N° 7. COPY OF A LETTER FROM MR. PHELPS TO CAPTAIN JONES. SIR, Reikevig, August 23rd, 1809. The convention or agreement, which we entered into yesterday with the chief justice and the bailiff of this island, will, perhaps, preclude the necessity of my giving you a circumstantial account of every particular and minute transaction which has taken place here since my arrival, of which I have kept a regular journal, for the purpose of laying the same before his Majesty's ministers, together with original documents. The accounts and papers are voluminous, and it would take a considerable time to copy them it was, moreover, impossible to do it in the time required by your letter of the 20th instant. The journal papers and documents I hold are necessary for my justification, and it may be of considerable utility to me to retain them; but, as I am totally unacquainted with the laws and articles of war (farther than what I learn from having read the Margaret and Anne's letters of marque), I will readily deliver up all these papers and journal to you, if you will give me an order so to do and a receipt for the same; as will also Captain Liston his journal and papers. I must, however, beg leave to correct some errors or mistakes, which appear to exist, according to your letter of the 19th instant. -As to my having declined giving you a statement of my transactions here, this I certainly did not intend; but, as the charges made against me from common report only, as stated in the first conversation I had the honor to hold with you, were of a serious nature, and such as I knew to be unjust and untrue, I wished the whole transactions and complaints to be stated in writing, to prevent misinterpretation. Perhaps this request of mine was not correct or consistent with the respect due to a British officer; if so, I can assure you no such disrespect was intended.I took the liberty of writing you a letter (in haste) dated the 16th, and another the 17th instant. Of the first I had not time to take an exact copy; but it appears by your letter of the 19th instant, that some words in one particular passage were left out, which were intended by me to have been added. I refer you to the public proclamations, to prove to you that the error in my letter proceeded from the hurry of writing: therefore I must beg leave to correct it.-You state in your letter of the 19th instant, that I have not only in your opinion transgressed the laws of Great Britain, but of all nations, by assuming an authority which no one has a right to assume, namely, that of declaring the island "free, neutral, and independent:" here should have been added, "of Denmark;" for so the proclamation is translated to me.-The only hostility I have committed is against the Danes. -You will find, Sir, by every true information you can obtain on shore, that I have never in any respect interfered in the government or change of government here, farther than by giving my advice and consent to Mr. Jorgensen in matters in which my trade was concerned, or in measures that I was bound to pursue, according to the instructions in the letters of marque, or to instruct Captain Liston so to do; namely, not to compromise in any manner with our enemies. As far as I have gone, I shall not have the business to retract, whatever may be the consequence to me, and sure am I no one proof or document can appear to shew that I have in any way interfered in the government; but I beg leave briefly to state to you how far I have been concerned, and to add at the same time that, not understanding the Danish language, it is possible that I may in some instances have been deceived.-In January last, myself and my partners sent a cargo of provisions and other necessaries under a British licence, to relieve the inhabitants of Iceland. The cargo was landed, but, through the artifice and intrigue of the Danes, instead of returning a cargo of Iceland produce, as the licence specified, the vessel was returned in ballast with stones which our agent was obliged to pay for, although the then constituted Danish authorities had granted us a free trade, and the warehouses were full of Iceland goods. Severe proclamations were also afterwards published to obstruct our trade, all of which I shall take home.-On finding that the same conduct prevailed on my arrival here with another cargo on the 21st of June last, and that I must again return in ballast, unless I pursued strong measures, I ventured to make Count Tramp prisoner, partly on this account, and partly on hearing that he had come here under a fictitious name and character. Being requested by many of the native inhabitants to issue some proclamations, to satisfy the minds of the people, and being also requested and entreated by them to remove the Danes from the island, who had reduced them to the greatest state of misery, I declined interfering, or taking any part in the government, and refused to hoist the English flag, not knowing that I should be correct in so doing, until the will of his Majesty's ministers could be known. Upon farther. applications being sent to me, which expressed the wishes of the people that Mr. Jorgensen would stand forward to protect the island and the natives against the Danes, I certainly acquiesced, and gave him my concurrence and advice to act as the natives thought best, unless some of them would take the management of the island (ad interim) till the will of the British government could be known; and I agreed that |