JOHN
PICKERING (1777-1846) was the oldest son of Revolutionary War officer
and former Secretary of State Colonel Timothy Pickering (1745-1829). John
Pickering was a Harvard College graduate and an extraordinary linguist fluent
in or with knowledge of English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek,
Turkish, and Arabic. After serving as the secretary to the U.S. Ambassador to
Portugal, Pickering returned to Massachusetts and opened a law office. He was
elected to the General Court of Massachusetts where, as we know, he served as
chairman of a committee that published a Report on the Subject of Impressed
Seamen with the Evidence and Documents Accompanying It.
During the Republican Convention of
March 1813, JOHN KNEELAND, a
representative from Andover, MA, who was serving as convention moderator,
accused Pickering and other members of the Committee on Impressments of
misrepresenting information to the people of the Essex South District. Kneeland
claimed that, contrary to committee findings, there were only 157 cases where
Massachusetts citizens had been impressed into British naval service, and that
there was motive behind this misrepresentation. Pickering filed a libel suit
against Kneeland.
In this 2 pp, 8 ¼ x 9 ¾, ALS, written from Salem, MA, on
November 20, 1813, Pickering urges an unnamed
associate to provide favorable testimony in the libel suit. As Pickering explains, "The libel was
contained in an address of the Republican Convention of Essex South District…published
last month & signed by Mr. Kneeland…The paragraph charged us with
attempting in a most reprehensible manner to impose upon the people that there
were only 157 cases of impressment from the whole state when in the town to
which one of the committee belonged, that number was greatly exceeded. These
are nearly the words of libel. The defendant you will be astonished at the effrontery
means to justify! How he expects to maintain his answer, I cannot conceive. The
action stands for trial at our present court which has adjourned till Monday
after next; and it has occurred to me that the defendant may possibly make use
of our colleague, W. Breed, as a witness. You recollect Breed’s feelings well
& if he testifies as he felt in the Committee, it will be necessary for me
to have some evidence to meet his. The object therefore of this letter is to
request you to go before some magistrate & give your deposition without
delay & forward it to me immediately. I wish you to testify as to the
conduct of the committee generally during the whole of their sittings and of my
conduct particularly so far as you can with a clear conscience. State
particularly how much pains we took to obtain the names of well-informed
witnesses in different towns & that we desired every member of the
Committee to name such witnesses…The essence of the libel is that we conducted
the business unfairly, partially & with a design to impose upon the public
...The testimony on our part will of course go to negative these changes in the
most explicit & positive manner and you will direct your deposition, so far
as you recollect the facts, to those points. State among other facts that we
faithfully reported all the cases that came to our knowledge & occupied
ourselves with the utmost diligence during the Session in prosecuting the
enquiry—perhaps you might also state that the Report itself is true, impartial
& c…"
Impressment, or the forced enlistment of sailors
into naval service, was one of the causes of the War of 1812. The British Navy,
desperate to fill its ranks of killed, maimed, or deserted sailors, regularly
stopped vessels on the high seas and "shanghaied" passerby on
mainland docks to fill their ranks. If the person in question could not present
citizenship papers, they could legally be forced to join the British navy. The
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair in 1807 caused considerable diplomatic tension
between the United States and Great Britain and highlighted the issue of
impressment. This incident, in which the British frigate HMS Leopard demanded
to search the USS Chesapeake for three British deserters, resulted in conflict.
The USS Chesapeake refused and the HMS Leopard opened fire, killing three
sailors and injuring eighteen. In response, President Thomas Jefferson issued
the Embargo Act, forbidding British ships in American waters. Jefferson later
reflected that "The affair of the Chesapeake put war into my hand ...
"
In very good condition
with folds and a small edge tear. A few light smears. Likely
penned in haste by Pickering as he has crossed out a few words and some full
passages. But very readable and a great piece of
history.
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Collectors Club and The Ephemera Society. [1812#102]