USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume I > Part 27
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
After referring to the duel with Van Allen, Gov. Gilmer* says :-
Gen. Clark, who having fought with fame at the battle of Jack's Creek, and distinguished himself by the active part which he took in the brawls common in those days, thought his efforts might be attended with better success. A challenge was sent to Mr. Crawford and accepted. On the day of the meeting, Clark and his second harassed him with quibbles and controversies until he was out of temper and off his guard. When he took his position, his disengaged arm was forgotten and suffered to hang outside his body, so that Gen. Clark's ball struck his wrist, which would otherwise have passed harmlessly by. Clark's hatred was increased instead of being appeased by his accidental success. He renewed his challenge without any renewed offence, and continued as long as he lived in Georgia to obstruct, by all the means which he could command, the way of Mr. Crawford's political advancement.
Mr. Crawford was elected a member of the Legislature by the people of Oglethorpe for several successive years. His vigorous intelleet and active industry entitled him to the first place among the members,-a position which he was not slow in assuming.
He was elected to the United States Senate in 1807, and was soon
* Georgians, p. 125.
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considered one of the great men of the most select of the legislative bodies of the world. He had the confidence of Mr. Jefferson, and was one of Mr. Madison's most influential advisers. He showed his fearlessness in the discharge of public duty by attacking Mr. Madison's Delphic-like recom- mendations when decisive measures were required by the state of the country. He was rewarded for his independence by being sent minister to France. His tall, commanding person figured conspicuously among the diminutive Frenchmen, whilst his noble features and gallant temper rendered him a great favorite in Parisian society. When he returned home, polished by intimate association with the highest class of the politest nation, his appearance and manners made him the most imposing gentleman who had ever been seen in Georgia. He indeed surpassed in personal appearance Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Lowndes, and General Jackson, his rivals for the Presidency,-though each one of them would have attracted attention among a million.
Our country has been represented abroad by very able ministers, from the time of Dr. Franklin to President Buchanan ; but of them all, if there had to be one selected as the Colossus of intellect, there would be no difference of opinion in awarding the honor to Mr. Crawford. From such a mind much may be expected. While discharging his embassy at Paris, Mr. Crawford wrote several letters to Mr. Clay, one of the United States Commissioners to negotiate peace with Great Britain at Ghent. The first letter describes the capture of Paris by the allies :-
PARIS, April 8, 1814.
DEAR SIR :- The events which have within a few days passed in this city and in its neighborhood have changed every thing in France but the character of the Parisians, and perhaps of Frenchinen in general.
On the 30th ult., a battle was fought in the vicinity of Paris, by the French troops under the Duke of Ragusa, amounting to between fifteen and twenty thousand men, and the grand allied army. The loss was con- siderable on both sides ; but that of the allies was more than double. It is estimated from eight to ten thousand men. The disparity in the loss was the result of the strong positions of the French troops, and the desire of the allies to get possession of the capital before the arrival of the Emperor Napoleon, who was advancing by rapid marches upon their rear. This desire was so predominant that they made no attempt to turn those posi- tions, but marched directly up to the intrenchments, where they were re- pulsed four or five times. The battle commenced about four o'clock A.M., and finished about the same time in the evening. The Duke of Ragusa entered into a convention, by which he agreed to evacuate the city, taking with him all his baggage, ammunition, and artillery.
The next day the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia entered Paris at the head of about fifty thousand of the finest troops in the world. The remainder of their immense army either defiled on the north or south side of the city, or remained in their positions ou the cast, which was the field of battle. The Emperor of Russia, with his Minister of Foreign Relations, went directly to the house of the Prince of Benevento,* who convened
* Talleyrand.
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the Senate the same evening, and had himself and three of his friends, with one devoted Bourbonite, named to the provisional government. The Senate had deposed Napoleon Bonaparte, and directed the pro- visional government to form a Constitution,-which has been accom- plished, and accepted by the Senate and the small portion of the legisla- tive corps who are now in Paris. The Moniteur of this day contains this Constitution, which you will probably sec before you receive this let- ter. The monarchy is declared to be hereditary in the house of Bourbon in the male line. The present Senators remain Senators of the realm by the same tenure,-the Senate to consist of one hundred and fifty at least, and not more than two hundred. The ancient and new nobility to remain. All Frenchmen to be capable of filling all the offices of the Government. The members of the legislative corps to hold their offices for five years, and to be elected directly by the people.
The proceedings of the Senate and of the provisional government have overturned the authority of the Emperor with his army, and especially with his ablest generals. He seems to have sunk without an effort,-at least, without an effort corresponding in any degrec with his former fame. Such. at least, is the conclusion which I draw from the facts which are communicated to the public. It is possible that these facts may be misrepresented. 1 believe, however, that it is certain that he has agreed to retire with his family to the isle of Elba upon a pension of six millions of livres. From the moment he saw that it was impossible for him to reign, he ought to have died. The manner was in his election. A strange infatuation seems to have influenced his conduct during the last six months. Still relying upon his talents and his power, he refused, at Prague, to secure at least the neutrality of Austria, by giving her every thing she required. After having retreated across the Rhine, he reluctantly accepted the basis which the allies proposed, and which there is some reason to believe they were sincerely disposed to adopt. Lord Castlercagh's mission, however, accord- ing to the best view of the subject which I have been able to take, was intended solely to prevent this accommodation. Time will prove the ac- curacy or inaccuracy of this opinion. There must have been great address employed in managing the Emperor of Austria, who had rejected all idea of overthrowing the reigning dynasty. The infatuation of the Emperor, and his arrogance to his father-in-law, (if we are to credit reports appa- rently well founded,) greatly contributed to the success of the British Secretary .* That the Emperor of Austria had been duped is clearly esta- blished by the declaration of the allies after the breaking up of the congress at Chatillon, and by the conduct of Lord Wellington. This declaration states that up to the 15th of March they were ready to make peace with the Emperor Napoleon ; whereas the address of Lord Wellington, on the 2d of February, declares Louis XVIII. and raises the Bourbon standard. The introduction of the ancient dynasty is not acceptable to the great body of the people of Paris. Even now, after the Senate and provisional go- verninent have declared for that dynasty, there is not one man in a hun- dred who puts on the white cockade. On the day of the entry of the allied sovereigns, all the persons devoted to their ancient kings
* Robert Stewart, Marquis of Londonderry, (known as Lord Castlereagh, who fought a duel with Mr. Canning,) was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1812. As leader of the House of Commons, his mind became impaired by exces- sive labor in 1822, and in August of that year he committed suicide by applying a penknife to his nock.
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endeavored to make themselves as conspicuous as possible, and to conceal the smallness of their numbers by continual change of place. Exertions were made to excite popular feeling and tumult, but without effort. But for the National Guard, popular tumult would have been excited, perhaps, but not in favor of the Bourbons. If the mob of Paris had been put in motion, it would have been in favor of a free government.
The men now in power, as far as I have been able to judge, have preferred the succession of the King of Rome, with a regency provided by the Em- press ; but the Emperor Alexander, who, under the modest exterior of submitting every thing to the will of the French people, dictates to the Senate and provisional government at least this article of their Constitu- tion.
I did not anticipate precisely the manner in which this European peace was to be consummated. I most sincerely wish you complete success in your negotiations, although I apprehend that great difficulties will be pre- sented. Under existing circumstances, if peace is made, I presume that the treaty will be very short, concluding nothing but peace and the resto- ration of what territory may be in the hands of either party by conquest, if there is any such.
P.S .- I send this by the Secretary of the Danish Legation, who sets out immediately for Copenhagen, which gives me no opportunity for reflection or revision of this hasty scrawl, as I have just been informed of the fact of his setting out.
MR. CRAWFORD TO MR. CLAY.
PARIS, June 10, 1814.
MY DEAR SIR :- Mr. Carroll arrived a few days ago, and brought me your letters of the 10th and 14th ult. The change in the place* of the negotiation for peace will enable me to write you frequently, and will afford me the pleasure of receiving from you the most interesting details upon the advances which you shall make from day to day in the work of peace. My expectations of a happy result are not strong. The arrogance of the enemy was never greater than at the present moment. The infatuation of that nation excludes almost the possibility of peace. The ministry is represented as being very temperate and moderate. In my former communications I have stated the reasons which I have for doubting the sincerity of their professions of moderation. I may have been wrong in my inferences. I wish that the result may correct me of this error. Admitting the possibility that the British ministers will con- sent to make peace, without deciding any thing upon the question of im- pressment, will your instructions justify you in accepting it? So far as I am acquainted with the nature of those instructions, their letter will not. But those instructions were given at a time when the great changes which have intervened in Europe were not only unknown, but wholly unexpected. What will be the effect which these changes will produce upon the de- termination of the Government? Will the Government, after they are informed of these changes, give directions to conclude peace, leaving the question of impressment open to further negotiation ? Will it consent to a peace which shall make no mention of this question ? I presume it will. If the negotiators shall be of this opinion, ought they to hesitate
* From Gottenburg, in Sweden, to Ghent, in Belgium.
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to accept, in the most prompt manner, of a peace which they are convinced the Government will instruct them to make so soon as it is informed of the actual state of things? I should answer, promptly, No. A peace which omits the question of impressment entirely will leave the American Government at perfect liberty to apply the proper remedy whenever the evil shall be felt. I do not believe that you will be placed in a situation to determine this question. I believe they will insist upon the unquali- fied admission of their right to impress on board American vessels at sea. This, I trust, will never be conceded. It would be better to return to our colonial relations with our mother-country than submit to this condi- tion.
As there is but a faint glimmering of hope that the negotiation will terminate in peace, the next important point to be obtained is that it shall break off upon principles which will convince the American people, of all parties, that peace can be obtained only by the most vigorous prosecu- tion of the war. I have the most unlimited confidence in the skill and address of our negotiators. I am perfectly satisfied that the negotiation will be conducted with a view to affect this important point. I have seen and conversed with several Englishmen in Paris upon the question of im- pressment, and find the most of them very ignorant and arrogant. Sir Thomas Baring is an exception to this remark. But his mode of ad- justing the question is wholly inadmissible. He proposes that no im- pressment shall be made in vessels engaged in the coasting-trade,-that no impressment shall take place in vessels engaged in the foreign trade in sight of the American coast. He thinks the ministry will hardly go so far. A merchant of the name of Wilson says that an arrangement of a different nature would be satisfactory to the nation. It is this :- that when a Bri- tish officer shall visit an American vessel and designate any one of the crew as a British subject, and he should admit the fact, that the master or captain of the American vessel should deliver him up; if the man should deny that he is an Englishman, and the captain should refuse to deliver him up, that the visiting officer should endorse the ship's papers with the name of the sailor and with his allegation. The question of na- tionality shall be inquired into at the first port at which the vessel shall touch where there is a British consul : if found against the sailor, the captain shall pay a fine, or the expenses of the investigation, and the sailor shall be delivered up; if for him, the British consul-or, if in Eng- land, the British Government-should be subject to the same payment. He says that in the case of an admitted British subject, if the American captain should declare that the loss of the man would endanger the ves- sel, that he should be kept on board until the vessel entered the port of destination, when the captain should be bound to deliver him over to the British consul, or officer authorized to receive him.
I see no objection to this plan, except that the captain should not be permitted to deliver any man who denies the charge until it is established against him. This arrangement will give the enemy the absolute control 'over their own seamen, as far as the fact of nationality can be established. It at the same time screens American sailors from arbitrary impressment. If the vessel should be bound to the ports of a nation at war with England. it might be made the duty of the American consul at such port to ship him on board an American vessel bound to England, to the United States, or to a neutral port, where the fact should be promptly settled. I do not believe that this arrangement will be acceptable to the Government of
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England, because I do not believe they will be satisfied with any arrange- ment which will prevent their seizing upon the sailors of other nations. If I am correct in my conjecture, the proposition will embarrass them; and the rejection will prove to the most prejudiced mind that they are determined to make the American sailors fight the battles which are to rivet the chains of slavery which they have been forging for all maritime states, and especially for the seafaring men of those states, for a century past. I have thought that this arrangement ought to be suggested to you, because it may not have occurred to any one of our ministers. I think it highly improbable that the English negotiators will make any proposi- tion of this nature. If their pretensions shall be so moderate as to afford rational ground for discussion, this arrangement may be proposed with advantage.
If their views are so unreasonable as to exclude discussion, that of itself will have the happy effect of convincing all parties that the peace must be obtained by the sword alone. But even in this case, when the rejection of the arrangement will be certain, I am inclined to believe that the proposition, coming from the American ministers, will have a ten- dency to elucidate the extent of the concessions which they demand upon this point, more satisfactorily than any other mode which has been pre- seuted to my mind. Mr. Wilson is a true John Bull,-but, I believe, a very honest man, and, I am sure, sincerely desirous of peace. The rejec- tion of the arrangement will probably have some effect upon the English nation itself. If this principle will be satisfactory to Mr. Wilson, it is probable that it will be acceptable to many others,-in fact, to all reason- able men,-to all men who have not formed the foolish and extravagant idea of recolonizing the United States.
I have felt that it was my duty to present this subject to you in its fullest extent. I have verbally communicated it to Mr. Bayard. It is probable that Mr. Wilson may have communicated this idea to Mr. Gal- latin, as he made his acquaintance, and that of Mr. Bayard's also, in Lon- don. He had not suggested it to the latter.
I will obtain the necessary passports for you and send them on to Ghent, as the Moniteur of yesterday has notified that it is necessary to have them to leave the kingdom. I suppose it is equally necessary to enter it.
From the letters which I have written to you, you will perceive that some of my inferences have been proved, by subsequent events, to be in- correct. I reasoned from the facts as they were presented to my mind; and I feel no mortification at the result. If it was my duty to commu- nicate every thing to you which I knew or believed at the moment of writing, I do not feel any mortification that some of my conjectures, some of my inferences, have proved to be incorrect.
I have authority to draw on the bankers of the United States for diplomatic intercourse and for disbursements for distressed seamen. Under the first head I can satisfy Mr. Carroll's expenses, and should do it with great pleasure on his own account, as well as upon your request. I am well acquainted with his father, and entertain the highest esteem for him.
This letter will be delivered to you by Mr. Bayard, who, I am happy to inform you, coincides with me in every question relative to the peace. He believes, with me, if the nation can be united in the prosecution of the war, that the interest of the United States will be promoted by the failure
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of the negotiation. He will heartily unite with you in bringing the dis- cussions to a close that will secure this great object. I think, from the English papers, that no armistice has been agreed upon. I rejoice that it has failed. It might have done us much injury, but could not possibly do us any good.
God bless you, my dear sir, and bless your labors, and make them useful to your country. Mine, I believe, are like water spilled on the ground, that can never be gathered. Adieu.
MR. CRAWFORD TO MR. CLAY.
PARIS, July 4, 1814.
MY DEAR SIR :- I have but little to add to the contents of my pre- ceding letters. Mr. Gallatin, and the young gentlemen who accompany or follow immediately after him, will give you the ephemeral news of this capital. . There is little doing here which can interest an American citizen.
I am not sanguine in my expectations of peace. If the failure of your exertions to put an end to the war shall succeed in producing unanimity at home, we shall have no cause to lament that failure. I am thoroughly convinced that the United States can never be called upon to treat under circumstances less auspicious than those which exist at the present moment, unless our internal bickerings shall continue to weaken the efforts of the Government. I sincerely trust that this will not be the case. In your letter to Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard, you state that the elections in the East had terminated against the Government, but by smaller majorities than on the preceding elections. I have not yet received any further in- formation upon the subject than what is contained in that letter. There is a chasm in my newspapers, delivered by Mr. Carroll, from the 19th March to 5th April. If you can supply this chasm, you will greatly oblige me.
From what I have lately discovered of the councils of this nation, and of the temper of the principal maritime states of Europe, I am inclined to believe that the time at which they may be disposed to oppose the mari- time usurpations of our enemy will be more distant than I had previously imagined. At all events, I am fearful that it will be more distant than we shall be disposed to prosecute the war, to avoid concessions which they will feel as severely as we shall.
In the prosecution of the war, the great difficulty we shall have to encounter will be the raising of money. The war will give us soldiers and point out the officers qualified to command, but it will neither coin money or increase our credit. If we can get through this campaign without any signal defeat and without the loss of any of our principal commercial cities, and can raise for the ensuing year the sums necessary for the prosecution of the war, we shall find ourselves in much more eli- gible circumstances at the close of the next campaign than we are at present.
I do not look forward with dismay: I believe we shall rise superior to all the difficulties with which we are surrounded. I trust we shall live to enjoy many happy celebrations of this anniversary of our national exist- euce.
Give my best respects to your colleagues, and accept for yourself the assurance of my warmest friendship.
P.S .- I will send by Mr. Todd the passport necessary to enable you to
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come to Paris after you close your diplomatic functions. I repeat my request that you will make my house your home during your residence here. If you wish to take a disciple of Pestalozzi with you to the United States, one can be obtained. Upon him you can impose the condition of teaching the Greek and Latin. You will have, however, to maintain him until he learns English enough to teach. The economy of Switzerland makes this expense very inconsiderable. I have learned with great pleasure, from the enemies of the system, that it has overcome the prejudices even of the priesthood.
MR. CRAWFORD TO MR. CLAY.
PARIS, July 9, 1814,
MY DEAR SIR :- I acknowledge with much pleasure your very inte- resting letter of the 2d instant, by the hands of Mr. Carroll.
It appears that we differ in opinion upon two points. You believe that the British Government will not hesitate to make peace, leaving the ques- tion of impressment wholly out of view. You appear also to believe that the events of the present campaign will have a favorable effect upon your negotiations. I sincerely wish you may be right; but I am strongly in- clined to believe that the result will prove your opinions to be incorrect.
When I foresaw that peace would probably take place in Europe in the early part of the year, I did not expect that the manner in which the war has terminated would so inflate the arrogance of the enemy as it manifestly has done. I thought, as you now think, that England would not hesi- tate to make peace by waiving the question of impressment. I am even now convinced that her interest requires that this course should be adopted. There are, however, occasions in which nations, like individuals, blinded by some momentary but predominant passion, turn a deaf ear to the voice of interest. This I presume to be the case with our enemy at the present moment. Various facts which have come to my knowledge have led me to believe that she will now decidedly reject any proposition which you can make which does not admit the legality of her practice of im- pressment on board American vessels at sea.
At the moment, however, when I presented to the joint embassy the idea of making peace by omitting this question, even if your instructions did not literally warrant it, I still believed that England would consent to this course. At that time I expected the negotiation to open at Gottenburg, about the 1st of May. I did not expect that instructions would be re- ceived from the Government, founded on the recent changes of Europe, before the month of August. At the date of my letter to you of the 10th ultimo, my opinion of the views of the British Government had in some degree changed; but even then I expected the negotiation to open a month sooner than it probably will. I also expected that the change of the seat of negotiations would probably postpone the receipt of the instructions expected from the United States. These reasons, together with those which arise from the expectation of a different result from our military operations from that which you entertain, aided by the express wish of Mr. Bayard that I should present the question anew to you individually, must plead my apology for its intrusion upon your attention.
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