whose character is so well known to you as to need no recommendations
from me. The present appearances of war between our two neighbors Spain
and England, cannot but excite all our attention. The part we are to act
is uncertain, and will be difficult. The unsettled state of our dispute
with Spain, may give a turn to it very different from what we would
wish. As it is important that you should be fully apprized of our way of
thinking on this subject, I have sketched, in the enclosed paper, general
heads of consideration arising from present circumstances. These will
be readily developed by your own reflections, and in conversations with
Colonel Humphreys; who, possessing the sentiments of the executive on
this subject, being well acquainted with the circumstances of the Western
country in particular, and of the state of our affairs in general, comes
to Madrid expressly for the purpose of giving you a thorough communication
of them. He will, therefore, remain there as many days or weeks as may
be necessary for this purpose. With this information, written and oral,
you will be enabled to meet the minister in conversations on the subject
of the navigation of the Mississippi, to which we wish you to lead his
attention immediately. Impress him thoroughly with the necessity of an
early, and even an immediate settlement of this matter, and of a return
to the field of negotiation for this purpose; and though it must be
done delicately, yet he must be made to understand unequivocally, that a
resumption of the negotiation is not desired on our part, unless he can
determine, in the first opening of it, to yield the immediate and full
enjoyment of that navigation. (I say nothing of the claims of Spain to our
territory north of the thirty-first degree, and east of the Mississippi.
They never merited the respect of an answer; and you know it has been
admitted at Madrid, that they were not to be maintained.) It may be
asked, what need of negotiation, if the navigation is to be ceded at all
events? You know that the navigation cannot be practised without a port,
where the sea and river vessels may meet and exchange loads, and where
those employed about them may be safe and unmolested. The right to use a
thing, comprehends a right to the means necessary to its use, and without
which it would be useless. The fixing on a proper port, and the degree of
freedom it is to enjoy in its operations, will require negotiation, and
be governed by events. There is danger, indeed, that even the unavoidable
delay of sending a negotiator here, may render the mission too late for
the preservation of peace. It is impossible to answer for the forbearance
of our western citizens. We endeavor to quiet them with the expectation
of an attainment of their rights by peaceable means. But should they, in
a moment of impatience, hazard others, there is no saying how far we may
be led; for neither themselves nor their rights will ever be abandoned by
us.
You will be pleased to observe, that we press these matters warmly and
firmly, under this idea, that the war between Spain and Great Britain will
be begun before you receive this; and such a moment must not be lost. But
should an accommodation take place, we retain, indeed, the same object and
the same resolutions unalterably; but your discretion will suggest, that
in that event, they must be pressed more softly, and that patience and
persuasion must temper your conferences, till either these may prevail, or
some other circumstance turn up, which may enable us to use other means
for the attainment of an object which we are determined, in the end, to
obtain at every risk.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient,
and most humble servant.
TO M. DE PINTO.
New York, August 7, 1790.
Sir,--Under cover of the acquaintance I had the honor of contracting
with you, during the negotiations we transacted together in London,
I take the liberty of addressing you the present letter. The friendly
dispositions you were then pleased to express towards this country, which
were sincerely and reciprocally felt on my part towards yours, flatter
me with the hope you will assist in maturing a subject for their common
good. As yet, we have not the information necessary to present it to you
formally, as the minister of her most faithful Majesty. I beg, therefore,
that this letter may be considered as between two individual friends of
their respective countries, preliminary to a formal proposition, and meant
to give an acceptable shape to that.
It is unnecessary, with your Excellency, to go through the history of
our first experiment in government; the result of which was, a want of
such tone in the governing powers, as might effect the good of those
committed to their care. The nation become sensible of this, have changed
its organization, made a better distribution of its powers, and given
to them more energy and independence. The new government has now, for
some time, been under way; and so far, gives a confidence that it will
answer its purposes. Abuses under the old forms, have led us to lay the
basis of the new, in a rigorous economy of the public contributions.
This principle will show itself in our diplomatic establishments; and
the rather, as at such a distance from Europe, and with such an ocean
between us, we hope to meddle little in its quarrels or combinations. Its
peace and its commerce are what we shall court; and to cultivate these,
we propose to place at the courts of Europe most interesting to us,
diplomatic characters of economical grade, and shall be glad to receive
like ones in exchange. The important commerce carried on between your
country and ours, and the proofs of friendly disposition towards us which
her Majesty has manifested, induce us to wish for such an exchange with
her, to express our sensibility at the intimations heretofore received
of her readiness to meet our wish in this point, and our regret at the
delay which has proceeded from the circumstances before touched on. The
grade to be exchanged is the present question, and that on which I ask a
friendly and informal consultation with you. That of chargé des affaires,
is the one we would prefer. It is that we employ at the court of Madrid.
But it has been said, that by the etiquette of your court, that grade
cannot be received there under a favorable countenance. Something like
this existed at the court of Madrid. But his most Catholic Majesty, in
consideration of our peculiar circumstances, dispensed with a general
rule in our favor and in our particular case; and our chargé des affaires
there, enjoys at court the privileges, the respect and favor due to a
friendly nation, to a nation whom distance and difference of circumstances
liberate, in some degree, from an etiquette, to which it is a stranger
at home as well as abroad. The representative of her Majesty here, under
whatever name mutual convenience may designate him, shall be received
in the plentitude of friendship and favor. May we not ask a reciprocal
treatment of ours with you? The nations of Europe have already seen the
necessity of distinguishing America from Europe, even in their treaties;
and a difference of commerce, of government, of condition and character,
must every day evince, more and more, the impracticability of involving
them under common regulations. Nor ought a difference of arrangement with
respect to us, to excite claims from others whose circumstances bear no
similitude to ours.
I beg leave to submit these considerations to your Excellency's wisdom and
goodness. You will see them to be such as could not be offered formally.
They must shield themselves under the protection of those sentiments
of veneration and esteem with which your character heretofore inspired
me, and which I flattered myself were not merely indifferent to you.
Be so good as to honor with a conference hereon, the bearer, Colonel
Humphreys (who was known to you in London), a gentleman who has long been
of the President's family, and whose worth has acquired so much of our
confidence, that whatever shall be arranged with him, on this subject,
may be considered as settled. Presuming on a continuance of her Majesty's
dispositions, accept this private assurance that a proper person shall
be appointed in due form to reside with you, as soon as we shall know the
result of your deliberations with Colonel Humphreys, whom I beg leave to
present to your notice; adding the homage of those sentiments of respect
and attachment with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most
obedient, and most humble servant.
TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.
New York, August 7, 1790.
Sir,--The President of the United States, desirous of availing his country
of the talents of its best citizens in their respective lines, has thought
proper to nominate you consul for the United States, at the port of
London. The extent of our commercial and political connections with that
country, marks the importance of the trust he confides to you, and the
more, as we have no diplomatic character at that court. I shall say more
to you in a future letter on the extent of the consular functions, which
are, in general, to be confined to the superintendence and patronage of
commerce and navigation; but in your position, we must desire somewhat
more. Political intelligence from that country is interesting to us in
a high degree. We must, therefore, ask you to furnish us with this as
far as you shall be able; to send us moreover the gazette of the court,
Woodfall's parliamentary paper, Debrett's parliamentary register; and
to serve sometimes as a centre for our correspondences with other parts
of Europe, by receiving and forwarding letters sent to your care. It
is desirable that we be annually informed of the extent to which the
British fisheries are carried on within each year, stating the number and
tonnage of the vessels, and the number of men employed in the respective
fisheries, to wit, the northern and southern whale fisheries, and the cod
fishery. I have as yet no statement of them for the year 1789, with which,
therefore, I will thank you to begin. While the press of seamen continues,
our seamen in ports nearer to you than to Liverpool, (where Mr. Maury
is consul,) will need your protection. The liberation of those impressed
should be desired of the proper authority, with due firmness, yet always
in temperate and respectful terms, in which way, indeed, all applications
to government should be made.
The public papers herein desired may come regularly, once a month, by
the British packet, and intermediately, by any vessels bound directly
either to Philadelphia or New York. All expenses incurred for papers and
postages, shall be paid at such intervals as you choose, either here, on
your order, or by bill on London, whenever you transmit to me an account.
There was a bill brought into the legislature for the establishment of
some regulations in the consular offices; but it is postponed to the next
session. That bill proposed some particular fees for particular services.
They were, however, so small, as to be no object. As there will be little
or no legal emolument annexed to the office of consul, it is, of course,
not expected that it shall render any expense incumbent on him.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.
TO WILLIAM SHORT.
New York, August 10, 1790.
Dear Sir,--This letter, with the very confidential papers it encloses,
will be delivered to you by Mr. Barrett with his own hands. If there be
no war between Spain and England, they need be known to yourself alone.
But if that war be begun, or whenever it shall begin, we wish you to
communicate them to the Marquis de La Fayette, on whose assistance we know
we can count in matters which interest both our countries. He and you
will consider how far the contents of these papers may be communicated
to the Count de Montmorin, and his influence be asked with the court of
Madrid. France will be called into the war, as an ally, and not on any
pretence of the quarrel being in any degree her own. She may reasonably
require then, that Spain should do everything which depends on her, to
lessen the number of her enemies. She cannot doubt that we shall be of
that number, if she does not yield our right to the common use of the
Mississippi, and the means of using and securing it. You will observe,
we state in general the necessity, not only of our having a port near the
mouth of the river (without which we could make no use of the navigation
at all) but of its being so well separated from the territories of Spain
and her jurisdiction, as not to engender daily disputes and broils between
us. It is certain, that if Spain were to retain any jurisdiction over our
entrepôt, her officers would abuse that jurisdiction, and our people would
abuse their privileges in it. Both parties must foresee this, and that it
will end in war. Hence the necessity of a well-defined separation. Nature
has decided what shall be the geography of that in the end, whatever it
might be in the beginning, by cutting off from the adjacent countries
of Florida and Louisiana, and enclosing between two of its channels,
a long and narrow slip of land, called the Island of New Orleans. The
idea of ceding this, could not be hazarded to Spain, in the first step;
it would be too disagreeable at first view; because this island, with
its town, constitutes, at present, their principal settlement in that
part of their dominions, containing about ten thousand white inhabitants
of every age and sex. Reason and events, however, may, by little and
little, familiarize them to it. That we have a right to some spot as an
entrepôt for our commerce, may be at once affirmed. The expediency, too,
may be expressed, of so locating it as to cut off the source of future
quarrels and wars. A disinterested eye, looking on a map, will remark how
conveniently this tongue of land is formed for the purpose; the Iberville
and Amit channel offering a good boundary and convenient outlet, on the
one side, for Florida, and the main channel an equally good boundary and
outlet, on the other side, for Louisiana; while the slip of land between,
is almost entirely morass or sandbank; the whole of it lower than the
water of the river, in its highest floods, and only its western margin
(which is the highest ground) secured by banks and inhabited. I suppose
this idea too much even for the Count de Montmorin at first, and that,
therefore, you will find it prudent to urge, and get him to recommend to
the Spanish court, only in general terms, "a port near the mouth of the
river, with a circumjacent territory sufficient for its support, well
defined, and extra-territorial to Spain," leaving the idea to future
growth.
I enclose you the copy of a paper distributed by the Spanish commandant on
the west side of the Mississippi, which may justify us to M. de Montmorin,
for pushing this matter to an immediate conclusion. It cannot be expected
we shall give Spain time, to be used by her for dismembering us.
It is proper to apprize you of a circumstance, which may show the
expediency of being in some degree on your guard, even in your
communications to the court of France. It is believed here, that the Count
de Moustier, during his residence with us, conceived the project of again
engaging France in a colony upon our continent, and that he directed
his views to some of the country on the Mississippi, and obtained and
communicated a good deal of matter on the subject to his court. He saw
the immediate advantage of selling some yards of French cloths and silks
to the inhabitants of New Orleans. But he did not take into account what
it would cost France to nurse and protect a colony there, till it should
be able to join its neighbors, or to stand by itself; and then what it
would cost her to get rid of it. I hardly suspect that the court of France
could be seduced by so partial a view of the subject as was presented
to them, and I suspect it the less, since the National Assembly has
constitutionally excluded conquest from the object of their government.
It may be added, too, that the place being ours, their yards of cloth and
silk would be as freely sold as if it were theirs.
You will perceive by this letter, and the papers it encloses, what part of
the ideas of Count d'Estaing correspond with our views. The answer to him
must be a compound of civility and reserve, expressing our thankfulness
for his attentions, that we consider them as proofs of the continuance of
his friendly dispositions, and that though it might be out of our system
to implicate ourselves in trans-Atlantic guarantees, yet other parts
of his plans are capable of being improved to the common benefit of the
parties. Be so good as to say to him something of this kind verbally, and
so as that the matter may be ended as between him and us.
On the whole, in the event of war, it is left to the judgment of the
Marquis de La Fayette and yourself, how far you will develop the ideas now
communicated to the Count de Montmorin, and how far you will suffer them
to be developed to the Spanish court.
I enclose you a pamphlet by Hutchins for your further information on the
subject of the Mississippi; and am, with sentiments of perfect esteem and
attachment, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO COLONEL DAVID HUMPHREYS.
New York, August 11, 1790.
Sir,--The President having thought proper to confide several special
matters in Europe to your care, it will be expedient that you take your
passage in the first convenient vessel bound to the port of London.
When there, you will be pleased to deliver to Mr. G. Morris and to Mr.
Johnson, the letters and papers you will have in charge for them, to
communicate to us from thence any interesting public intelligence you
may be able to obtain, and then to take as early a passage as possible to
Lisbon.
At Lisbon, you will deliver the letter with which you are charged for
the Chevalier Pinto, putting on it the address proper to his present
situation. You know the contents of this letter, and will make it the
subject of such conferences with him, as may be necessary to obtain our
point of establishing there the diplomatic grade which alone coincides
with our system, and of insuring its reception and treatment with the
requisite respect. Communicate to us the result of your conferences, and
then proceed to Madrid.
There you will deliver the letters and papers which you have in charge
for Mr. Carmichael, the contents of all which are known to you. Be so good
as to multiply, as much as possible, your conferences with him, in order
to possess him fully of the special matters sketched out in those papers,
and of the state of our affairs in general.
Your stay there will be as long as its object may require, only taking
care to return to Lisbon by the time you may reasonably expect that our
answers to your letters, to be written from Lisbon, may reach that place.
This cannot be earlier than the first or second week of January. These
answers will convey to you the President's further pleasure.
Through the whole of this business, it will be best that you avoid all
suspicion of being on any public business. This need be known only to
the Chevalier Pinto and Mr. Carmichael. The former need not know of your
journey to Madrid, or if it be necessary, he may be made to understand
that it is a journey of curiosity, to fill up the interval between writing
your letters and receiving the answers. To every other person, it will be
best that you appear as a private traveller.
The President of the United States allows you from this date, at the rate
of two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars a year, for your services
and expenses, and moreover, what you may incur for the postage of letters;
until he shall otherwise order.
TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
New York, August 12, 1790.
Dear Sir,--Your letter of May the 29th to the President of the United
States, has been duly received. You have placed their proposition of
exchanging a minister on proper ground. It must certainly come from them,
and come in unequivocal form. With those who respect their own dignity so
much, ours must not be counted at naught. On their own proposal formally,
to exchange a minister, we sent them one. They have taken no notice of
that, and talk of agreeing to exchange one now, as if the idea were new.
Besides, what they are saying to you, they are talking to us through
Quebec; but so informally, that they may disavow it when they please. It
would only oblige them to make the fortune of the poor Major, whom they
would pretend to sacrifice. Through him, they talk of a minister, a treaty
of commerce _and alliance_. If the object of the latter be honorable, it
is useless; if dishonorable, inadmissible. These tamperings prove, they
view a war as very possible; and some symptoms indicate designs against
the Spanish possessions adjoining us. The consequences of their acquiring
all the country on our frontier, from the St. Croix to the St. Mary's, are
too obvious to you to need development. You will readily see the dangers
which would then environ us. We wish you, therefore, to intimate to them
that we cannot be indifferent to enterprises of this kind. That we should
contemplate a change of neighbors with extreme uneasiness; and that a
due balance on our borders is not less desirable to us, than a balance of
power in Europe has always appeared to them. We wish to be neutral, and
we will be so, _if they will execute the treaty fairly_, and _attempt no
conquests adjoining us_. The first condition is just; the second imposes
no hardship on them. They cannot complain that the other dominions of
Spain would be so narrow as not to leave them room enough for conquest.
If the war takes place, we would really wish to be quieted on these two
points, offering in return an honorable neutrality. More than this, they
are not to expect. It will be proper that these ideas be conveyed in
delicate and friendly terms; but that they be conveyed, if the war takes
place; for it is in that case alone, and not till it be begun, that we
should wish our dispositions to be known. But in no case, need they think
of our accepting any equivalent for the posts.
I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, dear Sir your most
obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE ATTORNIES OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS, THOSE OF
MAINE AND KENTUCKY EXCEPTED.
New York, August 12, 1790.
Sir,--It is desirable that government should be informed what proceedings
have taken place in the several States since the treaty with Great
Britain, which may be considered by that nation as infractions of the
treaty, and consequently that we should be furnished with copies of
all acts, orders, proclamations, and decisions, legislative, executive,
or judiciary, which may have affected the debts or other property, or
the persons, of British subjects or American refugees. The proceedings
subsequent to the treaty, will sometimes call for those also which took
place during the war. No person is more able than yourself, Sir, to
furnish us with a list of the proceedings of this kind which have taken
place within your State, nor is there any one on whom we may with more
propriety rely for it, as well as to take the trouble of furnishing us
with exact copies of them. Should you be so kind as to state any facts or
circumstances which may enter into the justification or explanation of any
of these proceedings, they will be thankfully received; and it is wished
the whole may come to hand between this and the last of October.
While I am troubling you with this commission, I am obliged to add a
second, which being undertaken at this time, will abridge the labor of the
first. It is found indispensable that we be possessed here of a complete
collection of all the printed laws and ordinances, ancient and modern, of
every State of the Union. I must ask the favor of you, Sir, to have such
a collection made for us, so far as relates to your State. The volumes
of this collection which, being more modern, may be more readily found, I
will ask the favor of you to send immediately by whatever conveyance you
think safest and best; those more rarely to be had, you will be so good as
to forward from time to time, as you can get them. For your reimbursement,
be pleased to draw on me, only expressing in your draught that it is for
"the laws of your State, purchased and forwarded for the United States:"
or, if it should be more convenient to you, I will at any time send you
an order from the treasury for your reimbursement on the collection most
convenient to you. This shall be as you please.
Your zeal for the general service needs not to be excited by information,
that it is with the special approbation of the President of the United
States that I address you on this occasion.
I have the honor to be, with great regard, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.
TO MR. RANDOLPH.
New York, August 14, 1790.
Dear Sir,--I am setting out on a trip to Rhode Island with the President
to-morrow, by water. We shall be absent five or six days, and of course
his departure hence to the southward will be that much later than he
intended; and my departure, which must be after his, a little delayed.
Still I hope to reach Monticello by the 15th of September, or from that
to the 20th. We have just concluded a treaty with the Creeks, which is
important, as drawing a line between them and Georgia, and enabling the
government to do, as it will do, justice against either party offending.
Congress separated the day before yesterday, having in the latter part
of their session re-acquired the harmony which had always distinguished
their proceedings, till the two disagreeable subjects of the assumption
and residence were introduced. These really threatened, at one time,
a separation of the legislature _sine die_. They saw the necessity of
suspending almost all business for some time; and, when they resumed it,
of some mutual sacrifices of opinion. It is not foreseen that anything
so generative of dissension can arise again, and therefore the friends
of the government hope that, this difficulty once surmounted in the
States, everything will work well. I am principally afraid that commerce
will be overloaded by the assumption, believing that it would be better
that property should be duly taxed. Present me affectionately to my dear
daughters, and believe me to be sincerely yours.
TO GOVERNOR HANCOCK.
New York, August 24, 1790.
Sir,--The representatives of the United States have been pleased to refer
to me the representation from the general court of Massachusetts, on the
subject of the whale and cod fisheries, which had been transmitted by
your Excellency, with an instruction to examine the matter thereof, and
report my opinion thereupon to the next session of Congress. To prepare
such a report as may convey to them the information necessary to lead
to an adequate remedy, it is indispensable that I obtain a statement of
the fisheries, comprehending such a period before and since the war, as
may show the extent to which they were and are carried on. With such
a statement under their view, Congress may be able, by comparing the
circumstances which existed when the fisheries flourished, with those
which exist at this moment of their decline, to discover the cause of
that decline, and provide either a remedy for it, or something which may
countervail its effect. This information can be obtained nowhere but in
the State over which your Excellency presides, and under no other auspices
so likely to produce it. May I, therefore, take the liberty of soliciting
your Excellency to charge with the collecting and furnishing me this
information, some person or persons who may be competent to the object.
Taking a point of commencement at a proper interval before the year of
greatest prosperity, there should be stated in a table, year by year,
under different columns, as follows:
1. The number of vessels fitted out each year for the codfishery. 2.
Their tonnage. 3. The number of seamen employed. 4. The quantity of fish
taken; 1, of superior quality; 2, of inferior. 5. The quantity of each
kind exported; 1, to Europe, and to what countries there; 2, to other, and
what parts of America. 6. The average prices at the markets, 1, of Europe;
2, of America. With respect to the whale fishery, after the three first
articles, the following should be substituted. 4. Whether to the northern
or southern fishery. 5. The quantity of oil taken; 1, of the spermaceti
whale; 2, of the other kinds. 6. To what market each kind was sent. 7.
The average prices of each. As the ports from which the equipments were
made, could not be stated in the same table conveniently, they might
form a separate one. It would be very material that I should receive this
information by the first of November, as I might be able to bestow a more
undisturbed attention to the subject before than after the meeting of
Congress, and it would be better to present it to them at the beginning,
than towards the close of a session.
The peculiar degree of interest with which this subject must affect
the State of Massachusetts, the impossibility of obtaining necessary
information from any other quarter, and the slender means I should have
of acquiring it from thence, without the aid of your Excellency, will,
I hope, be a sufficient apology for the trouble I take the liberty of
giving you; and I am happy in every occasion of repeating assurances
of the respect and attachment with which I have the honor to be, your
Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
_Circular of the Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the United States._
New York, August 26, 1790.
Sir,--I expected ere this, to have been able to send you an act of
Congress, prescribing some special duties and regulations for the exercise
of the consular offices of the United States; but Congress not having been
able to mature the act sufficiently, it lies over to their next session.
In the meanwhile, I beg leave to draw your attention to some matters of
information, which it is interesting to receive.
I must beg the favor of you to communicate to me every six months, a
report of the vessels of the United States which enter at the ports of
your district, specifying the name and burthen of each vessel, of what
description she is, (to wit, ship, snow, brig, &c.,) the names of the
master and owners, and number of seamen, the port of the United States
from which she cleared, places touched at, her cargo outward and inward,
and the owners thereof, the port to which she is bound, and times of
arrival and departure; the whole arranged in a table under different
columns, and the reports closing on the last days of June and December.
We wish you to use your endeavors that no vessel enter as an American in
the ports of your district, which shall not be truly such, and that none
be sold under that name, which are not really of the United States.
That you give to me, from time to time, information of all military
preparations, and other indications of war which may take place in your
ports; and when a war shall appear imminent, that you notify thereof the
merchants and vessels of the United States within your district, that they
may be duly on their guard; and in general, that you communicate to me
such political and commercial intelligence, as you may think interesting
to the United States.
The consuls and vice-consuls of the United States are free to wear the
uniform of their navy, if they choose to do so. This is a deep blue coat
with red facings, lining and cuffs, the cuffs slashed and a standing
collar; a red waistcoat (laced or not at the election of the wearer) and
blue breeches; yellow buttons with a foul anchor, and black cockades and
small swords.
Be pleased to observe, that the vice-consul of one district is not at all
subordinate to the consul of another. They are equally independent of each
other.
The ground of distinction between these two officers is this. Our
government thinks, that to whatever there may be either of honor or profit
resulting from the consular office, native citizens are first entitled,
where such, of proper character, will undertake the duties; but where
none such offer, a vice-consul is appointed of any other nation. Should
a proper native come forward at any future time, he will be named consul;
but this nomination will not revoke the commission of vice-consul; it will
only suspend his functions during the continuance of the consul within
the limits of his jurisdiction, and on his departure therefrom, it is
meant that the vice-consular authority shall revive of course, without
the necessity of a re-appointment.
It is understood, that consuls and vice-consuls have authority of course,
to appoint their own agents in the several ports of their district, and
that it is with themselves alone those agents are to correspond.
It will be best not fatigue the government in which you reside, or
those in authority under it, with applications in unimportant cases.
Husband their good dispositions for occasions of some moment, and let all
representations to them be couched in the most temperate and friendly
terms, never indulging in any case whatever, a single expression which
may irritate.
I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO WILLIAM SHORT.
New York, August 26, 1790.
Dear Sir,--My last letters to you have been of the 26th of July, and 10th
instant. Yours of May the 16th, No. 31, has come to hand.
I enclose you sundry papers, by which you will perceive, that the
expression in the eleventh article of our treaty of amity and commerce
with France, viz. "that the subjects of the United States shall not be
reputed Aubaines _in France_, and consequently shall be exempted from
the Droit d'Aubaine, or other similar duty, under what name soever," has
been construed so rigorously to the letter, as to consider us as Aubaines
in the _colonies_ of France. Our intercourse with those colonies is so
great, that frequent and important losses will accrue to individuals, if
this construction be continued. The death of the master or supercargo
of a vessel, rendered a more common event by the unhealthiness of the
climate, throws all the property which was either his, or under his
care, into contest. I presume that the enlightened Assembly now engaged
in reforming the remains of feudal abuse among them, will not leave so
inhospitable an one as the Droit d'Aubaine existing in France, or any of
its dominions. If this may be hoped, it will be better that you should
not trouble the minister with any application for its abolition in the
colonies as to us. This would be erecting into a special favor to us,
the extinction of a general abuse, which will, I presume, extinguish of
itself. Only be so good as to see, that in abolishing this odious law
in France, its abolition in the colonies also, be not omitted by mere
oversight; but if, contrary to expectations, this fragment of barbarism
be suffered to remain, then it will become necessary that you bring
forward the enclosed case, and press a liberal and just exposition of our
treaty, so as to relieve our citizens from this species of risk and ruin
hereafter. Supposing the matter to rest on the eleventh article only, it
is inconceivable, that he, who with respect to his personal goods is as a
native citizen in the mother country, should be deemed a foreigner in its
colonies. Accordingly, you will perceive by the opinions of Dr. Franklin
and Dr. Lee, two of our ministers who negotiated and signed the treaty,
that they considered that rights stipulated for us _in France_, were meant
to exist in all the _dominions of France_.
Considering this question under the second article of the treaty also,
we are exempted from the Droit d'Aubaine in all the dominions of France;
for by that article, no particular favor is to be granted to any other
nation, which shall not immediately become common to the other party. Now,
by the forty-fourth article of the treaty between France and England,
which was subsequent to ours, it is stipulated, "que dans tout ce qui
concerne--_les successions des biens mobiliers_--les sujets des deux
hautes parties contractantes auront _dans les Etats respectifs_ les memes
privileges, libertés et droits, que la nation la plus favorisée." This
gave to the English the general abolition of the Droit d'Aubaine, enjoyed
by the Hollanders under the first article of their treaty with France, of
July the 23d, 1773, which is in these words, "Les sujets des E. G. des
P. U. des pays-bas ne seront point assujettis au Droit d'Aubaine dans
les Etats de S. M. T. C." This favor then, being granted to the English
subsequent to our treaty, we become entitled to it of course by the
article in question. I have it not in my power at this moment, to turn to
the treaty between France and Russia, which was also posterior to ours.
If by that, the Russians are exempted from the Droit d'Aubaine, "_dans
les Etats de_ S. M. T. C." it is a ground the more for our claiming the
exemption. To these, you will be pleased to add such other considerations
of reason, friendship, hospitality and reciprocity, as will readily occur
to yourself.
About two or three weeks ago, a Mr. Campbell called on me, and introduced
himself by observing that his situation was an awkward one, that he had
come from Denmark with an assurance of being employed here in a public
character, that he was actually in service, though un-announced. He
repeated conversations which had passed between Count Bernstorff and
him, and asked me when a minister would be appointed to that court, or a
character sent to negotiate a treaty of commerce; he had not the scrip
of a pen to authenticate himself, however informally. I told him our
government had not yet had time to settle a plan of foreign arrangements;
that with respect to Denmark particularly, I might safely express to
him those sentiments of friendship which our government entertained for
that country, and assurances that the King's subjects would always meet
with favor and protection here; and in general, I said to him those
things which being true, might be said to anybody. You can perhaps learn
something of him from the Baron de Blome. If he be an unauthorized man, it
would be well it should be known here, as the respect which our citizens
might entertain, and the credit they might give to any person supposed to
be honored by the King's appointment, might lead them into embarrassment.
You know the situation of the new loan of three millions of florins going
on at Amsterdam. About one half of this is destined for an immediate
payment to France; but advantage may be gained by judiciously timing
the payment. The French colonies will doubtless claim in their new
constitution, a right to receive the necessaries of life from whomever
will deliver them cheapest; to wit, grain, flour, live stock, salted fish,
and other salted provisions. It would be well that you should confer with
their deputies, guardedly, and urge them to this demand, if they need
urging. The justice of the National Assembly will probably dispose them to
grant it, and the clamors of the Bordeaux merchants may be silenced by the
clamors and arms of the colonies. It may co-operate with the influence of
the colonies, if favorable dispositions towards us can be excited in the
moment of discussing this point. It will therefore be left to you to say
when the payment shall be made, in confidence that you will so time it,
as to forward this great object; and when you make this payment, you may
increase its effect, by adding assurances to the minister, that measures
have been taken which will enable us to pay up, within a very short time,
all arrears of principal and interest now due; and further, that Congress
has fully authorized our government to go on and pay even the balance not
yet due, which we mean to do, if that money can be borrowed on reasonable
terms; and that favorable arrangements of commerce between us and their
colonies, might dispose us to effect that payment with less regard to
terms. You will, of course, find excuses for not paying the money which is
ready and put under your orders, till you see that the moment has arrived
when the emotions it may excite, may give a decisive cast to the demands
of the colonies.
The newspapers, as usual, will accompany the present.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your
most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
New York, August 26, 1790.
Dear Sir,--On the hasty view which the shortness of time permits me to
take of the treaty of Hopewell, the act of cession of North Carolina and
the act of acceptance by Congress, I hazard the following sentiments:
Were the treaty of Hopewell, and the act of acceptance of Congress to
stand in any point in direct opposition to each other, I should consider
the act of acceptance as void in that point; because the treaty is a law
made by two parties, and not revocable by one of them either acting alone
or in conjunction with a third party. If we consider the acceptance as
a legislative act of Congress, it is the act of one party only; if we
consider it as a treaty between Congress and North Carolina, it is but
a subsequent treaty with another power, and cannot make void a preceding
one with a different power.
But I see no such opposition between these two instruments. The Cherokees
were entitled to the sole occupation of the lands within the limits
guaranteed to them. The State of North Carolina, according to the _jus
gentium_ established for America by universal usage, had only a right of
pre-emption of these lands against all other nations. It could convey,
then, to its citizens only this right of pre-emption, and the right of
occupation could not be united to it till obtained by the United States
from the Cherokees. The act of cession of North Carolina only preserves
the rights of its citizens in the same state as they would have been, _had
that act never been passed_. It does not make imperfect titles perfect;
but only prevents their being made worse. Congress, by their act, accept
on these conditions. The claimants of North Carolina, then, and also the
Cherokees, are exactly where they would have been, had neither the act
of cession, nor that of acceptance, been ever made; that is, the latter
possess the right of occupation, and the former the right of pre-emption.
Though these deductions seem clear enough, yet the question would be a
disagreeable one between the general government, a particular government,
and individuals, and it would seem very desirable to draw all the claims
of pre-emption within a certain limit, by commuting for those out of it,
and then to purchase of the Cherokees the right of occupation.
I have the honor to be, my dear Sir, yours respectfully and affectionately.
TO M. LA FOREST, _Consul of France_.
New York, August 30, 1790.
Sir,--I asked the favor of the Secretary of the Treasury to consider the
fourth article of the consular convention, and to let me know whether
he should conclude that consuls not exercising commerce, were exempt
from paying duties on things imported for their own use. I furnished
him no explanation whatever, of what had passed on the subject at the
time of forming the convention, because I thought it should be decided
on the words of the convention, as they are offered to all the world,
and that it would only be where these are equivocal, that explanations
might be adduced from other circumstances. He considered the naked words
of the article, and delivered me as his opinion, that, according to
these, the first paragraph, "The consuls, and vice-consuls, &c., as the
natives are," subjected all their property, in whatever form and under
whatever circumstances it existed, to the same duties and taxes to which
the property of other individuals is liable, and exempts them only from
_taxes on their persons_, as poll taxes, head rates for the poor, for town
charges, &c.; and that the second paragraph, "Those of the said consuls,
&c., or other merchants," subjected such of them as exercised commerce,
even to the same _personal taxes_ as other merchants are: that the second
paragraph is an abridgment of the first, not an enlargement of it; and
that the exemption of those, not merchants, which seemed _implied_ in the
words of the second paragraph, could not be admitted against the contrary
meaning, directly and unequivocally expressed in the first.
Such, Sir, was his opinion, and it is exactly conformable to what the
negotiators had in view in forming this article. I have turned to the
papers which passed on that occasion, and I find that the first paragraph
was proposed in the first project given in by myself, by which the
distinction between taxes on their property and taxes on their persons,
is clearly enounced, and was agreed to; but as our merchants exercising
commerce in France, would have enjoyed a much greater benefit from the
personal exemption, than those of France do here, M. de Reyneval, in his
first counter-project, inserted the second paragraph, to which I agreed.
So that the object was, in the first paragraph, to put consuls, not being
merchants, on the same footing with citizens, not being merchants; and in
the second, to put consuls, merchants, on the same footing with citizens,
merchants.
This, Sir, we suppose to be the sense of the convention, which has become
a part of the law of the land, and the law, you know, in this country, is
not under the control of the executive, either in its meaning or course.
We must reserve, therefore, for more favorable occasions, our dispositions
to render the situation of the consuls of his Majesty as easy as possible,
by indulgences depending more on us; and of proving the sentiments of
esteem and attachment to yourself personally, with which I have the honor
to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MR. BONDFIELD.
New York, August 31, 1790.
Dear Sir,--You will have understood perhaps that in the appointment of
consuls, which has taken place, another than yourself has been named for
Bordeaux. I feel it a duty to explain this matter to you, lest it should
give you an uneasiness as to the cause. No nomination occasioned more
difficulty, nor hung longer suspended. But the senate refused in every
instance, where there was a _native citizen_ in any port, to consent to
the nomination of any other. While this explains the reason of your not
having been appointed, I trust it will also excuse those with whom the
appointment rested. With respect to myself particularly, I beg you to be
assured that I shall be happy in every occasion of being useful to you,
and of proving to you the sentiments of esteem and attachment with which
I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.
TO MR. VIAR.
Monticello, October 27, 1790.
Sir,--I am honored here by the receipt of your favor of the 7th instant,
covering a letter to me from the governor of East Florida, wherein he
informs me that he has received the King's orders, not to permit, under
any pretext, that persons held in slavery in the United States introduce
themselves as free, into the province of East Florida. I am happy that
this grievance, which had been a subject of great complaint from the
citizens of Georgia, is to be removed, and that we have therein a proof
as well of the general principles of justice which form the basis of his
Majesty's character and administration, as of his disposition to meet us
in the cultivation of that mutual friendship and union of interests which
would be the happiness of both countries, and is the sincere wish of ours.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and
esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Monticello, October 27, 1790.
Sir,--I had intended to set out about this time for Philadelphia, but
the desire of having Mr. Madison's company, who cannot return for some
days yet, and believing that nothing important requires my presence at
Philadelphia as yet, induce me to postpone my departure to the 8th of
the ensuing month, so that it will be about the 12th before I can have
the honor of waiting on you at Mount Vernon, to take your commands. In
the meantime, the papers enclosed will communicate to you everything
which has occurred to me since I saw you, and worthy notice. Our affair
with Algiers seems to call for some new decision; and something will be
to be done with the new Emperor of Morocco. Mr. Madison and myself have
endeavored to press on some members of the assembly the expediency of
their undertaking to build two good private dwelling houses a year, for
ten years in the new city, to be rented or sold for the benefit of the
State. Should they do this, and Maryland as much, it will be one means of
ensuring the removal of government thither. Candidates for the Senate are
said to be the Speaker, Colonel Harrison, Colonel H. Lee, and Mr. Walker;
but it is the opinion of many that Colonel Monroe will be impressed into
the service. He has agreed, it seems, with a good deal of reluctance, to
say he will serve if chosen. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of
the most perfect respect and attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most
humble servant.
TO FREDERICK KINLOCH, ESQ.
Philadelphia, November 26, 1790.
Dear Sir,--Your favor of April 26th, 1789, did not come to my hands
till the 4th of the last month, when it found me on my way to Virginia.
It should not otherwise have been so long unanswered. I am certainly
flattered by the approbation you are so good as to express of the Notes
on Virginia. The passage relative to the English, which has excited
disagreeable sensations in your mind, is accounted for by observing that
it was written during the war, while they were committing depredations
in my own country and on my own property never practised by a civilized
nation. Perhaps their conduct and dispositions since the war have not
been as well calculated as they might have been to excite more favorable
dispositions on our part. Still, as a political man, they shall never find
any passion in me either for or against them. Whenever their avarice of
commerce will let them meet us fairly half way, I should meet them with
satisfaction, because it would be for our benefit; but I mistake their
character if they do this under present circumstances.
The rumors of war seem to pass away. Such an event might have produced to
us some advantages; but it might also have exposed us to dangers; and on
the whole I think a general peace more desirable. Be so good as to present
my respects to Mrs. Kinloch, and to be assured of the esteem and respect
with which I am, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
Philadelphia, November 26, 1790.
Dear Sir,--I have yet to acknowledge the receipt of your two favors of
April 10 and July 7. By the latter it would seem as if you had written
an intermediate one, which has never come to hand; and the letter
of July 7 itself, was not received till the 14th of October, while
I was in Virginia, from which I am but just returned. The President
is not yet returned, though expected to-morrow. The Declaration and
Counter-Declaration established with us a full expectation that peace
would be continued; perhaps this is still the most rational opinion,
though the _English_ papers continue to talk of preparations for war. That
such an event would have ensured good prices for our produce, and so far
have been advantageous, is probable; but it would have exposed us to risks
also, which are better deferred, for some years at least. It is not to be
expected that our system of finance has met your approbation in all its
parts. It has excited even here great opposition; and more especially that
part of it which transferred the State debts to the general government.
The States of Virginia and North Carolina are peculiarly dissatisfied
with this measure. I believe, however, that it is harped on by many to
mask their disaffection to the government on other grounds. Its great foe
in Virginia is an implacable one. He avows it himself, but does not avow
all his motives for it. The measures and tone of the government threaten
abortion to some of his speculations; most particularly to that of the
Yazoo territory. But it is too well nerved to be overawed by individual
opposition. It is proposed to provide additional funds, to meet the
additional debt, by a tax on spirituous liquors, foreign and home-made,
so that the whole interest will be paid by taxes on consumption. If a
sufficiency can now be raised in this way to pay the interest at present,
its increase by the increase of population (suppose five per cent. per
annum), will alone sink the principle within a few years, operating, as
it will, in the way of compound interest. Add to this what may be done
by throwing in the aid of western lands and other articles as a sinking
fund, and our prospect is really a bright one.
A pretty important expedition has been undertaken against the Indians
north of the Ohio. As yet we have no news of its success. The late
elections of members of Congress have changed about a third or fourth of
them. It is imagined the session of Congress, which is to begin within ten
days, will end on the 3d of March, with the federal year; as a continuance
over that day would oblige them to call forward the new members. The
admission of Vermont and Kentucky into Congress, will be decided on in
this session. I have the honor to be, with very great esteem, dear Sir,
your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO COUNT DE MOUSTIER.
Philadelphia, December 3, 1790.
Dear Sir,--I am afraid I have suffered in your opinion from the delay
of acknowledging the receipt of your several letters, into which I have
been led by unavoidable circumstances. The truth is that since my arrival
in America (now exactly a twelve-month), I have been able to pass not
one-third of that time at the seat of government, one half of which was
lost by an illness, during which I was incapable of doing anything, and
the residue so engaged by accumulated business as to oblige me to suspend
my private correspondences. I beg you to be assured that yours is valued
by me too much to have been suspended under any other circumstances. I
am just now returned from Virginia to this place, where the members of
government are now assembling to begin its administration here, and I
avail myself of the first moments to recall myself to your recollection.
Fortune seems to have arranged among her destinies that I should never
continue for any time with a person whose manners and principles had
excited my warm attachment. While I resided in France, you resided in
America. While I was crossing over to America, you were crossing back
to France; when I am come to reside with our government, your residence
is transferred to Berlin. Of all this, Fortune is the mistress; but
she cannot change my affections, nor lessen the regrets I feel at their
perpetual disappointment. I am sincerely sorry at the delays which the
settlement of your constitution has experienced. I suppose they have
been rendered unavoidable by difficulties, and hope all will end well.
They have certainly prolonged the risk to which the new work was exposed
from without as well as within. I think it would be better to wind it
up as quickly as possible, to consider it as a mere experiment to be
amended hereafter, when time and trial shall show where it is imperfect.
Our second experiment is going on happily; and so far we have no reason
to wish for changes, except by adding those principles which several
of the States thought were necessary as a further security for their
liberties. All of these, as proposed by Congress, will certainly be
adopted, except the second, which is doubtful, and the first, which is
rejected. The powers of the government for the collection of taxes, are
found to be perfect, so far as they have been tried. This has been as
yet only by duties on consumption. As these fall principally on the rich,
it is a general desire to make them contribute the whole money we want,
if possible. And we have a hope that they will furnish enough for the
expenses of government and the interest of our whole public debt, foreign
and domestic. If they do this for the present, their increase, from the
increase of population and consumption, (which is at the rate of five per
centum per annum,) will sink the capital in thirteen or fourteen years,
as it will operate in the way of compound interest. Independent of this
prospect, which is itself a good one, we make the produce of our land
office, and some other articles, a sinking fund for the principal. We are
now going on with a census of our inhabitants. It will not be completed
till the next summer; but such progress is already made as to show our
numbers will very considerably exceed the former estimates. I shall be
happy to hear of your health and welfare everywhere, and that you will
continue persuaded of the sentiments of respect and esteem with which
I have the honor to be dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.
TO MR. NOAH WEBSTER, AT HARTFORD.
Philadelphia, December 4, 1790.
Sir,--Your favor of October 4 came to my hands on the 20th of November.
Application was made a day or two after to Mr. Dobson for the copies of
your Essays, which were received, and one of them lodged in the office.
For that intended for myself, be pleased to accept my thanks. I return you
the order on Mr. Allen, that on Dobson having been made use of instead of
it. I submit to your consideration whether it might not be advisable to
record a second time your right to the Grammatical Institutes, in order to
bring the lodging of the copy in my office within the six months, made a
condition in the law? I have not at this moment an opportunity of turning
to the law to see if that may be done; but I suppose it possible that the
failure to fulfil the legal condition on the first record might excite
objections against the validity of that.
In mentioning me in your Essays, and canvassing my opinions, you have
done what every man has a right to do, and it is for the good of society
that that right should be freely exercised. No republic has more zeal
than that of letters, and I am the last in principles, as I am the least
in pretensions, to any dictatorship in it. Had I other dispositions, the
philosophical and dispassionate spirit with which you have expressed
your own opinions in opposition to mine, would still have commanded
my approbation. A desire of being set right in your opinion, which I
respect too much not to entertain that desire, induces me to hazard to
you the following observations. It had become an universal and almost
uncontroverted position in the several States, that the purposes of
society do not require a surrender of all our rights to our ordinary
governors; that there are certain portions of right not necessary to
enable them to carry on an effective government, and which experience has
nevertheless proved they will be constantly encroaching on, if submitted
to them; that there are also certain fences which experience has proved
peculiarly efficacious against wrong, and rarely obstructive of right,
which yet the governing powers have ever shown a disposition to weaken
and remove. Of the first kind, for instance, is freedom of religion; of
the second, trial by jury, habeas corpus laws, free presses. These were
the settled opinions of all the States,--of that of Virginia, of which I
was writing, as well as of the others. The others had, in consequence,
delineated these unceded portions of right, and these fences against
wrong, which they meant to exempt from the power of their governors,
in instruments called declarations of rights and constitutions; and
as they did this by conventions, which they appointed for the express
purpose of reserving these rights, and of delegating others to their
ordinary legislative, executive and judiciary bodies, none of the
reserved rights can be touched without resorting to the people to appoint
another convention for the express purpose of permitting it. Where the
constitutions then have been so formed by conventions named for this
express purpose, they are fixed and unalterable but by a convention or
other body to be specially authorized; and they have been so formed by, I
believe, all the States, except Virginia. That State concurs in all these
opinions, but has run into the wonderful error that her constitution,
though made by the ordinary legislature, cannot yet be altered by the
ordinary legislature. I had, therefore, no occasion to prove to them
the expediency of a constitution alterable only by a special convention.
Accordingly, I have not in my notes advocated that opinion, though it was
and is mine, as it was and is theirs. I take that position as admitted
by them, and only proceed to adduce arguments to prove that they were
mistaken in supposing their constitution could not be altered by the
common legislature. Among other arguments I urge that the convention which
formed the constitution had been chosen merely for ordinary legislation;
that they had no higher power than every subsequent legislature was
to have; that all their acts are consequently repealable by subsequent
legislatures; that their own practice at a subsequent session proved they
were of this opinion themselves; that the opinion and practice of several
subsequent legislatures had been the same, and so conclude "that their
constitution is alterable by the common legislature." Yet these arguments
urged to prove that their constitution _is_ alterable, you cite as if
urged to prove that it _ought not to be_ alterable, and you combat them
on that ground. An argument which is good to prove one thing, may become
ridiculous when exhibited as intended to prove another thing. I will
beg the favor of you to look over again the passage in my notes, and am
persuaded you will be sensible that you have misapprehended the object of
my arguments, and therefore have combated them on a ground for which they
were not intended. My only object in this is the rectification of your own
opinion of me, which I repeat that I respect too much to neglect. I have
certainly no view of entering into the contest, whether it be expedient
to delegate unlimited powers to our ordinary governors? my opinion is
against that expediency; but my occupations do not permit me to undertake
to vindicate all my opinions, nor have they importance enough to merit it.
It cannot, however, but weaken my confidence in them, when I find them
opposed to yours, there being no one who respects the latter more than,
Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
Philadelphia, December 17, 1790.
Since mine to you of August the 12th, yours of July the 3d, August the
16th, and September the 18th, have come to hand. They suffice to remove
all doubts which might have been entertained as to the real intentions of
the British cabinet, on the several matters confided to you. The view of
government in troubling you with this business was, either to remove from
between the two nations all causes of difference, by a fair and friendly
adjustment, if such was the intention of the other party, or to place it
beyond a doubt that such was not their intention. In result, it is clear
enough that further applications would tend to delay, rather than advance
our object. It is therefore the pleasure of the President, that no orders
be made; and that in whatever state this letter may find the business, in
that state it be left. I have it in charge, at the same time, to assure
you that your conduct in these communications with the British ministers,
has met the President's entire approbation, and to convey to you his
acknowledgments for your services.
As an attendance on this business must, at times, have interfered with
your private pursuits, and subjected you also to additional expenses, I
have the honor to enclose you a draft on our bankers in Holland, for a
thousand dollars, as an indemnification for those sacrifices.
My letter of August the 12th, desired a certain other communication to be
made to the same court, if a war should have actually commenced. If the
event has not already called for it, it is considered as inexpedient to
be made at all.
You will of course have the goodness to inform us of whatever may have
passed further, since the date of your last.
In conveying to you this testimony of approbation from the President of
the United States, I am happy in an occasion of repeating assurances of
the sentiments of perfect esteem and respect with which I have the honor
to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.
Philadelphia, December 17, 1790.
Sir,--Though not yet informed of the receipt of my letter, covering your
commission as consul for the United States, in the port of London, yet
knowing that the ship has arrived by which it went, I take for granted
the letter and commission have gone safe to hand, and that you have been
called into the frequent exercise of your office for the relief of our
seamen, upon whom such multiplied acts of violence have been committed in
England, by press-gangs, pretending to take them for British subjects, not
only without evidence, but against evidence. By what means may be procured
for our seamen, while in British ports, that security for their persons
which the laws of hospitality require, and which the British nation will
surely not refuse, remains to be settled. In the meantime, there is one
of these cases, wherein so wilful and so flagrant a violation has been
committed by a British officer, on the person of one of our citizens,
as requires that it be laid before his government, in friendly and firm
reliance of satisfaction for the injury, and of assurance for the future,
that the citizens of the United States, entering the ports of Great
Britain, in pursuit of a lawful commerce, shall be protected by the laws
of hospitality in usage among nations.
It is represented to the President of the United States, that Hugh Purdie,
a native of Williamsburg, in Virginia, was, in the month of July last,
seized in London by a party of men, calling themselves press-officers,
and pretending authority from their government so to do, notwithstanding
his declarations and the evidence he offered of his being a native citizen
of the United States; and that he was transferred on board the Crescent,
a British ship of war, commanded by a Captain Young. Passing over the
intermediate violences exercised on him, because not peculiar to his case
(so many other American citizens having suffered the same), I proceed
to the particular one which distinguishes the present representation.
Satisfactory evidence having been produced by Mr. John Brown Cutting, a
citizen of the United States, to the Lords of the Admiralty, that Hugh
Purdie was a native citizen of the same States, they, in their justice,
issued orders to the Lord Howe, their Admiral, for his discharge. In the
meantime, the Lord Howe had sailed with the fleet of which the Crescent
was. But, on the 27th of August, he wrote to the board of admiralty, that
he had received their orders for the discharge of Hugh Purdie, and had
directed it accordingly. Notwithstanding these orders, the receipt of
which at sea Captain Young acknowledges, notwithstanding Captain Young's
confessed knowledge, that Hugh Purdie was a citizen of the United States,
from whence it resulted that his being carried on board the Crescent
and so long detained there, had been an act of wrong, which called
for expiatory conduct and attentions, rather than new injuries on his
part towards the sufferer, instead of discharging him according to the
orders he had received, on his arrival in port, which was on the 14th
of September, he, on the 15th, confined him in irons for several hours,
then had him bound and scourged in presence of the ship's crew, under a
threat to the executioner that if he did not do his duty well, he should
take the place of the sufferer. At length he discharged him on the 17th,
without the means of subsistence for a single day. To establish these
facts, I enclose you copies of papers communicated to me by Mr. Cutting,
who laid the case of Purdie before the board of admiralty, and who can
corroborate them by his personal evidence. He can especially verify the
letter of Captain Young, were it necessary to verify a paper, the original
of which is under the command of his Majesty's ministers, and this paper
is so material, as to supersede of itself all other testimony, confessing
the orders to discharge Purdie, that yet he had whipped him, and that
it was impossible, without giving up all sense of discipline, to avoid
whipping a free American citizen. We have such confidence in the justice
of the British government, in their friendly regard to these States, in
their respect for the honor and good understanding of the two countries,
compromitted by this act of their officer, as not to doubt their due
notice of _him_, indemnification to the sufferer, and a friendly assurance
to these States that effectual measures shall be adopted in future, to
protect the persons of their citizens while in British ports.
By the express command of the President of the United States, you are
to lay this case, and our sense of it, before his Britannic Majesty's
minister for Foreign Affairs, to urge it on his particular notice by all
the motives which it calls up, and to communicate to me the result.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem, your most obedient humble
servant.
TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.
Philadelphia, December 23, 1790.
Dear Sir,--The vexations of our seamen and their sufferings under
the press-gangs of England, have become so serious, as to oblige
our government to take serious notice of it. The particular case has
been selected where the insult to the United States has been the most
barefaced, the most deliberately intentional, and the proof the most
complete. The enclosed letter to you is on that subject, and has been
written on the supposition that you would show the original to the Duke
of Leeds, and give him a copy of it, but as of your own movement, and
not as if officially instructed so to do. You will be pleased to follow
up this matter as closely as decency will permit, pressing it in firm
but respectful terms, on all occasions. We think it essential that
Captain Young's case may be an example to others. The enclosed letters
are important. Be so good as to have them conveyed by the surest means
possible.
I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.
TO A. HAMILTON.
December 29, 1790.
Thomas Jefferson presents his respectful compliments to the Secretary of
the Treasury, and his condolences on the accident of the other evening,
which he hopes has produced no serious loss.
He encloses to the Secretary of the Treasury a report of a committee of
the National Assembly of France, on the subject of Billon, containing more
particular information as to that species of coin than he had before met
with. If the metal be so mixed as to make it of 1-5 of the intrinsic value
of the standard silver coin of the United States, the cent of billon will
be a little smaller than the present 16ths of dollars, and consequently be
more convenient than a copper cent. This he submits to the better judgment
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and hopes he will consider the liberty
taken as an advance towards unreserved communications for reciprocal
benefit.
TO MR. SHORT.
Philadelphia, January 23, 1791.
Sir,--The 3d and subsequent amendments to the constitution have
been agreed to by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The
first by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland,
North and South Carolina, and the second by only New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, and the two Carolinas. The other States, viz. Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Virginia and Georgia, have not decided on them. Vermont
has acceded to the new Constitution of the United States, and is coming
forward to ask admission into Congress. Kentucky has asked the same,
and a bill for the purpose has passed the Senate, and is now before the
Representatives, where it will meet with no difficulty. But they have only
asked admission for the year 1792.
The census had made considerable progress, but will not be completed till
midsummer. It is judged at present that our numbers will be between four
and five millions. Virginia it is supposed will be between 7 and 800,000.
You will perceive by the papers that the object of our Indian expedition
has been so imperfectly obtained, as to call for another the ensuing
year. By the present conveyance you will probably receive a proclamation,
locating the federal territory so as to comprehend Georgetown. It will
appear within a day or two. We must still pursue the redemption of our
captives through the same channel, till some better means can be devised.
The money, however, which is in Mr. Grand's hands, will be the subject
of a letter to you from the Secretary of the Treasury, as soon as he can
have an act of Congress authorizing the application of it to the debt of
the foreign officers.
The most important matters now before Congress are propositions to
establish a bank, to establish a land office and excise. The latter
measure, though severely modified, is very unpopular in the middle and
southern States.
Fenno's and Davies' papers will accompany this. These contain all the laws
of the last session, and therefore it is thought better to defer sending
them to you in a body, till a third edition appears, which is proposed to
be printed, as this will be more conveniently conveyed as well as handled.
I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.
TO COLONEL MASON.
Philadelphia, February 4, 1791.
Dear Sir,--I am to make you my acknowledgments for your favor of January
10th, and the information from France which it contained. It confirmed
what I had heard more loosely before, and accounts still more recent are
to the same effect. I look with great anxiety for the firm establishment
of the new government in France, being perfectly convinced that if it
takes place there, it will spread sooner or later all over Europe. On
the contrary, a check there would retard the revival of liberty in other
countries. I consider the establishment and success of their government
as necessary to stay up our own, and to prevent it from falling back to
that kind of a half-way house, the English constitution. It cannot be
denied that we have among us a sect who believe that to contain whatever
is perfect in human institutions; that the members of this sect have,
many of them, names and offices which stand high in the estimation of our
countrymen. I still rely that the great mass of our community is untainted
with these heresies, as is its head. On this I build my hope that we have
not labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men
can be governed by reason. You have excited my curiosity in saying "there
is a particular circumstance, little attended to, which is continually
sapping the republicanism of the United States." What is it? What is said
in our country of the fiscal arrangements now going on? I really fear
their effect when I consider the present temper of the southern States.
Whether these measures be right or wrong abstractedly, more attention
should be paid to the general opinion. However, all will pass--the excise
will pass--the bank will pass. The only corrective of what is corrupt in
our present form of government will be the augmentation of the numbers in
the lower House, so as to get a more agricultural representation, which
may put that interest above that of the stock-jobbers.
I had no occasion to sound Mr. Madison on your fears expressed in your
letter. I knew before, as possessing his sentiments fully on that subject,
that his value for you was undiminished. I have always heard him say that
though you and he appeared to differ in your systems, yet you were in
truth nearer together than most persons who were classed under the same
appellation. You may quiet yourself in the assurance of possessing his
complete esteem. I have been endeavoring to obtain some little distinction
for our useful customers, the French. But there is a particular interest
opposed to it, which I fear will prove too strong. We shall soon see.
I will send you a copy of a report I have given in, as soon as it is
printed. I know there is one part of it contrary to your sentiments; yet
I am not sure you will not become sensible that a change should be slowly
preparing. Certainly, whenever I pass your road, I shall do myself the
pleasure of turning into it. Our last year's experiment, however, is much
in favor of that by Newgate.
I am, with great respect and esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO CHARLES HELLSTEDT, SWEDISH CONSUL.
Philadelphia, February 14, 1791.
Sir,--I now return you the papers you were pleased to put into my hands,
when you expressed to me your dissatisfaction that our court of admiralty
had taken cognizance of a complaint of some Swedish sailors against
their captain for cruelty. If there was error in this proceeding, the law
allows an appeal from that to the Supreme Court; but the appeal must be
made in the forms of the law, which have nothing difficult in them. You
were certainly free to conduct the appeal yourself, without employing an
advocate, but then you must do it in the usual form. Courts of justice,
all over the world, are held by the laws to proceed according to certain
forms, which the good of the suitors themselves requires they should not
be permitted to depart from.
I have further to observe to you, Sir, that this question lies altogether
with the courts of justice; that the constitution of the United States
having divided the powers of government into three branches, legislative,
executive, and judiciary, and deposited each with a separate body of
magistracy, forbidding either to interfere in the department of the other,
the executive are not at liberty to intermeddle in the present question.
It must be ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. If you think proper to
carry it into that, you may be secure of the strictest justice from them.
Partialities they are not at liberty to show. But, for whatever may come
before the executive, relative to your nation, I can assure you of every
favor which may depend on their dispositions to cultivate harmony and a
good understanding with it.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.
TO MR. HAZARD.
Philadelphia, February 18, 1791.
Sir,--I return you the two volumes of records, with thanks for the
opportunity of looking into them. They are curious monuments of the
infancy of our country. I learn with great satisfaction that you are about
committing to the press the valuable historical and State papers you have
been so long collecting. Time and accident are committing daily havoc on
the originals deposited in our public offices. The late war has done the
work of centuries in this business. The last cannot be recovered, but
let us save what remains; not by vaults and locks which fence them from
the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by
such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of
accident. This being the tendency of your undertaking, be assured there is
no one who wishes it more success than, Sir, your most obedient and most
humble servant.
TO ----.[3]
Philadelphia, February 19, 1791.
Dear Sir,--I feel both the wish and the duty to communicate, in compliance
with your request, whatever, within my knowledge, might render justice
to the memory of our great countrymen, Dr. Franklin, in which Philosophy
has to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But my
opportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his life, have not been
equal to my desire of making them known. I could indeed relate a number
of those bon mots, with which he used to charm every society, as having
heard many of them. But these are not your object. Particulars of greater
dignity happened not to occur during his stay of nine months, after my
arrival in France.
A little before that, Argand had invented his celebrated lamp, in which
the flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, and thus brought into contact
with the air within as well as without. Doctor Franklin had been on the
point of the same discovery. The idea had occurred to him; but he had
tried a bull-rush as a wick, which did not succeed. His occupations did
not permit him to repeat and extend his trials to the introduction of a
larger column of air than could pass through the stem of a bull-rush.
The animal magnetism too of the maniac Mesmer, had just received its
death wound from his hand in conjunction with his brethren of the learned
committee appointed to unveil that compound of fraud and folly. But after
this, nothing very interesting was before the public, either in philosophy
or politics, during his stay; and he was principally occupied in winding
up his affairs there.
I can only therefore testify in general, that there appeared to me more
respect and veneration attached to the character of Doctor Franklin in
France, than to that of any other person in the same country, foreign
or native. I had opportunities of knowing particularly how far these
sentiments were felt by the foreign ambassadors and ministers at the court
of Versailles. The fable of his capture by the Algerines, propagated by
the English newspapers, excited no uneasiness; as it was seen at once
to be a dish cooked up to the palate of their readers. But nothing could
exceed the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren, on a subsequent report of
his death, which, though premature, bore some marks of authenticity.
I found the ministers of France equally impressed with the talents and
integrity of Dr. Franklin. The Count de Vergennes particularly gave me
repeated and unequivocal demonstrations of his entire confidence in him.
When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its patriarch. On
taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the King ordered him to
be handsomely complimented, and furnished him with a litter and mules of
his own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his health could bear.
No greater proof of his estimation in France can be given than the late
letters of condolence on his death, from the National Assembly of that
country, and the community of Paris, to the President of the United
States and to Congress, and their public mourning on that event. It is,
I believe, the first instance of that homage having been paid by a public
body of one nation to a private citizen of another.
His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at some time or
other. We have reason to be thankful he was so long spared; that the most
useful life should be the longest also; that it was protracted so far
beyond the ordinary span allotted to man, as to avail us of his wisdom in
the establishment of our own freedom, and to bless him with a view of its
dawn in the east, where they seemed, till now, to have learned everything,
but how to be free.
The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the court of France, was an excellent
school of humility. On being presented to any one as the minister of
America, the commonplace question used in such cases was "_c'est vous,
Monsieur, qui remplace le Docteur Franklin?_" "it is you, Sir, who replace
Doctor Franklin?" I generally answered, "no one can replace him, Sir: I
am only his successor."
These small offerings to the memory of our great and dear friend, whom
time will be making greater while it is spunging us from its records, must
be accepted by you, Sir, in that spirit of love and veneration for him,
in which they are made; and not according to their insignificance in the
eyes of a world, who did not want this mite to fill up the measure of his
worth.
I pray you to accept, in addition, assurances of the sincere esteem and
respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.
FOOTNOTE:
[3] [Address illegible.]
TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR HANCOCK.
Philadelphia, February 20, 1791.
Sir,--With many thanks for the papers and information you were pleased
to have procured for me on the important subject of the fisheries, I do
myself the honor of now enclosing you a copy of my report to the House of
Representatives. From the disposition I see prevailing in the principal
mass of the Southern members to take measures which may secure to us the
principal markets for the produce of the fisheries, and for rescuing our
carrying trade from a nation not disposed to make just returns for it,
I am in hopes something effectual will be done this session, if these
principles are solidly supported by the members from your part of the
Union, of which I trust there is no cause to doubt. Should nothing be
done, I cannot say what consequences will follow, nor calculate their
extent. May I take the liberty of presenting through you, Sir, another
copy of the report to the committee who were pleased to lend their
assistance in the collection of materials; to show them that I have not
failed to present their testimony in that view which might tend to procure
a proper interference in this interesting branch of business.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and
attachment, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO M. DE PINTO.
Philadelphia, February 21, 1791.
Sir,--I have duly received the letter of November the 30th, which your
Excellency did me the honor to write, informing me that her most faithful
Majesty had appointed Mr. Freire her minister resident with us, and
stating the difficulty of meeting us in the exchange of a chargé des
affaires, the grade proposed on our part. It is foreseen, that a departure
from our system in this instance, will materially affect our arrangements
with other nations; but the President of the United States has resolved
to give her Majesty this proof of his desire to concur in whatever may
best tend to promote that harmony and perfect friendship so interesting
to both countries. He has, therefore, appointed Colonel Humphreys to be
minister resident for the United States, at the court of her Majesty.
This gentleman has long been of the President's own family, and enjoys
his particular confidence. I make no doubt he will so conduct himself as
to give perfect satisfaction to her Majesty and yourself, and I therefore
recommend him to your friendly attention and respect. Mr. Freire will
have every title to the same from us, and will assuredly receive it. It
is always with pleasure, that I repeat the homage of those sentiments of
respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's
most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MR. PHILIP FRENEAU.
Philadelphia, February 28, 1791.
Sir,--The clerkship for foreign languages in my office is vacant. The
salary, indeed, is very low, being but two hundred and fifty dollars a
year; but also, it gives so little to do, as not to interfere with any
other calling the person may choose, which would not absent him from the
seat of government. I was told a few days ago, that it might perhaps be
convenient to you to accept it. If so, it is at your service. It requires
no other qualification than a moderate knowledge of the French. Should
anything better turn up within my department that might suit you, I should
be very happy to be able to bestow it so well. Should you conclude to
accept the present, you may consider it as engaged to you, only be so good
as to drop me a line informing me of your resolution. I am, with great
esteem, Sir, your very humble servant.
TO THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER.
Philadelphia, March 2, 1791.
Sir,--I have received your favor of November 6th, wherein you inform me
that the King has thought proper, by a new mission to the court of Berlin,
to put an end to your functions as his minister plenipotentiary with the
United States. The President, in a letter to the King, has expressed his
sense of your merit, and his entire approbation of your conduct while
here, and has charged me to convey to yourself the same sentiments on his
part.
Had you returned to your station with us, you would have received new
and continued marks of the esteem inspired by the general worth of your
character, as well by the particular dispositions you manifested towards
this country.
Amidst the regrets excited by so early a loss of you, it will be a
consolation, if your new situation shall contribute to advance your own
happiness.
As a testimony of these sentiments, we ask your acceptance of a medal and
chain of gold, with which Mr. Short is instructed to present you on the
part of the United States.
To this general tribute, permit me to add my own, with sincere wishes for
your constant happiness, and assurances of the respect and esteem with
which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.
TO MR. INNES.
Philadelphia, March 7, 1791.
Dear Sir,--Your favor of July 8, came to my hands November 30. The
infrequency of conveyances, is an apology for this late answer. I receive
with pleasure this recognition and renewal of your former acquaintance,
and shall be happy to continue it by an exchange of epistolary
communications. Yours to me will be always welcome. Your first gives
me information in the line of Natural History, and the second (not yet
received) promises political news. The first is my passion, the last my
duty, and therefore both desirable. I believe entirely with you, that
the remains of fortifications found in the Western country, have been
the works of the natives. Nothing I have ever yet heard of, proved the
existence of a nation here who knew the use of iron. I have never heard
even of _burnt_ bricks, though they might be made without iron. The statue
you have been so kind as to send me, and for which I beg you to accept my
thanks, would, because of the hardness of the stone, be a better proof of
the use of iron, than I ever yet saw; but as it is a solitary fact, and
possible to have been made with implements of stone, and great patience,
for which the Indians are remarkable, I consider it to have been so
made. It is certainly the best piece of workmanship I ever saw from their
hands. If the artist did not intend it, he has very happily hit on the
representation of a woman in the first moments of parturition.
Mr. Brown, the bearer of this, will give you the Congressional news,
some good, some so so, like everything else in this world. Our endeavors
the last year to punish your enemies have had an unfortunate issue. The
federal council has yet to learn by experience, which experience has long
ago taught us in Virginia, that rank and file fighting will not do against
Indians. I hope this year's experiment will be made in a more auspicious
form. Will it not be possible for you to bring General Clark forward? I
know the greatness of his mind, and am the more mortified at the cause
which obscures it. Had not this unhappily taken place, there was nothing
he might not have hoped: could it be surmounted, his lost ground might
yet be recovered. No man alive rated him higher than I did, and would
again, were he to become again what I knew him. We are made to hope he
is engaged in writing the account of his expeditions north of Ohio. They
will be valuable morsels of history, and will justify to the world those
who have told them how great he was.
Mr. Brown will tell you also that we are not inattentive to the interests
of your navigation. Nothing short of actual rupture is omitted. What its
effect will be, we cannot yet foretell; but we should not stop even here,
were a favorable conjuncture to arise. The move we have now made must
bring the matter to issue. I can assure you of the most determined zeal
of our chief magistrate in this business, and I trust mine will not be
doubted so far as it can be of any avail. The nail will be driven as far
as it will go peaceably, and farther the moment that circumstances become
favorable. I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FRANCE.
Philadelphia, March 8, 1791.
Sir,--I have it in charge from the President of the United States of
America, to communicate to the National Assembly of France, the peculiar
sensibility of Congress to the tribute paid to the memory of Benjamin
Franklin, by the enlightened and free representatives of a great nation,
in their decree of the 11th of June, 1790.
That the loss of such a citizen should be lamented by us, among whom he
lived, whom he so long and eminently served, and who feel their country
advanced and honored by his birth, life and labors, was to be expected.
But it remained for the National Assembly of France, to set the first
example of the representative of one nation, doing homage, by a public
act, to the private citizen of another, and by withdrawing arbitrary
lines of separation, to reduce into our fraternity the good and the great,
wherever they have lived or died.
That these separations may disappear between us in all times and
circumstances, and that the union of sentiment which mingles our sorrows
on this occasion, may continue long to cement the friendship and the
interests of our two nations, is our constant prayer. With no one is
it more sincere than with him, who, in being charged with the honor of
conveying a public sentiment, is permitted that of expressing the homage
of profound respect and veneration with which he is, Sir, your most
obedient, and most humble servant.
TO GOVERNOR QUESADA.
Philadelphia, March 10, 1791.
Sir,--We have received with great satisfaction, notification of the
orders of his Catholic Majesty, not to permit that persons, held in
slavery within the United States, introduce themselves as free persons
into the Province of Florida. The known justice of his Majesty and his
Government, was a certain dependence to us, that such would be his
will. The assurances your Excellency has been pleased to give us of
your friendly dispositions, leave us no doubt you will have faithfully
executed a regulation so essential to harmony and good neighborhood. As
a consequence of the same principles of justice and friendship, we trust
that your Excellency will permit, and aid the recovery of persons of the
same description, who have heretofore taken refuge within your Government.
The bearer hereof is authorized to wait on your Excellency to confer on
this subject, and to concur in such arrangements as you shall approve for
the recovery of such fugitives.
I beg you to be assured that no occasion shall be neglected of proving our
dispositions to reciprocate these principles of justice and friendship,
with the subjects of his Catholic Majesty, and that you will be pleased
to accept the homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem, with which
I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
Philadelphia, March 12, 1791.
Dear Sir,--The President has thought proper to appoint Colonel David
Humphreys, minister resident for the United States at the court of Lisbon,
with a salary of four thousand five hundred dollars a year, and an outfit
equal to a year's salary. Besides this, by a standing regulation, he will
be allowed his disbursements for gazettes transmitted here, translating
and printing paper, where that shall be necessary, postage, couriers, and
necessary aids to _poor_ American sailors. An opportunity occurring, by a
vessel sailing for Lisbon within a few days, to send him his commission,
I shall be obliged to you to enable me to convey to him at the same time
the means of receiving his outfit in the first instance, and his salary
and disbursements above described, in quarterly payments afterwards.
An act of Congress having authorized the President to take measures for
procuring a recognition of our treaty from the new Emperor of Morocco,
arrangements for that purpose have been decided. The act allows twenty
thousand dollars for this object, but not more than thirteen thousand
dollars will be called for in the first instance, if at all, and these,
or the means of drawing for them, not till six weeks hence. I thought it
proper, however, to apprise you of the call at the earliest day possible,
and while the President is here, and to ask your attention to it. I have
the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and esteem,
dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MAJOR L'ENFANT.
March --, 1791.
Sir,--You are desired to proceed to Georgetown, where you will find Mr.
Ellicott employed in making a survey and map of the Federal territory. The
special object of asking your aid is to have drawings of the particular
grounds most likely to be approved for the site of the federal town and
buildings. You will therefore be pleased to begin on the eastern branch,
and proceed from thence upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses,
and waters between that, the Potomac, the Tyber, and the road leading from
Georgetown to the eastern branch, and connecting the whole with certain
fixed points of the map Mr. Ellicott is preparing. Some idea of the height
of the hills above the base on which they stand, would be desirable. For
necessary assistance and expenses, be pleased to apply to the Mayor of
Georgetown, who is written to on this subject. I will beg the favor of
you to mark to me your progress about twice a week, by letter, say every
Wednesday and Saturday evening, that I may be able in proper time to draw
your attention to some other objects, which I have not at this moment
sufficient information to define. I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most
obedient humble servant.
TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Philadelphia, March 12, 1791.