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Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser 1807/07-1807/12 msa_sc3722_2_6_2-0294 Enlarge and print image (5M) |
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Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser 1807/07-1807/12 msa_sc3722_2_6_2-0294 Enlarge and print image (5M) |
| from the Boston Centintl, of September, 15. TRIAL OF WILSON. Copies of the trial at Halifax, of one of the men, (Wilson) taken from the Chesa- peake, have been received in town. Letter from the commander of the Leopard, to the commander of the Chesapeake, previous to the attack " The captain of his Britannic majesty's Ship Leopard, has the honor to enclose the captain of the United States frigate Chesa- peake, an order from the lion, vice-admiral Berkeley, commander in chief of his ma- jesty's ships on the North- \merican station, respecting some deserters from the ships (therein mentioned) under his command, and supposed to be now serving as part of the crew of the Chesapeake. " The captain of the Leopard will not presume to say any thing in addition to what the commander in chief has stated, more than to express an hope, that every Circumstance respecting them may be ad- justed, in such a manner, that the harmony subsisting between the two countries, may remain undisturbed." The boat after an absence of three quarters of an hour returned with the following an swer s " I know of no such men as you describe —the officers that were on the recruiting service for this ship- were particulaily in Structed by the government, through me, Jot to enter any deserters from his Britan- nic majesty's ships; nor do I know of any being here. " I am also instructed never to permit the crew of any ship that I command, to be mustered by any other but her own officers ; it is my disposition to preserve harmony ; and I hope this answer to your dispatch ¦will prove satisfactory. " (Signed) JAMES BARRON, " Commander of the V. S. Shift Chesa' eake." Copy of a letter from Commodore Barron, t< Captain Humphreys, after the Chesapeakt had struck. ¦ « sin, a I consider the frigate Chesapeake as your prize, and am ready to deliver her to any officer authorised to receive her. By the return of the boat I shall expect youi answer j and have the honor to be, " Sir, " Your most obd't bumble serv't, » JAMES BARRON. * At Sea, 22rf June, 1807." ANSWER. _ tTis Majesty's ship Leopard, at Sea, June )22, 1807. Sir, • Having, to the utmost of my power fulfilled the instructions of my command?) in chief, I have nothing m ire to desire ; and must in consequence, proceed to join the remainder of the spuadron ; repeating, that I am ready to give yiu every assistance in my power, and do most sincerely deplore, that any lives should have been lost in the execution of a service, whicjl might have been adjusted more amicably, not only with respect to ourselves, but to the nations to which we respectively belong. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient bumble servant, S. K HUMPHREYS. Extract from the trial. " The prisoner was now called upon for his defence : having been told, at the exa- mination of each witness, that he might ask anv questions he pleased. After retiring- for a short time with the judge advocate, he returned into court and stated—that the evi- dence brought against him was so strong, there was but liille lelt for him to say in his defence hut that the reason of his hid- ing in the coal-hole, was for fear of the A- mericans making htm fight against his country, which he declared he would not do on any account ; that he, with all the men who deserted from the Halifax, were persuaded by the bortswain to enter for tie Chesapeake to protect themielves, which they did. Lt. Sinclair asked them if they kad not a second name. About 30 men •went with him in the first draft to the Che- sapeake- when capt. Gordon mustered t hem,& they were mustered again in Hampton Roads by the commodore. He requested leave to call in one evidence again—to ask his officers for a character—and then threw himself on the mercy of the o wt-" The following is from the observations of the president of the court martial in pro- nouncing the sentence : *' You have now heaid the auful sen- tence of the court.—You have been found guilty of deserting from the service of your country, which at all times, is highly cri- minal ; if it were possible to make it more so, it is ?, the present crisis, when Great- Britain is struggling for her very existence. " Your deserting from the Halifax and enteing into the American navy, has been attended with most serious and unfortunate consequences, affecting the peace of both countries." Extract from remarks subjoined at Halifax to the trial. " When the Cbichtsterwas at the West- Indies, two men, four men—two belong- ing to Royal Artillery, one of the 15th re- giment, and one f the 37th—who had been unwell, but were gitling int .« a state of convalescence were sent on board her, that in a voyage to the states their recovery might be perfect.—These men deserted from the Chichester, and with their British uniforms on, entered into the American service.— They were seen on shore after they had en- tered, by the Serjeant of marines of the Chichester, and.one of them had theimrWf dence to offer to shake hands with him, but he rejectee his offer with becoming con- tempt. These men were applied for by capt. Douglas, the commanding officer of the squadron in the Chesapeake, and the answer he received was, it any such men,had en- listed, they were gone up the country with a detachment. *.-*.,** The American sloop of war Wasp, which sailed the beginning of June, with the pre- sident's objections to the pending treaty, as an additional proof f friendly intention car- ried with her three British deserters. * 9 .*>• If doubt can still remain in the mind of any person whether commodore Barron knew that the men who were taken out of his ship were British deserters, we copy the following extracts from their own voluntary confessions : — John Strachan, after giving an account of his desertion from the Melampus, the first of Feb. in company with Ware, Mar- tin, and Little, says, " that they went to Norfolk, where he, Martin and Ware, en- tered for the Chesapeake—that he knew the faces of several Englishmen on board the Chesapeak, but did not know their names —that Com. Barron promised to protect him " William Ware says •' that when they came before com. Barron, at the Naval Yard at Washington, he pro?nised to protect them, although they -were deserters from a British man of "War." Jenkin Ratford, before his execution, acknowledgd, " that he was born in L. n- don, and that he voluntarily entered into his majesty's service." Jbrom the New-York Even. Post. Remarks on the Remarker.—The person at Halifax who has reported the trial of John Wilson, Alias Jenkin Ratford, for deserti- on from his majesty's ship Chichester, and enlisted on board the Chesapeake, has thought proper to add an appendix entitled Remarks, which ought not to pass unnoticed. The object of the writer is to show by the facts developed in the above trial, first, 'hat ' desertions from his majesty's ships in the Chesapeake have bpen most shamefully encouraged, and that the conduct of the American officers employed in their recruit- ing services, has been such that they have not only enlisted our men under the very eye ol their offers, hut when applied to fur the delivery of them, their answers have been uniformly evasive and prevaricating." Second, that commodore Barron has been guilty of a falsehood, and lastly that the "president has been guilty of the same crime. As to the two charges against the presi- dent and commodore Barron, it would be indelicate in us to take upon ourselves to make out their justification, when they are provided with «o much more able counsel. We shall theiefcre leave their cause to be managed by Duane and Smith, in their oivn -wry, merely observing, as a sort of hint to those concerned for them, thai the -.harge is not made out against the Commo- dore, because the proof varie* Irem the ac- cusation : the accusation )j4kiir, that com- modore Barron in answej^o faptain Hum- phreys' demand of desertetfJrotn certain ships, replied that be knew ofno such men, whereas he had one of them on board ; but who does not see that one is not five ? And as tothe president, nearly the same ground may he taken. He asserted that the native citi- zenship of the men hadheen ascertained pre- viously to their sailing. And now his ver- racity is called in question, the Washington official gazette afterwards said the fact was intrain to be verified, and of course could not have been verified then. But it may be answered that the result shews that the pre- sident was right, at least as to three of the four seamen, (with the exception of one) and then the law maxim applies omne magis continet jn se minus. With thi.se hints to Mr. Jefferson's and the commodore's coun- sel we dismiss the two last points, and come to the first ; which we shall treat in a somewhat different stile and manner. The writer is driven to rely for his proof, in support of his charge against American officers, on the particular case which occur- red at Norlolk, between the commandant of the American Fort Nelson and capt. Stop- ford, commander of his majesty's ship Chi- chester. It is represented, that on informa- tion being given by the commandant of Fort Nelson to captain Stopford that three men had deserted from the Fort and were on board his ship, the latter instantly complied with the request to have them delivered up ; that he "sent an order to search the ship, and on its being reported to hitn that the men could not be found, he went on board himself, had his crew mustered, and the ship so effectually inspected that two of the men were found concealed 011 board, and the other in a store-house contiguous," allof whom " were immediately delivered up." This is followed by a very handsome com- pliment upon capt. Stopford's gentlemanly and honorable conduct, « hich is constiasted with what is calhd the shameful treatment he afterwards received !njin»the American go- vernment. This shameful treatment consists according to the writei's representation in his losing tour men by desertion, who, with their uniforms on, entered into the Ameri- can service, and when they were afterwards applied for by him the answer he received was that they jtad gone up the country with a detachment. This is branded as a base transaction, &c. &c. The first observation that, occurs, is, that if any reliance was meant to be placed on this story aSevKJence, it ought to have been better supported ; for both writer and relater are anonymous, nor has it the aid of a do cument of any kind, Mat it 'happens that this case, like most cases, indeed, in controversy, has two sides tfe it ; we have seen one now let us turn to the other. Mr. Cow per, .the editor of the Norfolk Ledger, informs the public, that be is au- thorised to make tiie following statement in answer to the narration given above. [Mr. Cowper's statement was published in the Federal Gazette on Monday last—In which the commandant of Fort Nelson de- nies the charge.] Here s an account that strips captain Stopford at once of all the laurels his friend has placed on his brow. So far from the bosated instant compliance with the com- mandant's request to deliver the de-erters, he makes a shew of doing so, but leaves 1 the lieutenant at the door while he steps in- to an adjoining room where he is overheard ordering a boy to ran down to the ship, and have the men " stowed away." (By the bye the very phrase of stowing away men, shews this sort of concealment to have been a practice.) After such orders had been given, and the men thus secured, captain Stopford came out and peremptorily and ex- plicitly refused compliance with the request __« Three or four volunteers had entered on board his ship and he should keep them." Thus ended the first interview. This conduct on the part of capt. Stop- ford rendered it necessary to apply to the British consul : (a circumstance that com- pletely disproves the Halifax representation). On the consul's interference, and not be- fore did captain Stopford think of comply- ing, even outwardly, with the request of the commandant. Then, indeed, he pro- mised to give orders ro search for them, which he took good care not to give. Af- ter half an hour, however, the command- ant proposed to go to the ship, which, after what had passed could not very decently be refused ; especially as there had time enough elapsed for stowing the men away ; which was done so effectually that after all the seaich that could be made, word was brought that the men could not be found.— On which the commandant told captain Stopford that he was so well convinced that the men were concealed that be would not leave the ship without them ; which deter- mination Ire gave evidence of persisting in by remaining two hours longer, when the three men were unstowed and brought up from the ships boll, *' drc?sed in the uni- form of the United States, in which they had been received on board " Now. while this fact stands uncontradict- ed, let the advocate of Great-Britain on the subject of desertion, and the accuser 6f America be dumb; let us hear po more Cla- mor about the shameful encouragement: to British deserters by, die American officers rn our recruiting service ; and until the " evasive and prevaricatory answers" and the evasin- and prevaricating conduct above detailed can be cleared up, we hope to hear no more sneering about the " evasive and prevaricat- ing answers" of the American officers. On the whole we cannot but think that there is is little room for the compliments bestowed on the captain of the Chichester as there is for the obliqny so liberally heaped on the poor Americans As to this business of enlisting deserters, though not, as has been sometimes urged, in the face of any known and established law of nations, yet we think it ought always to be discountenanced, as being irreconcilable with courtsey and good policy. On the part of the American government, as we are in- formed by commodore Barron, it was inter- dicted. Will any body shew us any such order from the British ministry > If deserters have sometimes entered the American ser. vice, deserters from us have likewise entered the British service. We do not go t lie length of approving the former, but neither can we submit to bitter reproaches for the latter. It is our belief that the encouragement and protection given our seamen to desert, has been at least as great as that which their's have received from us. It is notour wish to irritate; but in order to accommodate the difference hat subsists on this important point, and restore ha mony to the two nati- ons ; it is probable that each must yield something. Nothing can be gained by the attempt on either side to put the otlier alto- gether in the wrong. We must pave the way for conciliation by impartial discussion, ¦sincerity, and plain dealing, liberal and ge- nerous concession. Th« subject will be re- sumed, and pursued in our next, under ano- ther head. NEW-YORK, September 24. Extract af a letter from a gentleman of -vera- city and honor, to his friend in this city, dated Richmond l-jth, Sept. 1807. " The following facts may be relied on, and embrace nearly all the circumstances of the horrid plot, which had for its object the death of Mr. Duncan, and the ruin of col. Burr's reputation. * Seme time between the 20th and 27th of August, Mr. Duncan, formrely one of General Wilkinson's aids, at New-Orleans, and now a witness here on the part of go- vernment, discovered a plet to poison him, by mixing laudanum with bis porter, of which he usually drank when going to bed. A negro man, the property and servant of Mr. D. was apprehended, committed, and confessed the fact. On further examination before a magistrate, he charged a person, by the name of Kinney, as-his accomplice, who he said had excited him to the act by the promise of a reward of seven hundred dollars* and a h -rse, if be succeeded. Kin- ney, however, has never been examined, nor have the magistrates who were present at the examination and confession of the negro, taken any meusures to bring him to punishment. This Kinney was brought from Ne''-Orleans by Wilkinson as a wit- ness against Burr, and the circumstance of their beeinp; frequently seen together in pri- vate and earnest conversation, and their great intimacy caused suspicion to attach to the general. " About ten days after the discovery of the plot, the grand jury for the body of Richmond summoned Wilkinson before them—but on the receipt of the summons, the general took the alarm, left the city on horseback at night, accompanied by a ser- vant, and both armed with swords and pis- tols ; nor did he return until the jury were discharged. Pressing private business, and the indisposition of some of the members of the jury prevented them fr m setting until the could bring this prince of villains be- fore them. And he returned to town the day after they «ere discharged, Duncan, in the mean time was examined, and was the only malarial witness, against the negro; without beinp able however, from any per- sonal knowledge, to connect him with either the general or Kinney, but gave it as his o- pinion, that Kinney had instigated him to this deed for the purpose of getting posses. sion of his money, of which the negro knew nearly the amount, and where it was deposited. Some of the witnesses who swore to the intimacy between Wilkinson and Kinney, described them as bottle com- panions ; and Kinney himself, as if proud of this distinction, has frequently boasted a niong his companions, '¦ thiw he and the general were on the most intimate and friend- ly terms, and that they frequently got quite blue together over the bottle." This inti- macy and brotherly affection between them first excited a suspicion against general Wil- kinson and made him by construction a partner in the crime. A suspicion which he endeavored to cast up >n colonel Burr, but which has rec'iled upon himself, and has fastened itself so strong upon him. that he will never be abie to shake it off. There is no longer a doubt who > as the prime mover in this conspiracy. Wilkinson's ab- sence when the jury were in session, was enough t i fix it on him, but a recent and strong circumstance, has confirmed it, and placed it beyond a d ubt. Mr. Duncan became uneasy after this at- tempt and requested col. Burr to take his affidavit, which he finally did, after Mr. Hay had .agreed to admit it in court. In this affidavit Mr. Duncan states : " That he •Was present at New-Orltans, last winter, •whi-n 'fdkinson deciphered the letter, said to hi ve been received Jrom Burr ; that he saw him erace and alter the original, and then forge b letter winch he — swore on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty G< d, and the honor of a stldur" w s a true and faithful cpy $f the original. H hen he. Duncan, advised and •w m present atthe forgery and perjury." This affidavit rol. Burr has now in bis possession, and furnishes, among other matter of great interest, a rlne to the poisoning scene. The public will judge for themselves by this detail. The universal opinion here, however, is, that Wilkinson either deign- ed to take Duncan's life to save himself from exposure, or else, by destroying Duncan, to have cast the suspicion of the catastrophe on col. Burr. His honor and his honesty, in this affair, however, have breathed their last—He has sunk tothe lowest depth of de- gradation and infamy, and the body of his sins, like the corpse of a malefactor, is gi- ven over for public dissection." Arrived, The brig Two-Brithers, Bray, 35 days from Trinidad, and 25 from St. Thomas, molasses. Left schooner Monongahala Far- mer, Osgood, for New-York, in, £5 days ; sch'r Sniibury, Kelly, do. do. ; and a Sch'r just arrived from Philadelphia. At St. Tho- mas, ship Halcyon, Fettyplace, from Mar- seilles, for Boston, to sail in 12 days ; sch'r Messenger, just arrived from Philadelphia ; biig Charleston Packet, of New-York, to sail for Savannah next day. Sept. 18, lat. 34, long. 72, 39, spoke ship Mary-Ann, Vin cent, 35 days from Greenock, for Charleston. —, lat. 34, long. 73, sp:>ke brig Margaret, 26 days from New-York for New Orleans, with his topmasts and some sails gone, then bearing away for Charleston. September ,7 spoke schr. ——, West, 3 days from New- Bedford, oil a whaling voyage; next day, spoke a brig 4 days from Portland for Ha- vanna. The schr. Mary-Ann, Beattey, 14 d;iys from St. Johns, N. B. plaister of paris and fish. A new brig, and sch's Argonaut, and Tight-Match, were to sail in 3 days lor New- York. Below last night, two ships, a brig and schooner. Cleared, ship Jersey, Williams Palermo > brig Amaz »n, Copp, Savannah ; Ann, Ross, Bermuda; Swan, Ross, Boston; sch'r Re- becca, Ferguson, Halifax ; brig Maria, Driggs, Madeira. PHILADELPHIA, September 25. Arrived, ship Edward and Charles, Drink" water, St. Petersburg via Portland, Russia goods; brig Clarissa, Claiborn, Lancaster, New-York, 4 days, ballast. Below, ship Mechanic, Bagley, Amster dam ; and two other ships, names} &c. un- known. Cleared, schr. Mary-Ann, Morse, Laguy- ra ; Isley, Sturdivant, Charleston ; Wil- liam, Sturdivant, do. British brig Nassau, Gibson, who made her escape from the Lark sloop of war, was boarded and suffered to proceed. The Lark then made chase, with an intention of tak- ing her, but could not come up the second time. Brig Meredian, O'ElIers, from Havanna, left brig Superior, Hays, for Philadelphia, in 3 days ; Minerva, Bainbridge, do. 3 ; schr. Perseverance, Fontain, do. 3 ; sloop Fly, Dove, do. 6 ; Hampden and Sidney, do. sailed same day ; ship H,ipe, Lover, for Portsmouth, same day ; schr. Endeavor, Anderson, for Baltimore, same day ; Ha- vanna Packet, Franklin, New York, same day. )'"','>RK iL G VZF.TTE. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT. " New- York, Sept. 24. Below at 12 o'clock, Ship Gold Hunter, Vose, London, short passage Washington, Liverpool, 90 days Eliza, d'. 38 Charles, Joughan, Amsterdam, 60 Jasen, Salter, Antwerp, 60 Calliope, Guadaloupe, — Brig Lambert, Cape c!e Verds, — Thorn, Bermuda, IO A brij and thiee schooners." BURR. By the last accounts from Rich. mond it appears, that Burr had declared to the court '• thai from two letters he had just received, intimating that evidence was com- ing on to prove that the. public and himself had been sacrificed and sold, be wished for delay. We are authorised to say that Thomas C. Jenkins v, ill serve, if elected to represent this city in the General Assembly of Mary- land. From the Merchants' Coffee-House Books. September 25. Arrived, schooner Jane, Jones, 14 days from St. Thomas—ballast—P. A. Guestier. Left ship Mary, M'Cay, of Baltimore, so much damaged that it was supposed she would be condemned. Capt. Fintk'an, of Baltimore, sold Lis sch oner, the Punch, and bought a schooner called the Ro?e and Ann, to sail in a few day<;; schooner Pilots' Friend, from N. York, arrived 10th inst. The Pilot informs that he saw a schooner, supposed one of the British tendeis, off Patuxent, she came to anchor in the middle of the Bay ; the boats of the Patriot seeibg her, got under way and stood towards her ; as soon as she saw them, she up anchor, and stood over to the Eastern Shore, to- ward.. Kent-Island, and was then under jib and mainsail; night came on, and they lost sight of her. She appeared to avoid every vessel that came near her. Also. schr. Alexander, Athoe, 90 days from Trieste and 47 from Gibraltar : Li- nens and glass ware; Lorman and Fulford. Left at Trieste, ship Lewis, Massey, of Bos- ton, for Tonningen in 3 days ; schr. Fair American, Hoar, of Norfolk, for Messina in 10 days. July 21, off Algiers, spike brig Joseph, Prior, 41 days from Boston, for Palermo, all well. August 7, at Gi- braltar, ship Fair American, Harding, from Baltimore, for Leghorn, ship and cargo condemned; schr. Lovely Lucy, Chalmers, from Baltimore, for Leghorn, bro't in, one third of cargo condemned, the remainder cleared; a few others, names unknoiii.* Sept. 11, lat. 33, long. 65, spoke brig Sus- sex, from New-York for Martinique, out II days; 14th lat. 34, long. 6ft, sp ke brig Jane from New-York t r Antigua, out 7 days. May 14th the Alexander on her out- ward passage at the entrance of the Gulph of Venice, was boarded, robbed and plun- dered, by a Maltese privateer, of 16 guns, under I rench colors. July 14, off the is- land of Sicily, was taken by another Mal- tese privateer, who put on board a prize \.lis- ter and crew, and sent her into Malta. Captain A. was taken on board the priva- teer and brought into the Iwrbor, the papers of the schooner being examined by the go- vernor, was discharged after being five days in the hands of the privateer, without ex- pence. Captain A. learned that a great ma- ny Americans were detained in Malta, un- der vatious pretences, but could not hear any of their names, as he was not permited to go ®n shore. The brig Susanna, Frank- lin, for Baltimore, sailed from Gibraltar 5th August. Also arrived, ship Bashaw, Peterkin, 7^ days from Monte Video. Hides, tallow, and horns—Robert Gilmor & Sons. Left there the icthof July. The reports there were that the British army consisting of 10,000 men, had landed about 30 iriles fri m Buenos Ayres on the 21st of June, and on the 6th of July were within two leagues of the outwoiks, which the .c ards had thrown up near that city for its de- fence. Left at Monte Video, waiting for the capture of Buems- Ayres, about 60 1 ;.}. of British merchant ships principally loaded. withBiitish manufactures, for which there was no vent.' Left also the following Ame- rican vessels, uncertain when to sail : ship,- Palmyra, Whitney, of Providence ; ArroA „ Fletcher. Boston; 1'nut, Dixey, do. brig Pail.ice, Rice, for Boston in 10 days; Ma- ria, Correy, of do. Unjon, Hussey, do. schr. Sophrona, Marner, New-York ; and six large Danish and Hamburg ships. Business at Monte Vfedo was m a state of entire stagnation. Whan capt. P. sailed theie were not more than 3 ships loading,. and none discharging. What' little wa* done was principally wish the English com-* tni.-sary general, chiefly lor the supply of thct truops with liquor- &c« \tx fact, itajp] \ 1 ¦J |