rity of the United States, that they be vigilant and zealous, in discharging the duties respectively incident thereto : And I do moreover exhort all the good people of the United States, as they love their country; as they value the precious heritage derived from the virtue and valour of their fathers; as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them the last resort of injured nations; and as they consult the best means, under the blessing of Divine Providence, of abridging its calamities, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the authority and the efficacy of the laws, and in supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the constituted authorities, for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honourable peace.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, the nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, and of the Independence of the United States the thirtysixth.

By the President.

JAMES MADISON.

JAMES MONROE, Sec. State.

MESSAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO CONGRESS. JUNE 22, 1812.

I COMMUNICATE to Congress copies of a letter to the Secretary of State, from the charge d'affaires of the United States at London, and of a note to him from the British secretary for foreign affairs.

JAMES MADISON.

Mr. Russell to the Secretary of State. London, May 2,

1812.

SIR, After closing the duplicate of my letter to you, of the 26th ult. I discovered the copy of the note of lord Castlereagh to me of the 21st, had been left out by mistake. I take the liberty of now handing it to you.

I am, &c.

Hon. James Monroe, &c. &c.

JONA. RUSSELL

[ENCLOSED IN The above.]

THE undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, is commanded by his royal highness the prince regent, to transmit to Mr. Russell, charge d'affaires of the government of the United States of America, the enclosed copy of a declaration accompanying an order in council which has been this day passed by his royal highness the prince regent in council.

The undersigned is commanded by the prince regent to request that Mr. Russell, in making this communication to his government, will represent this measure as conceived in the true spirit of conciliation, and with a due regard, on the part of his royal highness, to the honour and interests of the United States; and the undersigned ventures to express his confident hope, that this decisive proof of the amicable sentiments which animate the councils of his royal highness towards America, may accelerate the return of amity and mutual confidence between Great Britain and the United States.

The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to repeat to Mr. Russell the assurances of his high consideCASTLEREAGH.

ration.

Foreign Office, April 21, 1812.

MESSAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE SENATE. JULY 6, 1812.

I TRANSMIT to the Senate, copies and extracts of documents in the archives of the department of state, falling within the purview of their resolution of the 4th inst. on the subject of British impressments from American vessels. The information, though voluminous, might have been enlarged, with more time for research and preparation. In some instances it might, at the same time, have been abridged, but for the difficulty of separating the matter extraneous to the immediate object of the resolution.

No. 1.

JAMES MADISON.

Extract of a Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, Secretary of State, to Thomas Pinckney, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at London. Department of State, July 11, 1792.

"THE peculiar custom in England, of impressing seamen on every appearance of war, will occasionally expose our seamen to peculiar oppressions and vexations. It will be expedient that you take proper opportunities, in the mean time, of conferring with the minister on this subject, in order to form some arrangement for the protection of our seamen on those occasions. We entirely reject the mode which was the subject of a conversation between Mr. Morris and him, which was, that our seamen should always carry about them certificates of their citizenship: This is a condition never yet submitted to by any nation; one with which seamen would never have the precaution to comply the casualties of their calling would expose them to the constant destruction or loss of this paper evidence, and thus the British government would be armed with legal authority to impress the whole of our seamen. The simplest rule will be, that the vessel being American,

shall be evidence that the seamen on board her are such. If they apprehend that our vessels might thus become. asylums for the fugitives of their own nation. from impress gangs, the number of men to be protected by a vessel may be limited by her tonnage, and one or two officers only be permitted to enter the vessel in order to examine the number on board; but no press gang should be allowed ever to go on board an American vessel, till after it shall be found that there are more than their stipulated number on board, nor till after the master shall have refused to deliver the supernumeraries (to be named by himself) to the press officer who has come on board for that purpose; and even then the American consul shall be called in. In order to urge a settlement of this point before a new occasion may arise, it may not be amiss to draw their attention to the peculiar irritation excited on the last occasion, and the difficulty of avoiding our making immediate reprisals on their seamen here. You will be so good as to communicate to me what shall pass on this subject, and it may be made an article of convention. to be entered into either there or here."

Extract of a Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, when Secretary of State, to Thomas Pinckney, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at London. October 12, 1792.

"I ENCLOSE you a copy of a letter from Messrs. Blow and Melhaddo, merchants of Virginia, complaining of the taking away of their sailors, on the coast of Africa, by the commander of a British armed vessel. So many instances of this kind have happened, that it is quite necessary that their government should explain themselves on the subject, and be led to disavow and punish such conduct. I leave to your discretion to endeavour to obtain this satisfaction by such friendly discussions as may be most likely to produce the desired effect, and secure to our commerce that protection against British violence which it has never experienced from any other nation. No law forbids the seamen of any country to engage, in time of peace, on board a foreign vessel; no law authorizes such seaman

to break his contract, nor the armed vessels of his nation to interpose force for his rescue."

Extract of a Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, Secretary of State under the Presidency of General Washington, to Thomas Pinckney, Esquire, American Minister in London. Philadelphia, Nov. 6, 1792.

"I WROTE you last on the 12th of October, since which I have received yours of August 29, with the papers and pamphlets accompanying it. I enclose you now the copy of a letter from Mr. Pintard, our consul at Madeira, exhibiting another attempt at the practice on which I wrote you in my last, made by captain Hargood, of the British frigate Hyæna, to take seamen from on board an American vessel bound to the East Indies. It is unnecessary to develop to you the inconveniences of this conduct, and the impossibility of letting it go on. I hope you will be able to make the British ministry sensible of the necessity of punishing the past and preventing the future."

Extract from the Instructions given by Timothy Pickering, Esq. Secretary of State, to Rufus King, Esq. Department of State, June 8, 1796.

"AMONG the articles left unadjusted, one of the most interesting nature regards the impressing of American seamen. Mr. Pinckney was instructed on this head, in June, 1792. You will there see that the mode prescribed by the late act of Congress, of certificating our seamen, was pointedly reprobated. The long but fruitless attempts which have been made to protect them from British impresses, prove that the subject is in its nature difficult.

The simplest rule, as remarked to Mr. Pinckney, would be, that the vessel being American, should be evidence that the seamen on board her are such. But it will be an important point gained, if, on the high seas, our flag can protect those, of whatever nation, who shall sail under it. And for this, humanity as well as interest powerfully plead. Merchant vessels carry no more hands