When an army steps so far aside from the path of its proper legitimate duties, as to become the instrument of party, to mix in political views, and to undertake the removal of governors or ministers, we should have expected that any grievance they should adduce in support of a proceeding a foreign to their own character, should consist at least in some act of grievance and intolerable oppression. The measure which is the subject of this complaint is, on the contrary, an act of grace and justice. It is not the unjust arrest of any officer for purposes of oppression and vengeance, but it is the relief of an officer, amongst the most respected in the army, from the most tyrannical and detestable abuse of power by which an innocent and highly meritorious individual was ever oppressed.

We shall ever consider the prosecution of Col. Munro, and the part which Lieut.general Macdowall bore in that transac tian, as acts of extreme injustice, so far as they relate to the individual who was the subject of them. But these measures were not less culpable in other points of view. Both the advice which Lieut.-Col. Munro gave to abolish the tent contract, which we consider as the real object of the proceeding, and the memorial conveying that advice, a few lines in which were made, without any imaginable foundation, the ostensible ground of the charges preferred against him had been not merely approved, but applauded by every authority to which they could officially be submitted; by Sir J. Cradock, commander in chief of the ar my of which the accusers of Col. Munro are officers; by the governor and council of Fort St George, who hold the supreme military authority under which those officers served; by the commander in chief in India, to whom, as officers, they owed implidt reverence and respect; and, lastly, by the governors-general in council, the supreme and highest British authority in the East. To charge either the measure which had been adopted under these authorities, or the reasons upon which it was recomMarch 1810.

mended, and which had been sanctioned and approved by the same authorities, as "base and infamous crimes," was a studied insult offered by those officers, and by Lieutenant general Macdowall, who supported and co-operated with them, to every authority which it was their duty to respect. This proceeding aimed also distinctly at withdrawing the management and direction of all military arrangement, regarding the regulation and economy of the army, from the legal authority of government, in order to place it, in the shape of courtsmartial, under the direction of the officers of the army themselves. Lieut.-colonel

Munro was the nominal culprit, and the articles were to bear the absurd, and for that reason we must believe, the collusive and pretended accusation against him of calumny and slander; but the tent contract, or rather its abolition, was in effect to be the subject (for no other substantial subject existed) of the trial.

We should indeed have been surprised, as well as concerned, if any considerable part of the coast army had been prevailed upon to stain the pure and honourable character of their profession, by lending their countenance in any shape, or in any stage, to a proceeding stamped, as this prosecution was, with injustice and oppression, and founded in such motives as all the circumstances conspire to indicate.

But it is said, Colonel Munro was only to be tried, and if innocent, would have been acquitted-yet the memorialists themselves allege that he was already condemned" having incurred the suspicion of having acted in a manner that was most generally considered to have been criminal.". "Having incurred the suspicion," are mere words of form. The meaning of the passage is a positive assertion, that Lieu. tenant-colonel Munro had acted in a manner that was most generally considered to have been criminal;-we assume this to be the meaning of the passage, because there was no question concerning the facts.

It is difficult to imagine, that such a charge as that which was preferred against Lieut.-colonel Munro, should have rested only on a vague report, and that the officers who signed should not have used all the means in their power to obtain the perusal of a paper on which they meant to found an accusation of libel. We must,

there

is not restrained by law from this particular exercise of the supreme military powers which it possesses, was acknowledged by Lieut.-general Macdowall himself, since he obeyed their order for the release of Lieutenant colonel Munro. If that order had not only been an undue encroachment on his own authority as commander in chief, but had been beyond the legal and competent powers of those who issued it, he would not have been bound to obey it, as he distinctly professed himself to be.

The government of Fort St George did not exceed, therefore, their legal powers; and the only question that could be made was, whether they exercised them properly in this particular instance. On that point, undoubtedly, the government of Fort St George is subject to the responsibility which is inseparable from the exercise of all delegated authority. But to what tribunal were they amenable? Where was it proper? Where was it for the public interest, that Lieut.-general Macdowall should carry his appeal? To the army of Fort St George, or to the king and court of direc

tors.

That he should convey this question to the army in the shape of a reprimand to Lieutenant-colonel Munro, appears to be in contradiction to his own sentiments on the subject, as we have just stated them, for, if the government of Fort St George had a legal power to release Lieutenantcolonel Munro, it could not be criminalit could not, in any mode or degree, be culpable-it could not incur the penalty of a teprimand-but it was his clear right and privilege to claim the legal and competent protection of government from the oppres sion of the commander in chief.

From the whole of the preceding discus. sion, you will naturally infer, that we con sider the offences charged against those of ficers whom you have judged it necessary to suspend, or to deprive of their appointments and commands, fully justifying the respective degrees of punishment which you have allotted to them.

The local means and advantages which you possess, as well as the great delicacy of the inquiry, have necessarily placed the application of these principles to individuals, and the investigation of particular cases, under your exclusive cognizance; and we have only to express that entire confidence, which is due to your station and characters, in the justice and impartiality, not less than in the vigilance and activity of your proceedings, in a scrutiny so peculiarly circumstanced.

80

We observed with satisfaction, that the general tenor of the replies to the circular letter addressed by Major general Gowdie,

to the officers commanding at the several stations of the army, confirm the opinion which we have expressed of the loyalty of the major part of the officers of your establishment.

In assuring you, therefore, of the firm support of this government, in maintaining a contest which involves all that is most dear to our sovereign and country, if, contrary to our ardent desire and sanguine hope, any future call should yet be made on the power and energy of your government which may require our aid. We will conclude, however, with expressing our fondest wish and expectation, that the late afflicting agitations should subside in a calm and reasonable reliance on the wisdom and justice of the high authorities to which the transactions of this troubled period have been advocated, and in those demonstrations of respect and obedience, which are due not more to your station, than to the faithful and honourable discharge of all your public but difficult duties, which, in our opinion, has eminently distinguished the present government of Fort St George.

Such a result will be most acceptable to us, most accordant with our views of the public interest, and most congenial with those sentiments of affection and respect towards the army of the coast, which we cordially profess, and remain assured that we shall never have reason to renounce. We have the honour to be, honoured Sir, your most obedient humble servants, MINTO.

J. LUMSDEN.
H. COLEBROOKE.

Fort William, May 27, 1809.

AMERICA.

The intelligence from this quarter continues to be of an interesting nature.

On a motion in the Senate, on the 8th December, certain expressions used by Mr Jackson are declared to be " highly inde corous and insolent;" and a bill, authori sing the President to send out of the country offending foreign ministers, passed to a third reading.

The newspapers contain the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. It is of considerable length; and, after stating that the expences of Government, exclusive of the payments on account of the capital of the debt for the year expired, have exceeded the receipts into the Treasury, by a sum of nearly 1,900 000 dollars, the Supplies, and Ways and Means, for the year 1810, and shewing that unless the expences of the naval and military establishments for that year should be reduced to about

3,000,000

$,000,000 of dollars, a loan will be necessary to make up the deficiency, it proceeds thus:

"This state of the treasury had been anticipated; and, for that reason, an increase of duties had been respectfully submitted in the last annual report.-But should that measure be now adopted, it would no, on account of the terms of credit allowed for the payment of duties, supersede the necessity of a loan for the service of the year 1810, commensurate with the extent of those establishments, and with the appropriations which may be made for their support by Congress. No precise sum is suggested, since this must vary according to the plans which may be adopted in relation to foreign nations, and will particularly depend on the decision of Congress on the question of war or peace. It is sufficient to state that, if the actual expenditure of the year 1810, for all military and naval purposes, should be estimated at the same sum which was disbursed by the Treasury for these objects during the year ending on the 30th of September 1809, and exceeding, as above stated, six millions of dollars, the deficiency, accord. ing to the preceding estimates, would amount to three millions; on which supposition, it would seem prudent, in order to provide against any deficiency in the receipts, beyond what has been estimated, to authorise a loan of four millions of dol. lars. In the event of war, the necessity of rendering it efficient, and of calling for that purpose into action all the resources of the country, is too obvious to require any comment. On that subject nothing will at this time be added by this department to the suggestions respectfully sub mitted in the two preceding annual repores. Loans reimbursable by instalments, and at fixed periods, after the return of peace, must constitute the principal resource for defraying the extraordinary expences of the war. For the support of public credit, the basis on which rests the practicability of obtaining loaus on reasonable terms, it appears necessary that the revenue should, in the meanwhile, be equal to the interest on the public debt, including that on the new loans, and to all the current expences of Government, calculated on a peace establishment, or, for the present, to about eight millions of dollars. An immediate and considerable increase of the existing duties will, it is believed, be requisite for that purpose, in order to cover the defalcation which a maritime war must necessarily produce in a revenue almost exclusively depending on commerce. That increase appears preferable, in the present situation of the United States, to

any other source of taxation, and is not, in time of war, liable to the objection of its encouraging smuggling. It is only in the event of that revenue being still more affected by a war than is apprehended, that a resort to internal taxes, either direct or indirect, may become necessary.

"If war should not be resorted to, it does not appear requisite, unless Congress should resolve on a permanent increase of the military and naval establishments in time of peace, to lay at present any addi tional duties beyond a mere continuance of the two and a half per cent. known under the name of " Mediterranean Fund."

The report next proceeds to some calcu lations upon the probable expences of 1811, and concludes thus

"Whatever may be the decision of Congress in other respects, there is a subject which seems to require immediate atiention. The provisions adopted for the purpose of carrying into effect the non-intercourse with England and France, particularly as modified by the act of last session, under an expectation that the orders of Council of Great Britain had been revoked, are inficient, and altogether inapplicable to existing circumstances. It will be sufficient to observe, that exportation by land is not forbidden, and that no bonds being required from vessels ostensibly employed in the coasting trade, nor any authority vested by the law which will justify detention, those vessels daily sail for British ports, without any other remedy but the precarious mode of instituting prosecutions against the apparent owners. It is unnecessary, and it would be painful, to dwell on all the effects of those violations of the laws.-But without any allusion to the efficiency or political object of any system, and merely with a view to its execution, it is incumbent to state, that, from the experience of the two last years, a perfect cunviction arises that either the system of restriction, partially abandoned, must be reinstuted in all its parts, and with all the provisions necessary for its strict and complete execution, or that all the restrictions, so far at least as they affect the commerce and navigation of the citizens of the United States, ought to be removed. All which is respectfully submitted.

"ALBERT GALLATIN, Secretary to the Treasury. "Treasury Department, Dec. 9, 1809.”

Correspondence between the British Minister and the American Secretaries, which accompanied the President's late message to Congress.

The 1st of these documents is a letter from Mr Erskine to the American secretary

of

of state, relative to the refusal of the British government to ratify Mr Erskine's agreement;-21, Mr Smith's answer;-3d, Letter from Mr Erskine to Mr Smith, on the same subject ;-4th, Letter from Mr Gallatin to Mr Erskine, relative to the colonial trade;-5th, Mr Erskine's reply ;— The 6th commences the more important discussions, and is as follows:

Mr Secretary Smith to Mr Jackson. Department of State, October 9, 1809. Sir,-An arrangement, as to the revocation of the British orders in council, as well as to the satisfaction required in the case of the attack on the Chesapeake frigate, has been made in due form by the government of the United States with Mr Erskine; and after it had been faithfully carried into execution on the part of this government, and ander circumstances rendering its effects on the relative situation of the United States irrevocable, and in some respects irreparable, his Britannic Majesty has deemed it proper to disavow it, to recal his minister, and to send another to take his place.

in such a state of things, no expectation could be more reasonable, no course of proceeding more obviously prescribed by the ordinary respect due to the disappointed party, than a prompt and explicit explana tion, by the new functionary, of the grounds of the refusal, on the part of his gavernment, to abide by an arrangement so solemnly made—accompanied by a substitution of other propositions.

Under the influence of this reasonable expectation, the president has learned, with no less surprise than regret, that in your several conferences with me you have stated

1st, That you have no instructions from your government, which authorise you to make any explanations whatever to this government, as to the reasons which induced his Britannic Majesty to disavow the arrangements lately made by your predeces sor; and that, therefore, you could not make any such explanations.

24, That in the case of the Chesapeake, your instructions only authorise you (with out assigning any reason whatever why the reasonable terms of satisfaction tender ed and accepted have not been carried into effect) to communicate to this government note tendering satisfaction; with an understanding that such note should not be signed and delivered by you, until you should have previously seen and approved the proposed answer of this government; and that the signing and deli very of your note, and of the answer of this government, should be simultaneous.

34, That you have no instructions which

authorise you to make to this government any propositions whatever in relation to the revocation of the British orders in council; but only to receive such as this go. vernment may deem it proper to make to

you.

4th, That at all events, it is not the disposition or the intention of the British government to revoke their orders in council as they respect the United States, but upon a formal stipulation, on the part of the United States, to accede to the following terms and conditions, viz.

I. That the act of congress, commonly called the non-intercourse law, be continued against France, so long as she shall continue her decrees.

II. That the navy of Great Britain be authorised to aid in enforcing the provisions of the said act of congress.

III. That the united states shall explicit. ly renounce, during the present war, the right of carrying on any trade whatever, direct or indirect, with any colony of any enemy of Great Britain, from which they were excluded during peace; and that this renunciation must extend, not only to the trade between the colony and the mother country, but to the trade between the colony and the United States.

Mr Smith, after expressing a wish to be corrected if his statements be wrong, requests that all communications in future should be in writing.

MR JACKSON TO MR SMITH.

Washington, Oct. 11,

In answer to the above letter, which we have given entire, as it contains the groundwork of the misunderstanding between Mr Jackson and Mr Smith-the remonstrance of the former, though firm, is very respectlul; he says

As to the expectation entertained here, that the explanation of his Majesty's share in this transaction should be made through me, I might content myself with simply observing, that I was not provided with instructions to that effect, because it was known that the explanation in question had already been given. But it accords with the sentiments of his Majesty towards this country to observe also, that he considered, that, as some time must necessarily elapse between my appointment and my entrance on the duties of my ministry, it would be a more friendly mode of proceeding, to state, without delay, and through the channels I have already mentioned, the motives that compelled his Majesty to disavow his agreement, than to leave the American Government in uncertainty, in these respects, till the unavoidably protracted period of my arrival in America. I say this