In Senate of the U. S., April 16, 1808.

Mr. Anderson, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 4th instant, the correspondence between Mr. Monroe and Mr. Canning, and between Mr. Madison and Mr. Rose, relative to the attack made upon the frigate Chesapeake by the British ship of war Leopard; and also the communications made to the Senate by the President of the United States, on the 30th day of March last, containing a letter from Mr. Erskine to the Secretary of State, and a letter from Mr. Champagny to General Armstrong, reported:

That, on a review of the several orders, decrees, and decisions of Great Britain and France, within the period of the existing war, it appears that, previous to the measures referred to in the letters from Mr. Erskine to the Secretary of State, and from Mr. Champagny to General Armstrong, various and heavy injuries have been committed against the neutral commerce and navigation of the United States under the following heads:

Ist. The British order of June, 1803, unlawfully restricting the trade of the United States with a certain portion of the unblockaded ports of her enemies, and condemning vessels with innocent cargoes, on a return from ports where they had deposited contraband articles.

2d. The capture and condemnation, in the British courts of admiralty, of American property, on a pretended principle, debarring neutral nations from a trade with the enemies of Great Britain interdicted in time of peace. The injuries suffered by the citizens of the United States, on this head, arose, not from any public order of the British council, but from a variation in the principle upon which the courts of admiralty pronounced their decisions. These decisions have, indeed, again varied, without any new orders of council being issued; and in the higher courts of admiralty some of the decisions, which had formed the greatest cause for complaint, have been reversed, and the property restored. There still remains, however, a heavy claim of indemnity for confiscations which were made during the period of these unwarrantable decisions, and for which all negotiation has hitherto proved unavailing.

3d. Blockades notified to the minister of the United States at London, and thence made a ground of capture against the trade of the United States, in entire disregard of the law of nations, and even of the definition of legal blockades, laid down by the British

Government itself. Examples of these illegitimate blockades will be found in the notifications of the blockade of May 16, 1806, of the coast from the river Elbe to Brest, inclusive; blockade of 11th May, 1807, expounded 19th June, 1807, of the Elbe, Weser, and Ems, and the coast between the same; blockade 11th of May, 1807, of the Dardanelles and Smyrna; blockade of 8th January, 1808, of Carthagena, Cadiz, and St. Lucar, and of all the intermediate ports between Carthagena and St. Lucar, comprehending a much greater extent of coast than the whole British navy could blockade according to the established law of nations.

4th. To these injuries, immediately authorized by the British Government, might be added other spurious blockades by British naval commanders, particularly that of the island of Curacoa, which, for a very considerable period, was made a pretext for very extensive spoliations on the commerce of the United States.

5th. The British proclamation of October last, which makes it the duty of the British officers to impress from American merchant vessels all such of their crews as might be taken or mistaken for British subjects; those officers being the sole and absolute judges in the case.

For the decrees and acts of the French Government violating the maritime law of nations, in respect to the United States, the committee refer to the instances contained in the report of the Secretary of State, January 25, 1806, to the Senate, in one of which, viz: a decree of the French General Ferrand, at St. Domingo, are regulations sensibly affecting the neutral and commercial rights of the United States.

The French act, next in order of time, is the decree of November. 21, 1806, declaring the British isles in a state of blockade, and professing to be a retaliation on antecedent proceedings of Great Britain, violating the law of nations.

This decree was followed, first, by the British order of January, 1807, professing to be a retaliation on that decree, and subjecting to capture the trade of the United States, from the port of one belligerent to a port of another; and, secondly, by the orders of November last, professing to be a further retaliation on the same decree, and prohibiting the commerce of neutrals with the enemies of Great Britain, as explained in the aforesaid letter of Mr. Erskine.

These last British orders again have been followed by the French decree of December 17, purporting to be a retaliation on the said orders, and to be put in force against the commerce of the United States, as stated in the aforesaid letter of Mr. Champagny.

The committee forbear to enter into a comparative view of these proceedings of the different belligerent Powers, deeming it sufficient to present the materials from which it may be formed. They think it their duty, nevertheless, to offer the following remarks, suggested by a collective view of the whole:

The injury and dangers resulting to the commerce of the United States from the course and increase of these belligerent measures, and from similar ones adopted by other nations, were such as first to induce the more circumspect of our merchants and ship-owners no longer to commit their property to the high seas, and at length to impose on Congress the indispensable duty of interposing some legislative provision for such an unexampled state of things.

Among other expedients, out of which a choice was to be made, may be reckoned

Ist. A protection of commerce by ships of war.

2d. A protection of it by self-armed vessels.

3d. A war of offence as well as of defence.

4th. A general suspension of foreign commerce.

5th. An embargo on our vessels, mariners, and merchandise. This last was adopted, and the policy of it was enforced, at the particular moment, by accounts, quickly after confirmed, of the British orders of November, and by the probability that these would be followed, as has also happened by an invigorated spirit of retaliation in other belligerent Powers; the happy effect of the precaution is demonstrated by the well-known fact that the ports of Europe are crowded with captured vessels of the United States, unfortunately not within the reach of the precaution.

D. Effect of the Embargo on New York City, 18071

As a peaceful mode of retaliation for the indignities and injuries received by American shipping at the hands of the French and English, Congress passed the embargo act, which prohibited American vessels leaving the ports of the United States for those of any foreign nation. The effect of the embargo upon our foreign trade and the industries contributory to it was immediate and disastrous. A graphic picture of conditions in New York City before and after the embargo is given by Lambert, an English traveler in the United States.

When I arrived at New York in November [1807], the port was filled with shipping, and the wharfs were crowded with commodities

1 Travels through Canada, and the United States of North America, in the Years 1806, 1807, & 1808. By John Lambert (2d edition, London, 1814), II, 62–5,

of every description. Bales of cotton, wool, and merchandize; barrels of pot-ash, rice, flour, and salt provisions; hogsheads of sugar, chests of tea, puncheons of rum, and pipes of wine; boxes, cases, packs and packages of all sizes and denominations, were strewed upon the wharfs and landing-places, or upon the decks of the shipping. All was noise and bustle. The carters were driving in every direction; and the sailors and labourers upon the wharfs, and on board the vessels, were moving their ponderous burthens from place to place. The merchants and their clerks were busily engaged in their counting-houses, or upon the piers. The Tontine coffee-house was filled with under-writers, brokers, merchants, traders, and politicians; selling, purchasing, trafficking, or insuring; some reading, others eagerly inquiring the news. The steps and balcony of the coffee-house were crowded with people bidding, or listening to the several auctioneers, who had elevated themselves upon a hogshead of sugar, a puncheon of rum, or a bale of cotton; and with Stentorian voices were exclaiming, "Once, twice." "Once, twice." "Another cent." "Thank ye, gentlemen," or were knocking down the goods, which took up one side of the street, to the best purchaser. The coffee-house slip, and the corners of Wall and Pearl-streets, were jammed up with carts, drays, and wheel-barrows; horses and men were huddled promiscuously together, leaving little or no room for passengers to pass. Such was the appearance of this part of the town when I arrived. Everything was in motion; all was life, bustle, and activity. The people were scampering in all directions to trade with each other, and to ship off their purchases for the European, Asian, African, and West Indian markets. Every thought, look, word, and action of the multitude seemed to be absorbed by commerce; the welkin rang with its busy hum, and all were eager in the pursuit of its riches.

But on my return to New York the following April, what a contrast was presented to my view! and how shall I describe the melancholy dejection that was painted upon the countenances of the people, who seemed to have taken leave of all their former gaiety and cheerfulness? The coffee-house slip, the wharfs and quays along South-street, presented no longer the bustle and activity that had prevailed there five months before. The port, indeed, was full of shipping; but they were dismantled and laid up. Their decks were cleared, their hatches fastened down, and scarcely a sailor was to be found on board. Not a box, bale, cask, barrel, or package, was to be seen upon the wharfs. Many of the counting-houses were shut

up, or advertised to be let; and the few solitary merchants, clerks, porters, and labourers, that were to be seen, were walking about with their hands in their pockets. Instead of sixty or a hundred carts that used to stand in the street for hire, scarcely a dozen appeared, and they were unemployed; a few coasting sloops, and schooners, which were clearing out for some of the ports in the United States, were all that remained of that immense business which was carried on a few months before. The coffee-house was almost empty; or, if there happened to be a few people in it, it was merely to pass away the time which hung heavy on their hands, or to enquire anxiously after news from Europe, and from Washington: or perhaps to purchase a few bills, that were selling at ten or twelve per cent. above par. In fact, every thing presented a melancholy appearance. The streets near the water-side were almost deserted, the grass had begun to grow upon the wharfs, and the minds of the people were tortured by the vague and idle rumours that were set afloat upon the arrival of every letter from England or from the seat of government. In short, the scene was so gloomy and forlorn, that had it been the month of September instead of April, I should verily have thought that a malignant fever was raging in the place; so desolating were the effects of the embargo, which in the short space of five months had deprived the first commercial city in the States of all its life, bustle, and activity; caused above one hundred and twenty bankruptcies; and completely annihilated its foreign commerce! . . .

(April 13) Everything wore a dismal aspect at New York. The embargo had now continued upwards of three months, and the salutary check which Congress imagined it would have upon the conduct of the belligerent powers was extremely doubtful, while the ruination of the commerce of the United States appeared certain, if such destructive measure was persisted in. Already had 120 failures taken place among the merchants and traders, to the amount of more than 5,000,000 dollars; and there were above 500 vessels in the harbour, which were lying up useless, and rotting for want of employment. Thousands of sailors were either destitute of bread, wandering about the country, or had entered into the British service. The merchants had shut up their counting-houses, and discharged their clerks, and the farmers refrained from cultivating their land; for if they brought their produce to market, they either could not sell at all, or were obliged to dispose of it for only a fourth of its value.