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BOOK XI. dred yards, I hailed, "What ship is that?"-to this inquiry no answer was given, but I was hailed by CHAP. I. her commander, and asked, "What ship is that?" Having asked the first question, I of course con1811. sidered myself entitled, by the common rules of politeness, to the first answer; after a pause of fifteen or twenty seconds, I reiterated my first enquiry of "What ship is that?" and before I had time to take the trumpet from my mouth, was auswered by a shot, that cut off one of our maintopmast breast back-stays, and went into our main mast. At this instant Captain Caldwell (of ma→ rines) who was standing very near to me on the gangway, having observed, "Sir, she has fired at us," caused me to pause for a moment; just as I was in the act of giving an order to fire a shot in return, and before I had time to resume the repetition of the intended order, a shot was actually fired from the second division of this ship, and was scarcely out of the gun before it was answered from our assumed enemy by three others, in a quick succession; and, soon after, the rest of his Broadside and musketry. When the first shot was fired, being under an impression that it might possibly have proceeded from accident, and without the orders of the commander, I had determined at the moment to fire only a single shot in return; but the immediate repetition, of the previous unprovoked outrage, induced me to believe that the insult was premeditated; and that, from our adversary being at the time as ignorant of our real force as I was of his, he thought this, perhaps, a favorable opportunity of acquiring promotion, although at the expence of violating our neutrality, and insulting our flag: I accordingly, with that degree of repugnance incident to feeling equally determined neither to be the aggressor, or to suffer the flag of my country to be insulted with impunity, gave a general order to fire; the effect of which, in from four to six minutes, as near as I can judge, having produced a partial silence of his guns, I gave orders to cease firing, discovering, by the feeble opposition, that it must be a ship of very inferior force to what I had supposed, or that some untoward accident had happened to her.

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"My orders in this instance, however, (although they proceeded alone from motives of humanity, and a determination not to spill a drop of blood unnecessarily) I had in less than four minutes some reason to regret, as he renewed his fire; of which two 32-pound shot cut off one of our fore-shrouds and injured our fore-mast. It was now that I found myself under the painful necessity of giving orders for a repetition of our fire, against a force which my forbearance alone had enabled to do us any injury of moment: our fire was accordingly renewed, and continued from three to five minutes longer, when perceiving our opponent's gaff and colours down, his maintop-sail-yard upon the cap, and his fire silenced, although it was so dark that I

could not discern any other particular inj had done, or how far he was in a situation us farther harm; I nevertheless embraced earliest moment to stop our fire, and prevent further effusion of blood. Here a pause of halı minute or more took place, at the end of which our adversary not shewing a further disposition to fire, I halted, and again asked, "What ship is that learned, for the first time, that it was a ship of his Britannic majesty's; but, owing to its blowing, rather fresher than it had done, I was unable to learn her name. After having informed her commander of the name of this ship, I gave orders to wear, run under his lee, and haul by the wind on the starboard-tack, and heave-to under topsails, and repair what little injury we had sustained in our rigging, which was accordingly executed, and we continued lying-to on different tacks, with a number of lights displayed, in order that our adversary might the better discern our position, and command our assistance, in case he found it necessary during the right.

"At day-light on the 17th, he was discovered several miles to leeward, when I gave orders to bear up and run down to him under easy sail; after hailing him I sent a boat on-board with Lieutenant Creighton, to learn the name of the ship and her commander, with directions to ascertain the damage slie had sustained, and inform her: commander, how much I regretted the necessity,. on my part, which led to such an unhappy resultę, and at the same time to offer all the assistance that the ship under my command afforded, in rew pairing the damages his had sustained. At nine a. m. Lieutenant Creighton returned, with infor mation that it was his Britannic majesty's ship Little Belt, commanded by Captain Bingham, who in a polite manner declined the acceptance of any assistance, saying, at the same time, that he had on-board all the necessary requisites to repair the damages, sufficiently to enable him to return to Halifax.

"This, however, was not the most unpleasant part of Captain Bingham's communication to Lieutenant Creighton, as he informed him, that in addition to the injury his ship had sustained, be.. tween twenty and thirty of his crew had been killed and wounded.

"The regret that this information caused me was such, you may be sure, as a ma might be. expected to feel, whose greatest pride is to prove, without ostentation, by every, public as well as, private act, that he possesses a humane and generous heart; and with these sentiments, believe, me, Sir, that such a communication would cause me the most acute pain, during the remainder of my life, had I not the consolation to know that there was no alternative left me between such a sacrifice, and one which would have been, still greater, namely, to have remained a passive spec

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"I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your obedient servant, (Signed) "JOHN RODGERS. "Hon. Paul Hamilton, secretary of the navy."

The National Intelligencer (an American paper) added, that Commodore Rogers's orders required him to proceed to sea immediately from Annapolis, and resume his former station, cruising along the coast, as before, for the purpose of guarding their maritime jurisdiction from violation by foreign cruizers.

This unpleasant breach between England and America became more difficult to settle than was at first imagined. Mr. Madison and the French party at Washington had determined upon a line of measures, and a tone of language, which the dignity of Great Britain could not permit. It appeared, by all private letters brought by the vessels then arrived from America, that the president had adopted the resolution of supporting Captain Rodgers in his outrage upon the Little Belt. A kind of set-off was brought forwards. It was to be considered, it seemed, as an act of retaliation against the proceedings of some British cruisers, and the search of the Tamahamah, a pitiful trading sloop, and the stoppage of her (pursuant to the orders in council) was to be the only answer to the complaint of the British government respecting this positive act of hostility.

There had long, indeed, existed two parties in America, the one in favor of French interests, and the other attached to the American federal constitution, and therefore moderately well-disposed towards Great Britain. The former party was

the more violent, and as it better squared with the BOOK XI. popular prejudices, upon the ground of the old grudge against England, it was unfortunately CHAP. I. the stronger faction. The president himself was not totally free from suspicion of secretly favoring its views, but his disposition had been hitherto checked by his knowledge of the comparatively inferior means of England and America.

Under all these circumstances, that is to say, the adverse mind of the president, the contest with the Spanish the Spanish American government, and the ancient grudge against England still fermenting in the popular mind, there was certainly too much cause to apprehend that the affair of the President frigate and the Little Belt would be shortly followed up by more decisive measures. There was something, however, very ridiculous in the high and pompous language of the American editors. The congress fleet amounted to about seven frigates. These frigates, with Commodore Rodgers at their head, were to be instantly sent out with positive orders to bring in all British ships, and to teach the British government that they were not to be insulted with impunity. They were to be instructed to attack all English ships, whether of war or trade, which they might find within the waters of the United States, and to bring them into the American ports for condemnation. Who would imagine that the Americans were using this language against a power, which, to oppose their seven frigates, had a fleet of nearly 200 ships of the line? A force almost sufficient to blow New York into the air!

The French emperor did all in his power to compel the Americans to take the positive character of allies or enemies: he amused them with a promise of releasing whatever property was held in sequestration; but the promise of this faithless despot was confined to such American vessels as arrived in France subsequent to the 1st of November, and which had been so fortunate in their passage as not to become obnoxious to the operations of the Berlin, Milan, and Bayonne decrees nor did this promise include the restoration of what was seized under the Rambouillet decree, or any compensation for the many valuable vessels and cargoes burnt and sunk under his orders.

The British orders in council were declared to have been issued (and after eighteen months frank and open notice to the United States, they were unquestionably issued) only in retaliation for the previous French Berlin decrees; the revocation of the latter was of course to precede the British orders in council, and then indeed the British government stood ready, and pledged itself to revoke them. The French emperor promised the Americans he would revoke his obnoxious decrees after the 1st of November 1810, on condition that the orders in council were revoked by the

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BOOK XI. English. At the approach of that period the French minister stated, in a letter to General CHAP. I. Armstrong, "I am authorised to declare to you, Sir, that the decrees of Berlin and Milan are revoked, and that after the 1st of November they will cease to have effect; it being understood that, in consequence of this declaration, the English shall revoke their orders in council, and renounce the new principles of blockade which they have wished to establish." On the 2d of November Mr. Madison proclaimed to the people of the United States that the French decrees were revoked, though he had abundant reason to know the previous acts required of Great Britain would not be performed. The French emperor succeeded in attaching the blame of the non-performance of his promise to the British government, and of exasperating the United States against that government.

Mr. Foster having been commissioned to communicate the sentiments of Great Britain to America, he delivered them in a firm and decisive language; but his communication not corresponding with the expectations of the American government, the president issued the following proclamation for convening a congress :

"Whereas great and weighty matters, claiming the consideration of the congress of the United States, form an extraordinary occasion for convening them, I do, by these presents, appoint Monday, the 4th day of November next, for their meeting at the city of Washington; hereby requiring the respective senators and representatives then and there to assemble in congress, in order to receive such communication as may then be made to them, and to consult and determine on such measures as in their wisdom may be deemed meet for the welfare of the United States.

"In testimony whereof, I have caused the (L.S.) seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed, and signed the same with my hand.

"Done at the city of Washington, the 24th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1811; and of the independence of the United States the 36th.

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By the President, Secretary of State,

JAMES MADison. JAMES MONROE."

Previous to the meeting of congress the American papers were filled with scurrilous invectives against Great Britain, as the following extracts from the Philadelphia Journal, dated August 5, will evince:

"The cup is full !-The long impending ire, the smothered hatred, the disguised war, which assumed so many aspects, which has ultimately plundered and promised redress, and professed justice only to vary the forms of injustice, which

has oppressed the commerce, corrupted the morals, insulted the dignity, and violated the rights of this free and independent nation-which has murdered our people, and carried thousands into the most odious of all bondage, at length assumes an aspect less treacherous, because a more open and determined hostility.

"Great Britain at length avows her injustice, and once more menaces our independence.

"From the seat of the United States' government, and from England, we at the same moment have received advices which corroborate each other, and determine the fact, that Great Britain has resolved to make war upon us.

"Prior to the receipt of these advices, we had received authentic information of the course already pursued by Mr. Foster, at Washington. Upon his first arrival we had suggested, that five or six weeks would determine whether the "intents" of the British government were "wicked or charitable." The youth and inconsequence of this gentleman had induced an opinion, that he was intended to be one of those messengers whom Pope Sextus V. described, by the smoothness of their chins, better adapted to convey billet-doux than rescripts-to partake of a carnival than to announce boisterous war; we supposed him sent, like some of his predecessors, to intrigue, or, like others, to amuse or abuse our government-Hammond, Liston, Merry, Erskine, Rose, Jackson, and Morier, had, in succession, been employed upon this mission; and, upon considering their course of conduct, it was not easy to believe, that this young gentleman was to be the agent of a policy more auspicious. The distresses in which the detestable nature of British policy had involved that nation, induced some to believe that necessity had taught her justice; and the coming of Foster was, with a credulity which has never been diminished by disappointment or by reason, considered by thousands as the final measure which was to heal all former wounds, and put a stop to future injuries.

"Others, and we among this class, believed, that as he could not have been the person selected, if any thing like substantial justice was to be done, his mission was to be only a business of amusement and procrastination-that he was to make no distinct promises, but to carry on a discussion of contingent propositions, and to give aid to Messrs. Pickering and Co. in their undertakings.

"It appears that we had mistaken the character of the mission, and that the minister's valet would have executed the service upon which Mr. Foster was sent, with as much skill and as much good manners as the diplomatist himself.

"Mr. Foster has fallen nothing short of the insolence of one of his predecessors, in the style.

and port which he has assumed, and he has exceeded him in personal indecorum, and even personal rudeness.

"Mr. Foster, besides presenting some acrimonious representations on the subject of the rencontre with the Little Belt, also undertook to demand, categorically, that the United States should repeal, without delay, the non-importation law; and that they should also demand of France the repeal of her decrees, as they applied to England.

"On the subject of the Little Belt, our government displayed an alacrity to give the most satisfactory explanations, and it is presumed did so; but on the subject of the non-importation law, it was replied, that the acts of legislation belonged to the congress of the United States, which would meet in November, and it would be with that body to act in their provinces as wisdom and justice should direct. But that on the question, as it related to France, or any other nation, the United States would not interfere but in concerns of the United States alone. That the United States had given to Great Britain, in common with France, a fair and liberal opportunity to obtain not only an uninterrupted commercial intercourse with the United States, but if she had accepted the terms, an exclusion of France in her favour; that Great Britain had not chosen to pursue that path, consistent with justice and her commercial interests, by leaving the flag of the United States with free possession of the neutral rights of an independent nation.-That France had embraced the proposition, and that it had now become an engagement for which the national faith of the United States was pledged, so long as great Britain chose to persist in her aggressions on neutral commerce; that as it related to France, she had complied with the engagement, and the United States flag was, as to her, unrestrained and uninterrupted on the high seasand the United States had no right to interfere in any matters of dispute between the two belligerents, in which she was not concerned, and could not, and would not, make any representation on the subject.

"The conduct and menaces held forth by Mr. Foster, on this occasion, we cannot give in expressions sufficiently forcible or characteristic; but to Mr. Monroe, personally, he is represented as having demanded as we have above stated; and upon the mild and tempered answer of Mr. Monroe, he assumed a tone of arrogance and insult; and declared, that if the non-importation law was not immediately set aside, a force beyond any thing Mr. Monroe might expect, would appear on our coasts, and not only annihilate our foreign but our coasting trade.

"It is stated that Mr. Monroe treated these

young gentleman with the equanimity of a sage, BOOK XI. for the rudeness of his manner and expressions. This unexpected occurrence delayed the depar- CHAP. I. ture of Mr. Monroe for Virginia, for three days, and Mr. Barlow was also delayed for a like period.

"Such is the state of affairs with Great Britain. The president, before his departure, is said to have given directions to have every vessel belonging to the United States put in a state of complete equipment; and that all military works on the sea-board be completed without delay."

Hence it appears that America, feeling sore at the want of condescension in England, but still more at her dignified language, began to suspect an insult where none was intended, and to regard as an act of hostility what was merely a mistake, or, giving it the worst name, the irregularity of an individual. The trial of Commodore Rodgers, which took place in a court of inquiry before congress assembled, was some act of satisfaction on the part of the American government for the outrage upon the Little Belt. Impartiality demands, that we should give a brief outline of the evidence furnished to this court, on the oaths of the several witnesses examined. The court of inquiry consisted of Commodore Stephen Decatur, president, Captain Charles Stewart, Captain Isaac Chauncey, and W. Paulding, jun. esq. judge-advocate.

The first witness examined was Charles Ludlow, master-commandant, and acting captain of the President. He was on board the ship at the time of the action with the Little Belt, on the night of the 16th of May last. The Little Beit had her top-sails aback. From his position` he was uncertain which fired the first gun; but the second was from the President; and was instantly followed by three cannon and musketry from the Belt. Commodore, Rodgers ordered to fire low, and with two round shot. After a short pause the Belt recommenced firing, as did the President. The Belt soon appeared ungovernable, and lay bow on towards the President, when Commodore R. observed, that some accident must have happened to her, and ceased firing. Her gaff was down, and her main-top-sail-yard on the cap; and mizen, too, he thinks. The action continued fourteen or fifteen minutes, including the interval. There was nothing but round and grape shot fired, or on deck, on board the President. The ship was not on fire, or any part of her, and did not sheer off after the action. Another broadside would probably have sunk the Little Belt. Did not know or believe any part of commodore's official account was untrue or incorrect.

John Orde Creighton, first lieutenant.-Was stationed at the fourth division of guns, on the upper deck. Commodore Rodgers hailed first,

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BOOK XI. believes, from the Little Belt, no gun having been fired or provocation given on board the President. The orders of Commodore R. were to keep the guns at half-cock, and guard against accidents. After receiving the Little Belt's broadside, was ordered to fire. The Belt was silenced in five minutes, and the President ceased. Belt renewed the fire, and Commodore R. returned it, and silenced the Belt again in five minutes. Boarded the Little Belt the next morning; Commodore Rogers sent a friendly message, expressing regret for the occurrence, and offers of assistance. Captain Bingham said he took the President for a Frenchman. President was not on fire, and did not sheer off. Nothing but round and grape was fired or on deck. Another broadside would probably have sunk the Belt. Commodore's account confirmed.

Henry Caldwell, commandant of marines.Heard the hailing; was looking at the Little Belt, and saw the first shot proceed from her; on which Commodore Rodgers said, "What is that?" and he answered," she has fired into us." Orders were then given to fire. Belt silenced in five minutes. Commodore R. was anxious to stop his fire, and did so. The Belt renewed the action, and in six or seven minutes was silenced again, when Commodore R. was anxious to prevent mischief, and stop his fire. No fire or sheering off. Commodore's account confirmed.

Raymond H. Y. Perry, junior lieutenant and signal-officer. Was on the quarter-deck, near Commodore Rodgers's elbow. The commodore hailed; got no reply-hailed a second time, and got none. Heard a gun, and was looking at the Belt, which fired it, previous to any gun or provocation from the President. The Belt was silenced in five minutes, and orders were sent to every division of guns on board the President to cease. The Belt renewed the fire, and the President also. In six minutes the Belt was silenced again, and the commodore was very anxious to stop the firing on board the President. No fire or sheering off. The Belt was in a very dangerous situation, and would, probably, have been sunk by another broadside. Heard hailing from the Belt, and understood they said their colours were down; and so reported. Commodore Rodgers hailed, * Have you struck your colours?" and was answered, "I have, and am in great distress." Lights were on board the President during the night. Commodore Rodgers's statement confirmed.

Andrew L. B. Madison, lieutenant of marines. -Was on the gangway. Heard the commodore hail first, then waited fifteen or sixteen seconds, time enough for a reply, but got none, and hailed again; when the Belt fired a gun from her gangway. Saw the flash, and heard the report; no

gun or provocation had been offered by Commodore Rodgers. In six seconds a gun was fired from the President, when instantly the Belt fired three guns, and then her broadside and musketry. Belt silenced in six or seven minutes. Firing stopped in the President. In two or three minutes Belt renewed the action, and in four or five minutes was again silenced; when Commodore Rodgers ordered his fire to cease, and appeared anxious to prevent damage. No firing or sheering off of the President. Commodore's s report confirmed.

Captain Caldwell confirmed the account of the first and second guns and broadside, as given by the other witnesses.

Jacob Mull, sailing-master.-Was on the quarter-deck. Commodore Rodgers hailed, and got no answer, but "halloo." After sufficient time hailed again, and got no reply, but a shot, without provocation. In three or four seconds returned the shot, and got a general fire from the Little Belt. Thought the Belt a heavy frigate until next day. Action continued fourteen or fifteen minutes, including three or four minutes' interval. Little Belt could have fired again, but President could have sunk her. Commodore's official account is true.

Lieut. Creighton thought the Little Belt a frigate (excepting her feeble defence,) until next day. Captain Bingham told him the President's colours were not hoisted, but he recollected the pendant. It is the usage, as before stated by another witness, for the President to be prepared for action on coming alongside an armed vessel. Thought the Little Belt displayed bad management, or want of conduct, in her defence.

Joseph Smith, midshipman, acting as master'smate. Commanded the fourth division of guns. Heard Commodore Rodgers hail, and no reply for five seconds. Heard second hail, and was looking at the Little Belt when the first gun was fired by her, before a shot or any provocation was given from the President. The commodore fired one gun, then the Little Belt three, and action continued. Thought the Little Belt a frigate. The duration of the action, and orders to cease, as before stated. The last order to stop firing was received by three different officers. Commodore R.'s statement confirmed.

Henry Dennison, acting chaplain.-Was on the quarter-deck. Little Belt was seventy or eighty yards distant. Heard Commodore R. hail, and the reply, and the second hail-then a gun, he thinks from the Belt, as he felt no jar in the President, and no gun or provocation had been given by Commodore R. Account of Commodore R. confirmed.

Michael Roberts, boatswain.-Was on the forecastle, saw the flash and heard the gun from the

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