Imprisonment of R. W. Meade. Court of Spain, interposed to obtain his liberation, and from the 27th of August, 1816, to the 9th of May, 1817, made repeated and earnest applications to the public functionaries of Spain. claiming his release, as a citizen of the United States unjustly deprived of his liberty. It is chiefly from this correspondence, accompanying the Message of the President, that the committee have been able to obtain any knowledge of the causes that led to Mr. Meade's arrest and impris onment. could be collected by the treasury to restore the deposite made by Mr. Meade. From the date last mentioned, (4th of August, 1815,) it does not appear that any proceedings took place until the 2d of May, 1816, when the tribunal of war issued the order under which Mr. Meade was arrested and continues to be imprisoned. This order was founded upon a suggestion made by McDermot, that Mr. Meade was about to leave the Kingdom, and required him to "de liver up the aforesaid deposite, (meaning the money belonging to the bankrupt's estate,) in like manner, and in the same specie, as he had received it, or to give full, clear, and sufficient security, to the satisfaction of the tribunal of commerce at Cadiz; and, in default thereof, to be removed to a public prison, to prevent all evasion of the sentence against him." It is understood that the tribunal would receive nothing as satisfactory security but a deposite of specie. Mr. Meade, it seems, had been regularly appointed assignee at Cadiz of the estate of James W. Glass, declared a bankrupt in England, and in that capacity, after faithfully executing his duty, there remained in his hands a sum of about $52,000 belonging to the estate, which there is reason to believe was the subject of controversy between different claimants. There is no complaint or suggestion that Mr. Meade improperly retained this money in his hands, or was prevented from paying it over by any consideration The proceeding of the tribunal of war is apbut that of a just regard for his own security, parently so destitute of all foundation in justice, which did not, under the then existing circum- and so plainly contradictory to the royal decree stances, permit him to part with the fund; and of the 4th August, 1815, that it becomes necessait seems that he could not under any circum-ry to examine, for a moment, the only suggestion stances pay the money, without the consent and bearing the semblance of a vindication of it that direction of the Consulado of Cadiz. has been offered on the part of the Spanish authorities. In this state of things, on the 18th of February, 1814, the Consulado of Cadiz, a tribunal whose jurisdiction over the matter does not appear to be questioned, made a summary order, requiring Mr. Meade, within a limited and very short time, (about twenty-four hours,) to deposite the abovementioned sum of money in the treasury general of the province. With this order Mr. Meade complied on the following day. The fact of his compliance was vouched at the time by the usual and authentic evidence from the proper officer, and has since been satisfactorily established, in the manner that will hereafter appear. The Consulado, by its own act, in taking the fund from the hands of Mr. Meade, and causing it to be deposited in the public treasury, would seem, upon every just principle, to have liberated him from further accountability. That tribunal, nevertheless, soon after entertained a new proceeding against Mr. Meade, at the instance of a certain John McDermot, the agent of Duncan Hunter, having for its object to compel him to pay to the Consulado the same amount which he had been previously ordered to pay, and, under their order, had already paid into the public treasury; that is, in substance, to pay the same sum a second time. The Consulado made a decree against him to that effect. From this decree Mr. Meade appealed to the superior tribunal of the province, called the alzadas, "but its interference was overruled by the tribunal of war at Madrid, and this latter confirmed the sentence of the Consulado at Cadiz." On the 4th of August, 1815, a royal decree was issued, suspending the further proceedings of the Consulado against Mr. Meade, until funds of the 10th September, 1816, alleges" that Mr. Don Pedro Cevallos, in his note to Mr. Erving Meade attempted to restore (alluding to the payment into the Treasury) the money demanded of him, in credits of the Treasury." The precise import of this allegation may be understood to be, that Mr. Meade had made the deposite in Government paper, instead of making it in specie. That Mr. Meade made the deposite in what was equivalent to specie, and was received as such by the officer authorized to receive it, is perfectly clear. The Intendant of the Treasury gave him a receipt for the deposite, made pursuant to the order of the Consulado. In answer to an inquiry soon after directed by the Consulado, the same officer replied, that the deposite had been made in effective specie, and that he would respond for the specie. The royal order, or decree, of the 4th August, 1815, is founded upon the admission of the same fact. But there is still further evidence, though further evidence would seem to be unnecessary. In November, 1816, the Treasurer General of Spain distinctly put the questions to the Consulado, whether the deposite had been made? whether it still existed and whether there was any impediment to its return? That tribunal, with equal distinctness, replied, that the deposite was made, pursuant to their or der, "in Treasury notes of effective cash, which said Meade had to receive from said Department, and the deposite was thus made: the Treasurer obliging himself to hold the amount at the dispo sition of this tribunal." They state, also, that the deposite still exists at their disposition, and that they cannot resolve to whom it is to be returned. And, again, on the 29th April, 1817, the treasurer of the revenue, or provincial rents of Cadiz, Relations with Spain—Blockades. states explicitly to the Treasurer General of Spain, that the deposite had been made, and had not been returned. With such an accumulation of evidence from sources of unquestionable authenticity, and wholly uncontradicted, to show that the deposite had been made in what was equivalent to specie, and received as specie, and that the Treasury became, and acknowledged itself to be, answerable for the amount, it is almost superfluous to add a remark, which the course of the business very naturally presents, tending to the same result. If the order made by the Consulado in the first instance had not been complied with, that tribunal would have proceeded to enforce its authority by summary and direct compulsion; in other words, it would have used the means with which it is invested by law to compel Mr. Meade to do exactly what that order required. This would have produced an immediate inquiry whether he had or had not complied, and would have enabled Mr. Meade to justify himself. The resort to an irregular and arbitrary course, which avoids that question, affords the strongest reason to believe that the allegation of Mr. Cevallos was known to be untenable. In fact, that allegation has since been wholly abandoned; for, in the three notes subsequently addressed to Mr. Erving, in reply to his urgent remonstrances, one by Mr. Cevallos, and two by his successor, Mr. Pizarro, it is not even alluded to. It is impossible, however, to avoid remarking the extraordinary character of one of the questions put to the Consulado in November, 1816, and the still more extraordinary character of the answer. The inquiry alluded to was, whether there was any impediment to its (the deposite) being returned? The answer is, that, from the circumstances of the suit still pending, this tribunal cannot resolve to whom the sum so deposited is to be returned. Why Mr. Meade should be imprisoned pending that suit, which was to determine to whom the money in the Treasury was to be paid, is a question that seems to admit of no answer that is reconcilable with common justice, more especially as the same document implies that the Treasury was to pay the money as soon as the suit should be decided, and, of course, the object of the suit was not to coerce Mr. Meade to pay, but simply to determine who was to have the money from the Treasury. There is still another view of this matter which the committee think it proper to submit, and which they deem of itself decisive to establish the flagrant injustice of Mr. Meade's imprisonment. If the deposite was made in paper, it is beyond a doubt that the paper was the evidence of a debt due from the Treasury to Mr. Meade, and the receipt of it amounted to nothing more than a payment of what was justly due to him; in fact, it was the same thing as if the Treasury had paid him the money, and he had immediately after repaid the same money to the Treasury. The Treasury, therefore, had no just cause to complain. It is equally evident that the individual interested in the deposite (Mr. McDer mot, or his constituent) had no reason to complain. Whether the deposite was made in specie, or in what was equivalent to specie, or how it was made, could not be material to him, provided it was so made as to give him a right to call upon the Treasury; that is, to make him a creditor of the Treasury for the amount, in case of an eventual decision in his favor. That this was the effect of the deposite made by Mr. Meade, and received by the Treasurer, is not, and cannot be disputed. The Treasurer cancelled the securities deposited, and engaged to respond for the amount in specie. If the Treasury of Spain had been ready and willing to fulfil this engagement, Mr. Meade's imprisonment could not have continued for a single moment; and it is, therefore, evident that he is kept in confinement simply because it is not convenient for the treasury to pay the money. And your committee are well assured that the Government of Spain, aware that, let the decision be what it might, the royal treasury would be called on to pay money in dispute, has, by a secret exertion of the authority which it possesses over the proceedings of the tribunals, commanded "the business to be prolonged as much as possible." In every point of view, then, in which the case can be considered, your committee can discover no justification for the imprisonment and sufferings of Mr. Meade. It does not appear that he has violated any civil or social duty which he owed by the laws of Spain, and for which, in the ordinary administration of justice, he might rightly be imprisoned. They are satisfied, too, that the continuance of his imprisonment is dependent upon the pleasure of the Government of Spain, and that his liberation may at any time be effected by that Government. Your committee hope and believe that the demand made by the President will not be unavailing, but they think it proper, at the same time, on the part of this House, to give assurance of support in the measures that may become necessary, in case this expectation should be disappointed. They, therefore, submit the following resolution: Resolved, That the House is satisfied that the imprisonment of Richard W. Meade is an act of cruel and unjustifiable oppression that it is the right and duty of the Government of the United States to afford to Mr. Meade its aid and protection; and that this House will support and maintain such measures as the President may hereafter adopt to obtain the release of the said R. W. Meade from confinement, should such measures be proper and necessary. SPAIN-BLOCKADES. [Communicated to the House, February 17, 1818.] To the House of Representatives of the United States: Conformably with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 6th of this month, I now Relations with Spain-Blockades. lay before that House a report received from the FEBRUARY 12, 1818. be declared a good prize, whatever documents or I have the honor to give you this notice, as it Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, to the Chevalier de DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Feb. 12, 1818. The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 6th of this month, requesting the President to cause to be laid before that House the correspondence with the Government of Spain, to which a letter of the Minister of the United States at the Court of Madrid, of the 25th of Oc-ter of March 2, announcing the continuance of a tober, 1816, communicated with a late message of the President to that House, relates, has the honor, herewith, to submit to the President a copy of the correspondence requested. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. SIR: I have had the honor to receive your let blockade of the Spanish coast in South America, from Santa Marta to the river Atrato, inclusive of the latter, by the Commander-in-Chief of His Catholic Majesty's forces; and that if any vessel is met south of the mouths of the Magdalena, or north of the parallel of Cape Tiburon, on the points, she shall be seized and condemned as Mosquito coast, and between the meridian of those prize, whatever may be her documents or destination. You state, also, that the ports of Santa Marta and Porto Bello are left open to neutrals. PHILADELPHIA, September 5, 1815. SIR: Under the date of 30th June, I am advised by Lieutenant General Don Pablo Morillo, I have to state that this proclamation of GenCaptain General of Caraccas, and commander of eral Morillo is evidently repugnant to the law of the expedition which His Majesty has destined nations, for several reasons, particularly the folto re-establish tranquillity at Carthagena, that, lowing: that it declares a coast of several hunwith a view to accelerate this important object, dred miles to be in a state of blockade; and behe is about to establish the most rigorous block-cause it authorizes the seizure of neutral vessels ade of the ports of the viceroyalty of Santa Fe, including Carthagena, and that, in consequence, every neutral vessel which shall be found, not only in those ports, but on those coasts, shall be made prize of, in order to prevent those who have revolted from His Majesty's authority receiving succors of any kind. I have thought it proper to communicate this to you, for the information of the President, that the injuries may be avoided which would result to the citizens of this Republic, if they continue, as heretofore, to trade with the rebels against the authority of my sovereign. I renew to you, &c. LUIS DE ONIS. Don Luis de Onis to the Secretary of State. at an unjustifiable distance from the coast. No maxim of the law of nations is better established than that a blockade shall be confined to particular ports, and that an adequate force shall be stationed at each to support it. The force shall be stationary, and not a cruising squadron, and placed so near the entrance of the harbor or mouth of the river as to make it evidently dangerous for a vessel to enter. I have to add, that a vessel entering the port ought not to be seized, except in returning to it after being warned off by the blockading squadron stationed near it. I am instructed by the President to state to you these objections to the blockade which has been announced in your letter, that you may communicate them to your Government, and in confi. dence that you will, in the mean time, interpose your good offices, and prevail on General Morillo to alter his proclamation, and practice under it, in such a manner as to conform, in both respects, to the law of nations. PHILADELPHIA, March 2, 1816. SIR: Don Pablo Morillo, Commander-in-Chief of the forces destined by the King, my master, for the pacification of the viceroyalty of Santa In stating to you these well-founded objections Fe, says to me, under date of the 19th of Decem-to the blockade of General Morillo, I have the ber last, that, after having compelled Carthagena honor to observe that your motive for commuto surrender at discretion, he had found it expe- nicating it is duly appreciated. dient, for the complete re-establishment of the tranquillity of the viceroyalty, to continue the blockade from Santa Marta to the river Atrato, inclusive; and to give orders that if any vessel be met with further south than the mouths of the Magdalena, or further north than the parallel of Cape Tiburon, on the Mosquito shore, and between the meridians of those points, she would I have the honor to be, &c. JAMES MONROE. Don Luis de Onis to the Secretary of State. PHILADELPHIA, March 25, 1816. SIR: I have received your official letter of the 20th of this month, in which you state that the Relations with Spain-Blockades. proclamation of General Morillo is repugnant to the laws of nations, as well because it declares a coast of several hundred miles in a state of blockade, authorizing the capture of every neutral vessel at an unlimited distance from the coast, as that it is an established maxim among nations that a blockade should be limited to the ports where there may be a stationary and not a cruising force sufficient to make the entrance of the harbor or river where it may be placed dangerous; and, finally, even in this case, a vessel ought not to be captured when she is about to enter a port, save only when, after having received notice of the blockade, she attempts to infringe it. You are pleased to state to me that the President desires that I will communicate these observations to my Government, and that I would use my good offices, confidentially, with General Morillo, so to modify his blockade as to make it conform to the laws of nations. I will communicate to His Majesty, in compliance with the wishes of the President, what you have stated to me in your note; and I will, with pleasure, avail myself of the departure of Mr. Hughes to write to General Morillo, inviting him, in the execution of his blockade, to avoid the injurious effects resulting therefrom to the citizens of this Republic, so far as may be compatible with the security and tranquillity of His Majesty's dominions under his command. employed. Actuated by a constant desire to prevent the misfortunes which such injuries might occasion to the citizens of this Republic, I have, on other occasions, suggested a very simple mode of putting an end to them, namely, that the President would be pleased to issue orders that no vessel should be cleared at the custom-houses save for a specified port, according to the general practice of nations. The practice of clearing many vessels for the West Indies, generally, carries with it a suspicion of a design to carry on a contraband trade, or to disturb the public tranquillity in the dominions of the King, my master; and, therefore, the owner who clears out his vessel in this way, and without the certificates of the Spanish Consuls, cannot complain if it be detained as suspicious. In fact, what difficulty can a merchant, acting fairly, have to specify the port of Havana, Kingston, Santa Marta, Guaira, Porto Bello, Rio Janeiro, or any other of an independent nation? None, unquestionably; since, in case of not finding a good market at one place, he proceeds to another, with a declaration made at the port he touched at of the motives which obliged him to alter his destination. The wisdom and humanity which eminently distinguish the President and the Administration cannot fail to perceive the solidity of these observations, nor to approve of the policy of His Majesty in taking the most suitable and effectual measures to secure his subjects from the civil war which a number of adventurers are endeavoring to kindle in his dominions; and I therefore flatter myself that he will be pleased to take into consideration the expediency of adopting the measure I have had the honor to suggest to you, by preventing the collectors of the customs from clearing out vessels, except for specified ports, and notifying merchants trading with the possessions of the King to conform to the established rules and orders, regulating not only neutrals but Spanish vessels also, that they may avoid the consequences of their non-observance, notwithstanding His Majesty's desire to afford them, within his dominions, all the benefits and advantages compatible with the public safety and his royal interests. I must, however, observe to you, sir, that General Morillo has a naval force disposable and competent, as I conceive, to the object in view; that, on the 3d of February, there sailed from Cadiz a squadron of a ship-of-the-line, two frigates, and several smaller vessels, as a reinforcement; that, on the coast intended to be blockaded by the said General, there are no other ports of entry for merchant vessels than those of Carthagena, Santa Marta, and Porto Bello; and, finally, that the measure taken by him, not being directed against an enemy's country, is not, as stated in your esteemed note, contrary to the laws of public rights. The object of the General's proclamation is to notify the traders of foreign nations that he will maintain the laws for the regulation of the Indies in their full force; the observance of which had been relaxed, in latter times, by the effect of circumstances, though modified, however, in favor of neutrals, by leaving two ports open to their commerce. You are aware that, agreeably to those laws, no foreign vessel was allowed to trade with the dominions of His Majesty on that continent, without a special license, and that vessels found near, or evidently shaping a course towards them, were liable to confiscation as interlopers. Not only that part of the coast lying between Santa Marta and the river Atrato, but the whole Extract of a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. coast eastward and southward of those points, from the Oronoco to the territory of this Republic, belongs to the Spanish monarchy; and, consequently, any vessel whatever found near it, or standing towards it, can have no other object than to carry on smuggling, or stir up a civil war in the King's dominions: in either case, the laws of nations recommend the seizure of the vessels so I hope that the explanation which I have thus taken the liberty to make, until I have received the answer of the King, my master, will quiet the anxiety of the President as to the proclamation of General Morillo, and that it will be viewed by him as a continuation of my earnest desire to reinstate the commerce of the two nations, reciprocally, on the most liberal and favorable footing. I renew my respects, &c. LUIS DE ONIS. Erving, dated DEPARTMENT OF STATE, July 20, 1816. You have been apprized already of a similar measure which was taken in regard to the vessels which had been seized at Carthagena, and the citizens of the United States, who, under various pretexts, had been arrested and imprisoned Relations with Spain-Blockades. there. I have the pleasure to state that the application succeeded as to our citizens, though it failed as to the vessels. You will interpose directly with the Spanish Government in favor of the latter; documents respecting which shall be forwarded to you, either by the present or some other early opportunity. under whatever pretext, they have always opposed themselves. The blockade of General Morillo is repugnant to the law, because it extends over several hundred miles of coast, and to an indefinite distance from the shores; of course it cannot be enforced as a blockade, but remains a bare pretext for spoliation. A blockade by sea, to be acknowledged as valid by the United States, must be confined to Mr. Erving to His Excellency Don Pedro Cevallos, particular ports, each having a force stationed beFirst Minister of State, &c. MADRID, Sept. 26, 1816. SIR: I am ordered by my Government to apply to His Majesty, through your Excellency, for the restitution of sundry American vessels and cargoes which have been seized and brought into Carthagena, or other places within that command or viceroyalty, under pretext of a pretended blockade, issued by Don Pablo Morillo, in December, 1815. fore it, sufficient to intercept the entry of vessels; and no vessel shall be seized, even in attempting to enter a port so blockaded, till she has been previously warned away from that port. I may be excused from dilating on rules so perfectly established, so consonant to justice and to reason, in writing to a person of your Excellency's knowledge and experience. His Majesty, who does not fail, through his Minister, Mr. Onis, to assure the United States of his constant disposition to cultivate relations of When that blockade was communicated to the friendship with them, and to that end to satisfy American Government, Mr. Monroe, Secretary all their just reclamations, will certainly be senof State, in a note of March 20, 1816, addressed sible to the violent proceedings of which my to His Majesty's Minister at Washington, for- Government now complains, and, I persuade mymally protested against it; and it was hoped that, self, will not hesitate in ordering that the proclaon proper representations being made by that mation of embargo issued by General Morillo be Minister to General Morillo, he would retract his declared null, and that all the American property measure, or, if not, that his Majesty, being made which may have been taken under it be immediacquainted with the remonstrance of the Ameri-ately restored to its owners. can Government, would immediately send out orders which might produce the same effect, and assure for the future due liberty to the American commerce in those seas. But it now appears that, as late as the month of June, no alteration had taken place in the measures of Morillo; no attention had been paid to the interference of Don Luis de Onis; and, finally, the Commissioner, Mr. Hughes, who was sent by the Government of the United States to Carthagena, for the purpose, amongst others, of reclaiming the property seized, was obliged to return to the United States, on that point altogether unsatisfied. Indeed, the Viceroy of Santa Fe, Don Francisco de Montalvo, gives this Commissioner to understand, by a letter of June 9th, whereof the enclosed is a translated copy, that he (the Viceroy) does not pretend to be acquainted with the law of nations; and, at the same time that he goes on executing the arbitrary and illegal decrees of General Morillo, devastating the commerce of the United States, he refers the American Government to His Majesty for redress. It is therefore that I now find it necessary to write to your Excellency upon this disagreeable subject. It is in vain, sir, to hope that the United States will ever consent to blockades upon the principles of General Morillo; they will acknowledge none to be valid which are not strictly conformable to the well-known principles of public lawprinciples most clearly defined and quite indisputable, to which the United States have always In this confidence, I annex hereto a list of the vessels already known to have been captured. Renewing to your Excellency, &c. GEORGE W. ERVING. Schooner Adeline, of Baltimore, at Carthagena; Friend's Hope, of Baltimore, at Carthagena; Charles Stewart, of New Orleans, at Santa Mar schooner Count, of Baltimore, at Carthagena; ta; Edward Graham, at Santa Margarita ; Ghent, of Norfolk, at Puerto Cavello. N. B. It is believed that the cargoes of several of these vessels have been confiscated without even the form of trial. Don Pedro Cevallos to George W. Erving, Minister SIR: Having communicated to the King your PEDRO CEVALLOS. SIR: By your Excellency's note of the 17th in adhered in their own practice, and to the infringe- stant, in reply to mine of September 26, respectment of which, in any form, in any degree, oring the proclamation blockade of General Mo |