insult and aggression committed by one of his naval officers in the attack on the United States frigate the Chesapeake. As it appears, at the same time, that in making this offer, his Britannic majesty derives a motive from the equality now existing in the relations of the United States with the two belligerent powers, the President owes it to the occasion and to himself to let it be understood, that this equality is a result incident to a state of things, growing out of distinct considerations. With this explanation, as requisite as it is frank, I am authorized to inform you, that the President accepts the note delivered by you, in the name and by the order of his Britannic majesty, and will consider the same with the engagement contained therein, when fulfilled, as a satisfaetion for the insult and injury of which he has complained. But I have it in express charge from the President to state, that while he forbears to insist on a farther punishment of the offending officer, he is not the less sensible of the justice and utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded that it would best comport with what is due from his Britannic majesty to his own honour, I have the honour, &c. &c. (Signed) R. SMITH. Hon. D. M. ERSKINE, &c. &c. &c. Washington. SIR, Mr. Erskine to Mr. Smith. WASHINGTON, APRIL 18, 1809. I HAVE the honour of informing you, that his majesty, having been persuaded that the honourable reparation which he had caused to be tendered for the unauthorized attack upon the American frigate Chesapeake, would be accepted by the government of the United States in the same spirit of conciliation with which it was proposed, has instructed me to express his satisfaction, should such a happy termination of that affair take place, not only as having removed a painful cause of difference, but as afford. ing a fair prospect of a complete and cordial understanding being re-established between the two countries. The favourable change in the relations of his majesty with the United States, which has been produced by the act (usually termed the non-intercourse act) passed in the last session of Congress, was also anticipated by his majesty, and has encouraged a further hope, that a reconsideration of the existing differences might lead to their satisfactory adjustment. On these grounds and expectations, I am instructed to communicate to the American government, his majesty's determination of sending to the United States, an envoy extraordinary invested with full powers to conclude a treaty on all the points of the relations between the two countries. In the mean time, with a view to contribute to the attainment of so desirable an object, his majesty would be willing to withdraw his orders in council of January and November, 1807, so far as respects the United States, in the persuasion that the President would issue a proclamation for the renewal of the intercourse with Great Britain, and that whatever difference of opinion should arise in the interpretation of the terms of such an agreement, will be removed in the proposed negotiation. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Hon. ROBERT SMITH, &c. &c. &c. SIR, D. M. ERSKINE. Mr. Smith to Mr. Erskine. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, APRIL 18, 1809. THE note which I had the honour of receiving from you this day, I lost no time in laying before the President, who being sincerely desirous of a satisfactory adjustment of the differences unhappily existing between Great Britain and the United States, has authorized me to assure you, that he will meet with a disposition correspondent with that of his Britannic majesty, the determination of his majesty to send to the United States a special envoy, invested with full powers to conclude a treaty on all the points of the relations between the two countries. I am further authorized to assure you, that in case his Britannic majesty should, in the mean time, withdraw his orders in council of January and November 1807, so far as respects the United States, the President will not fail to issue a proclamation by virtue of the authority and for the purposes specified in the eleventh section of the statute, commonly called the non-intercourse act. I have the honour to be, &e. (Signed) SIR, Mr. Erskine to Mr. Smith. R. SMITH." WASHINGTON, APRIL 19, 1809. IN consequence of the acceptance, by the President, as stated in your letter dated the 18th inst. of the proposals made by me on the part of his majesty, in my letter of the same day, for the renewal of the intercourse between the respective countries, I am authorized to declare that his majesty's orders in council of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn, as respects the United States, on the 10th day of June next. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Hon. ROBERT SMITH, &c. &c. &c. SIR; D. M. ERSKINE Mr. Smith to Mr. Erskine. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, APRIL 19, 1809. HAVING laid before the President your note of this day, containing an assurance, that his Britannic majesty will, on the tenth day of June next, have withdrawn his orders in council of January and November, 1807, so far as respects the United States, I have the honour of informing you that the President will accordingly, and in pursuance * VOL. IIN 59 of the eleventh section of the statute, commonly called the non-intercourse act, issue a proclamation, so that the trade of the United States with Great Britain may on the same day be renewed, in the manner provided in the said section. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) R. SMITH. By the President of the United States of America. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS it is provided by the 11th section of the act of Congress, entitled "An act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies, and for other purposes; that "in case either France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States;" the President is authorized to declare the same by proclamation, after which the trade suspended by the said act, and by an act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing. And whereas the honourable David Montague Erskine, his Britannic majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, has by the order and in the name of his sovereign declared to this government, that the British orders in council of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn, as respects the United States, on the 10th day of June next. Now THEREFORE, I, JAMES MADISON, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim, that the orders in council aforesaid, will have been withdrawn on the said tenth day of June next; after which day the trade of the United States with Great Britain, as suspended by the act of Congress above mentioned, and an act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed. Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the nineteenth day of April, in the [L.S.] year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and nine, and of the independence of the United States, JAMES MADISON. the thirty-third. By the President. R. SMITH, Secretary of State. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SENATE. JUNE 15, 1809. IN compliance with the resolution of the senate of the 13th instant, I transmit extracts from letters from Mr. Pinkney to the secretary of state, accompanied by letters and communications to him, from the British secretary of state for the foreign department; all of which have been received here since the last session of Congress. To these documents, are added a communication just made by Mr. Erskine to the secretary of state, and his JAMES MADISON. answer. IN SIR, Mr. Canning to Mr. Pinkney. FOREIGN OFFICE, DEC. 24, 1808. In my official note of the 23d September I stated to you the probability that some alterations might be made in the orders in council, with a view to adapt their operation more exactly to the altered state of Europe, and to combine all practicable relief to neutrals with a more severe pressure upon the enemy. As this statement was however only incidental, and as I at the same time disclaimed any intention of taking advantage of such proposed alterations in the discussions then pending between us-seeing that if made, they would not be founded on the admission of the principles for which you |