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Extracts of a Letter from the Same to the Same. Paris, June 25, 1808.

"THE St. Michael arrived at L'Orient on the first instant, and, like the Osage, was immediately put under sequestration. It was not till the 8th, that Mr. Baker arrived here."

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"The remonstrance ordered, with respect to the terms of M. Champagny's letter of the 15th of January, shall be executed the moment the prince of Benevent returns from Valençay; and I hope in a way, which, while it makes the French government sensible of the offensiveness of those terms, will not obstruct the road to friendly and respectful explanations on its part.

To give this a chance of finding Mr. Livingston at Bordeaux, I must close it here."

The Same to the Same. Paris, July 18, 1808.

SIR,-I avail myself of the detention of the Arcturus, to transmit copies of two letters, which I have written to M. de Champagny; the one, in execution of the President's orders with regard to the offensive terms, employed by that minister, in his note of the 15th of January last; the other demanding from him, on the part of his government, an avowal or disavowal of the conduct of rear admiral Baudin, in burning, or otherwise destroying, on the high seas, four American ships and their cargoes.

I have the honour to be, sir, with very high consideration, &c.

Secretary of State.

JOHN ARMSTRONG.

Extract of a Letter from General Armstrong to M. Champagny. Paris, July 4, 1808.

"It has been made the duty of the undersigned to bring to the view of the French government an official note, addressed to him on the 15th of January last, by his majesty's minister of exterior relations, and which, in the opinion of the President, is calculated to derogate from the

rights of the United States as an independent nation. The note is in the following words, viz. [See M. Champagny's letter of the 15th January, 1808.]

On this note the undersigned would remark, 1st. That the United States have a right to elect their own policy with regard to England, as they have with regard to France; and that it is only while they continue to exercise this right, without suffering any degree of restraint from either power, that they can maintain the independent relation in which they stand to both: whence it follows, that to have pronounced, in the peremptory tone of the preceding note, the effects which the measures of the British government ought to have produced on their councils and conduct, was a language less adapted to accomplish its own object, than to offend against the respect due from one independent nation to another: and

2dly. That the alternative to be found in the last paragraph, and which leaves the United States to choose between an acquiescence in the views of France against Great Britain, and a confiscation of all American property sequestered by order of his imperial majesty, is equally offensive to both governments; to France, as it would impute to her a proposition founded in wrong to individuals; and to the United States, as it would imply, on their part, a subjection to pecuniary interests totally inconsistent with their principles, and highly dishonourable to their cha

racter.

His excellency will be persuaded that the President, in directing the undersigned to make this representation, had no object in view beyond that of seeking an explanation, which cannot but tend to promote the harmony of the two powers."

General Armstrong to M. Champagny. Paris, July 10.

1808.

SIR,-Your excellency will see by the enclosed extracts from two letters which his majesty's minister of marine has done me the honour to address to me on the 18th of April and 13th of June last, that the property taken from the four American ships, destroyed by rear admiral Baudin, has been placed under the jurisdiction of the imperial

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council of prizes, to be judged by it, as a case of ordinary capture.

To your excellency, it will be unnecessary to remark, that whatever may be the decision of this council in relation to the merchandise which has been saved, the case presents a question of much higher import, and entirely beyond the jurisdiction of a maritime court, viz. the kind and degree of reparation which shall be due for the ships and merchandise which have been destroyed? and by way of opening this subject, your excellency will permit me to ask, whether his majesty's government does or does not justify the conduct of rear admiral Baudin, in burning, or otherwise destroying, on the high seas, the ships and merchandise of a neutral and friendly power?

I pray your excellency, &c.

M. Champagny.

JOHN ARMSTRONG.

Extract of a Letter from General Armstrong to the Secretary of State. Paris, July 26, 1808.

"Ir would have given me the highest pleasure to have drawn from this government such explanations, on the general subject of our differences with them, as would have met the friendly and equitable views of the United States; but I owe it, as well to you as to myself, to declare, that every attempt for that purpose, hitherto made, has failed, and under circumstances which by no means indicate any change in their respect for the better."

Extracts of a Letter from the Same to the Same. Paris, Aug. 7, 1808.

"I WROTE a few lines to you yesterday. Two weeks have gone by without any new condemnation. My remonstrances continue to be unanswered."

"P. S. I enclose a copy of my note of yesterday to M. de Champagny."

Extract of a Letter from General Armstrong to M. Champagny. Paris, Aug. 6, 1808.

"MR. ARMSTRONG presents his compliments to M. de Champagny, and begs leave to inform him, that having for some months past made trial of the artificial waters of Tivoli, without any useful effect, his physician has prescribed for him those of Bourbon d'Archambault. Should M. de Champagny have any communication to make to Mr. Armstrong, he will be pleased to address them as usual to the hôtel de Légation Américaine, Rue Vanguard, No. 100, whence they will be regularly and promptly transmitted to Bourbon.

On leaving Paris, Mr. Armstrong thinks proper to state his regrets, that the political relations of the two powers should continue to wear an aspect less auspicious to their future good understanding, than is wished for by those who are the friends of both.

That his majesty has a right to make such municipal regulations as he may deem proper with regard to foreign commerce, neither is, nor has been denied: for example, he may forbid the entry into the ports of France of American ships which have touched in England, or been destined to England, and he may either sequester or confiscate such vessels of the United States as shall infract these laws, after due promulgation and notice thereof; but beyond this the United States hope and believe that his majesty will not go.

M. de Champagny will not fail to seize the distinction which these remarks present, between the authority of municipal regulations, and that of publick law, and will decide whether it does or does not offer a ground on which the good understanding, so long and so usefully maintained between the United States and France, may be preserved, and a degree of intercourse between them revived, which shall have the effect of reanimating their former industry.

Does his majesty fear, that the balance of trade, arising from this renewed industry, would go to the advantage of England? Means are certainly not wanting to prevent this consequence. Would it not be entirely avoided by making

it a condition of the commerce in question, that all ships leaving France shall take (in some article or articles of her produce or manufacture) the full amount of the cargoes they bring hither ?

Ships, sailing under this regulation, would, or would not, go voluntarily to England. If they went voluntarily, it would only be, because that country afforded the best markets for the productions of France; in which case the habitual results would be entirely changed, and England, ceasing to receive a balance for her manufactures, would begin to pay one to the United States on the productions of France. Could France wish a state of commerce more prosperous than this?

If, on the other hand, the American ships did not go voluntarily to England, but were captured and sent in for adjudication, it may be fairly presumed, that the United States could no longer hesitate about becoming a party to the war against England.

Thus, in either case, the interests of his majesty would be directly advanced by the measure: in the one, the wants of France and her colonies would be not only regularly supplied, but she would herself become an entrepot for the supply of the continent; in the other, the wishes of his majesty, as expressed in February last, would be directly promoted.

Mr. Armstrong has the honour of renewing to M. de Champagny the assurances of his very high consideration."

Extract of a Letter from the Same to the Secretary of State. Bourbon l'Archambault, August 28, 1808.

"SINCE my arrival at this place I have been honoured by the receipt of your despatch of the 21st ult. and would immediately return to Paris, to renew my discussions with M. de Champagny, either personally, as you suggest, or by writing, had I not the most solemn conviction, that any new experiment, made at the present moment, in either form, and of official character, would certainly be useless and probably injurious."

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