence of thefe de¬ 
crees, the Englilh commerce, during the months of An- 
gnft, September, and October, i So 7,; hat part of the year in 
which theBerlin decree of November, 3 SoC, was carried into 
full effect, was not only greatly cramped, but lay proffrate 
on the ground, and mptionlels, until a protesting and 
felf-defenfive fyfiem was interposed by our orders in coun¬ 
cil. An order of council, January 7th, i 3 oy, containing a 
meafure of mild retaliation, had been evaded, and. turned 
to the advantage of the enemy, in carrying on a cir¬ 
cuitous trade to this country. Therefore new orders of 
council were ifl'ued on the nth and zilt of November, 
allowing neutrals to trade with countries not at peace and 
amity with Great Britain, on the condition of their touch¬ 
ing at the ports of this country, and paying the cuftoms 
or taxes impofed by the Britilh government. The neu¬ 
trals were thus placed between confifcation and confifca- 
tion. If they went to an enemy’s port without firft pay¬ 
ing duty here, they were to be captured by our cruifers; 
and, if they came here and paid the duty, then they 
would be confifcated if they went to the ports of the 
enemy. The options were both of them hard. It was a 
fyfiem that ran into great complexity ; order upon order 
in explanation, was ilfued re [peering various cafes. But, 
on the whole, immediately after the orders of council 
■were iffued, trade began again to lift up its head, and to 
flourifh : not perhaps fo greatly as at its belt former pe¬ 
riod ; for the injurious and violent fyfiem of- the enemy, 
though counteracted by the orders of council, could not 
be wholly fruitlefs. 
A treaty of amity had been made by lord Grenville, 
•with America, on the 3ifi of December, 1806 ; but it was 
not ratified by the prefident of the congreis. For an un- 
authorifed act of force, committed againfi an American 
iliip of war, fpontaneous reparation had been made by 
Great Britain. But with this particular cafe the Ame¬ 
rican government attempted to conned the general quef- 
tion, refpefting the right of fearching for Britilh feamen 
and deferters ;"to abandon which, was confidered by the 
Britilh government as inconfiftent with the maritime 
rights pf Britain. 
To balance, in fome meafure, the difeouragements arifing 
to our commerce from the mifunderfi&nding with the 
•United States, which was every day growing worfe, a 
commercial and friendly intercourse was eftablilhed be¬ 
tween Great Britain and general Chriftophe, who, having 
defeated and defiroyed the emperor Deffalines, governed 
a great part of the iHand of St. Domingo, under the 
snore modell title of Prefident of Hayti. See the article 
Hispaniola, vol. x. p. 20+. —Chriftophe appears to have 
p.ofieffed, in a very eminent degree, the virtues of hu¬ 
manity, and a regard to the true intereffs of his country, 
as well as good fenfe, and military Ikiil and courage. 
He declared it to be the great object of his government, 
to repair the havock and devastation of Hayti, by the efia- 
blilhment of juft laws, focial order, freedom of trade, and, 
above all, a commercial and friendly alliance with the 
only people that had ftood forth in fupport of regular go¬ 
vernment and law, in fo many countries Subverted, and 
every-where fliaken. He had great confidence, and a pre¬ 
dilection, for the perfonal character of the Englilh. He 
Spared the lives of the crowds of prifoners that had fallen 
into his hands; took great care of the fick and wounded ; 
and allured all men, peaceably diJpofed, of his protection. 
Chriftophe, with the affiftain.ee of other men of en¬ 
larged views, had been employed for fome time, in the 
formation of a new cpnfiitutiou for Hayti ; which was 
proclaimed on the 17th of February, 1803, the fourth year 
D O N. 
of independence. The whole of the code of Chriftophe. 
displays patriotifin, moderation, firmnefs, and political 
wisdom. The tenth head, guaranteeing the neighbour¬ 
ing colonies, was a mafteriy Stroke of- policy : “ The go¬ 
vernment of Hayti declares to the powers poffelllng co¬ 
lonies in the neighbourhood, never to interfere in the go¬ 
vernment of thole countries. The people of Hayti make 
no conquefis beyond' their own ifie, and content'them- 
felves with the confervation of their own territory.” 
A number of turbulent perfons in the Southern part of 
Hayti had formed defigns of revolt and revolution in 
Jamaica, and had fent erniffaries there for that purpofe. 
Bm general Chriftophe, who had been informed of the 
plot, and who were the principal individuals concerned 
in it, immediately denounced them, and they were ar- 
refted.—It was impossible for the Britilh government to 
be otherwife than on good terms with fuch a neighbour. 
An order of council was iffued at the court of St. James’s, 
February 1.S07, authorizing all Britifh merchantmen 
bound for Buenos Ayres and La Plata, to proceed to 
any pert in the ifland of St. Domingo not under the 
power of France or Spain, there to difpofe of their car¬ 
goes, to take the produce of the country in return, and 
either to bring fucli cargoes directly to any port of the 
united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or to Ship 
them on-board neutral veffeL, to be fold at any of the 
colonies of the enemy ; the owners of the cargoes to re¬ 
turn with the proceeds of fuch adventures on-board the 
neutral veffels to any of the ports of the united kingdom. 
—This meafure was certainly wifely calculated both for 
encouraging the trade of Hayti, and of Great Britain and 
Ireland. 
Another event, fortunate for the Britilh commerce, 
happened on the xIt of January, 1807. The ifland of 
Cura$oa was taken by a fquadron of Britilh frigates, 
commanded by captain Brisbane, under the orders of 
vice-admiral Dac.res, with the lofs of only three men. 
killed, and fourteen wounded. Yet the harbour was de¬ 
fended by regular fortifications, of two tiers of guns 3 
Fort Amfterdam alone mounted 66 pieces of cannon. 
The entrance was only fifty yards wide; and acrofs it 
were moored two frigates, and two large fchooners of war. 
A chain of forts on the commanding heights of Mifleburg, 
and Fort Republique, deemed nearly impregnable, was 
within difiance of grape-lhot, and enfiladed the whole 
harbour. Soon after day-break, the Britilh frigates made 
all poffible fail in clofe order of battie. The veffels ap¬ 
pointed to intercept their entrance were taken by board¬ 
ing; the lower forts, the citadel, and town of Amfterdam, 
by fitorm, The port was entered at a quarter after fix in 
the morning. Before ten a capitulation was figned. The 
British flag was hoifted on Fort la Republique. And 
the inhabitants of the town, to the number of 30,000, 
fwore allegiance to the British government. 
In contemplating the events of this year, the mind is 
forcibly impreffed by a very general, and, as it Should at 
firft fight appear, a very calamitous, extenfion of the war 
in which our country had been for lb many years, altnoli 
uninterruptedly, engaged. We call this extenfion -appa¬ 
rently calamitous, becaufe, although we fee powers hi¬ 
therto neutral, and fome of them the allies of Great Bri¬ 
tain, reverfing their refpective relations, and engaging in 
hostilities againlt her; yet, on a' flight view of the means 
of annoyance poffeffed by thofe powers, raid on reference 
to what has actually happened, it will lie feen alfo, that, 
in reluctantly fubniitting themfelvesto the dictates of the 
French ruler, they have forced upon us contefts for the 
moll; part bloodlefs, in which the pen rather than the 
fword has been the arbiter of our differences. AuStria, 
Rufiia, the Ottoman Porte, Prufila, and Denmark, had* 
in the prelent year, been added to the already-formidable 
holt of our enemies ; and it cannot efcape obfervation, 
with what indifference fo large an acceflion of hoftile 
agency was received by the Britilh public, and, we may 
alfo add, by the government into who.fe balance the weight 
