held by your government, particularly by the marquis of Wellesley in his communications with Mr. Pinkney on the subject, was never understood to have been embraced. Nothing, indeed, short of the specifick declarations which you have made, would have induced a belief that such was the case.

I have the honour to be, &c. &c,

Augustus J. Foster, Esq. &c. &c. &c.

JAS. MONROE.

Mr. Foster to Mr. Monroe. Washington, Oct. 31, 1811. SIR,-I did not reply at great length to the observations contained in your letter of the 1st instant, on the pretensions of Great Britain as relative to the French system, because you seemed to me to have argued as if but a part of the system continued, and even that part had ceased to be considered as a measure of war against Great Britain. For me to have allowed this, would have been at once to allow in the face of facts that the decrees of France were repealed, and that her unprecedented measures, avowedly pursued in defiance of the laws of nations, were become mere ordinary regulations of trade. I therefore thought fit to confine my answer to your remarks, to a general statement of the sum of the demands of Great Britain, which was, that France should, by effectually revoking her decrees, revert to the usual method of carrying on war, as practised in civilized Europe.

The pretension of France to prohibit all commerce in articles of British origin, in every part of the continent, is one among the many violent innovations which are contained in the decrees, and which are preceded by the declaration of their being founded on a determination of the ruler of France, as he himself avowed, to revert to the principles which characterized the barbarism of the dark ages, and to forget all ideas of justice, and even the common feelings of humanity in the new method of carrying on war adopted by him.

It is not, however, a question with Great Britain of mere commercial interest, as you seem to suppose, which is involved in the attempt by Bonaparte to blockade her both by sea and land, but one of feeling and of national honour,

contending as we do against the principles which he professes in his new system of warfare. It is impossible for us to submit to the doctrine that he has a right to compel the whole continent to break off all intercourse with us, and to seize upon vessels belonging to neutral nations, upon the sole plea of their having visited an English port, or of their being laden with articles of British or colonial produce, in whatsoever manner acquired.

This pretension, however, is but a part of that system, the whole of which, under our construction of the letter of M. Champagny of August 5, 1810, corroborated by many subsequent declarations of the French government, and not invalidated by any unequivocal declaration of a contrary tenour, must be considered as still in full force.

In the communication which you lately transmitted to me, I am sorry to repeat that I was unable to discover any facts which satisfactorily proved that the decrees had been actually repealed, and I have already repeatedly stated the reasons which too probably led to the restoration of a few of the American ships taken in pursuance of the Berlin and Milan decrees after November 1. Mr. Russell does not seem to deny that the decrees may still be kept in force, only he thinks they have assumed a municipal character; but in M. Champagny's declaration, ambiguous as it was, there is no such division of them into two different characters; for if the contingency required by the French minister took place, the Berlin and Milan decrees were to cease, according to his expression, without any qualification. If therefore a part of them remain, or be revived again, as seems to be allowed even here, why may not the whole be equally so? Where proof can be obtained of their existence we have it, namely; in the ports of France in which vessels have been avowedly seized under their operation since November 1. Of their maritime existence we cannot so easily obtain evidence, because of the few French ships of war which venture to leave their harbours. Who can doubt, however, but that, had the ruler of France a navy at his command equal to the enforcing of his violent decrees, he would soon show that part of them to be no dead letter. The principle is not the less obnoxious because it is from necessity almost dormant for the moment; nor ought it therefore to be less an object to be strenuously resisted.

Allow me, sir, here to express my sincere regret that I have not as yet been able to convince you, by what I cannot but consider the strongest evidence, of the continued existence of the French decrees, and consequently of the unfriendly policy of your government in enforcing the non-importation against us and opening the trade with our enemies. His royal highness will, I am convinced, learn with unfeigned sorrow, that such continues to be still the determination of America, and whatever restrictions on the commerce enjoyed by America in his majesty's dominions may ensue on the part of Great Britain, as retaliatory on the refusal by your government to admit the productions of Great Britain while they open their harbours to those of his majesty's enemies, they will, I am persuaded, be adopted with sincere pain, and with pleasure relinquished whenever this country shall resume her neu tral position and impartial attitude between the two belligerents.

I have the honour to be, &c. &c. &c.

The Hon. James Monroe, &c.

AUG. J. FOSTER.

CORRESPOndence rELATIVE TO THE BRITISH SLOOP OF WAR LITTLE BELT.

From Mr. Morier to Mr. Monroe. Baltimore, June 26,

1811.

SIR, I have the honour to enclose an official letter addressed to rear admiral Sawyer by captain Bingham, commanding his majesty's sloop the Little Belt, which contains an account of the late engagement between that ship and the American frigate the President.

In thus communicating to you without orders from his majesty's government this document, which in the most essential fact differs so materially from that of commodore Rodgers, I trust that this government will receive it as a proof of the sincere desire which exists with me, to open the way to an amicable arrangement of the question which

may arise out of this unfortunate affair, when it shall be known to his majesty's government.

I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

The Hon. James Monroe, &c. &c.

J. P. MORIER.

Mr. Monroe to Mr. Morier. Department of State, June 28,

1811.

SIR,-I had the honour to receive yesterday your letter of the 26th inst. communicating a statement from captain Bingham to admiral Sawyer, of the circumstances attending the late unfortunate encounter between the United States frigate the President, and his Britannick majesty's sloop the Little Belt.

It is to be regretted that the statement made by captain Bingham should have varied in any circumstance from that made by the commander of the American frigate. I flatter myself, with the disposition of the President, which I am authorized to express, to make it the subject of mutual and friendly explanations, that its disagreeable tendency will be obviated. I am induced to express this expectation with the more confidence, from the conciliatory manner in which you have made this communication.

I have the honour to be, &c.

Mr. Morier, Charge d'Affaires of his Britannick Majesty.

JAMES MONROE.

Mr. Foster to Mr. Monroe, Washington, July 3, 1811. SIR,-The assurances which you did me the honour to give me yesterday verbally, that no instructions whatever had been given to commodore Rodgers which could, under any construction, be meant to authorize his attempting to recover by force any person claimed as an impressed American citizen from on board any of his majesty's ships of war, were amply sufficient to convey to my mind every satisfaction upon that subject. The reports, however, current in the United States, and connected with commodore Rodgers' conduct and proceedings, as well as the inferences which will be drawn from the expressions

which he used to the captain of his majesty's sloop Little Belt, being of a tendency to create doubts in Great Britain, as to the nature of the authority under which he acted, I willingly accept your offer of making me the same statement, in a more formal manner, in order that I may transmit it to my government, to prevent all possible mistake on so important a point.

The question arising out of the rencounter between the United States' frigate President and his majesty's sloop Little Belt, will then remain limited to the act itself. You are already, sir, in possession of the British commander's statement of the circumstances which attended it; his account and that of the American commodore differ very materially with respect to some of the most important features of the transaction; but in this they agree, that the chase which brought on the action commenced on the part of commodore Rodgers; for it cannot be maintained that the advance made by captain Bingham for the purpose of ascertaining if the sail descried by him was his majesty's ship Guerriere, which it appears he had orders to join, was for the purpose of chasing, even if that could be urged as a plea by the American commander. As soon as he found his signals unanswered, he bore away, until, to his infinite surprise, he found himself the object of the strange vessel's eager pursuit and hostile attitudes. What could be commodore Rodgers' intention is not ap-. parent. That he could not discover at the distance of seventy or one hundred yards that the ship before him was a flush deck sloop, though it was but a little after eight o'clock on the 16th of May; that he could not make out her colours at half past six o'clock; that his guns were double shotted, and that with the security he possessed from the great force and superior sailing of the ship under his command, and the circumstance of belonging to a neutral nation, he did not rather hold off during the night if he wished to speak the sloop, than by running under her stern in a menacing attitude, incur the risk of provoking a misunderstanding, must appear unaccountable to the comprehension of every unprejudiced person, and will, I am sure, sir, seem to you a sufficient reason, if there were no other, to warrant my demanding that an examination be instituted into his conduct, with a view to suitable satisfaction being afforded to his majesty for the loss of so