The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-01-24

PAVING his official answer ,of the same Gate
10 NY inte OF tliS Esd al August.
/ have the honor to be, with The, highest
consideration,
Sir, your most obedient,
Humble Servant,
WSI. PiNKNEY.
Hon. James Madison, &c. &C.
TO Mr.. CANNING.
GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE,
II October 20, 1903.
SIR,
IF my reply to the letter, which YOU
did me the honor to address to- ME ON the 25d
of last month, should be of greater length
shan the occasion may be thought to require,
you will, 1 am sure. iInpute it to its real cause.
an earnest desire ON my part, arising from II
feeling OF sincere respect Tor YOU, that the
statement. which am to give os facts deem-
ed byAfou TO he important, should be iu;l as
we'll as accurate.
viii not fatigue you. sir. with assurances
that no PERSON coutd be lcss disposed than l
am, To- tind fault with the object of your leg
ter, which appears to be to guard against ell
misrepresentation of " what has passed in
our last interviews. heynnd ,ehat Ya. Gi:s:a.e-
corded in my note You have told me, that
l have, personally, no concern in that object,
and l did not require to be told that my GO
vernnent has as little. understand, indeed,
that the CIRCUMSTANCE, which has suggested
a peculiar motive for this proceeding, was
one of those newspaper misrepresentation,
which every day produces where the pressis
free, which find no credit and bcget no con
sequence, and for which it is greatly to be
feared your expedient will provide.no rene
dy. Ofmy condICt, when that circumstance
occurred, in giving you unsolicited proofs
that had transmitted to Mr.. Secretary Ma
olson, a faithful report of our conferences,
mistaken by public rumor or private c%onjsc-
turc, 1t IS not necessary for me to speak /; for
you have yourself, done justice to it.
The motive, to which I am indebted for
the honor OF your letter, appears to have
been instrumental in producing another eff
feet equally uneXceprionable. But you will
allow me to say. that, until the receipt of
that letter, l had not been appraised, by the
slightest intimation, that it was in any de-
gree owing to such a cause tI,rt you declined
on the part of his majeSty's government, af-
ter two conferences. in which l had been
suffered, it not encouraged, to unfold myself,
individually as well as officially, at great
length and. with perfect frankness, to give
an answer to my verbal overture.
At our frs: interview ION the 29th of June. }
verbal communicated was. not disCounte-
nanced, but commended :-Foii. after I had
made myself understood as to the purpose
for which the interview had been requested,
you asked me if I thought of taking a more
formal course but Immediately added that
you presumed l did not for that the course
L had adopted was well suited to the occasi-
on. My reply was in substance, that the
Efreedo,n or conversation was better adapted
to our subject, and more likely to conduct us
to an advantageous conclusion, than the con-
straint and formally q writer; intercourse,
and that had not intended to present a note.
AT the second interview ION the 22d of July
1t did not occur to me that | had any reason
to conclude, and certainly | did not conclude
that verbal communication had not continued
TO be acceptable as a preparatory course I;
and it was not until the third interview ION
the 29th of July) that it was-rejected as liz
admissible. But even then i was not told,
& had not the smallest suspicion, that this re-
lection was to be asCribed, either wholly or
partially, to the motive which your letter
mas since announced TO me. That this mo-
tive had, nevertheless all the influence i'm
puted to it, 1 am entirely confident, and /
take notice of it only because, as / have not
mentioned 1t to nay government in my offici-
2! account Oh oui coIiferences,i can no other
wise justify the omission, either to it or TO
you, than by showing that L.had in truth no
knowledge of the fact when that account was
transmitted.
i may take occasion to set forth in the pre-
sent letter, the import of all that can be ma
terial OF our several conversations, according
to my recollection of them but there are
some points to which i Ought to pay a more
particular attention, because you have tho't
them entitled to it although l should my
self, perhaps, have been inclined to think
that they had lost much of their importance
oy the presentation of my note, and the re-
ceipt OF your written answer both of which
are perfectly ineligible, upon these points
at least, without the aid of the conferences
that preceded them.
YOU observe, that "the principal poi nts,
in which the suggestions brought forward by
me in personal conference appear to you to
have differed in some degree from the pro-
posal stated by me in writing, are two !;
the first, that in conversation the proposal it.
self was not distinctly stated as an overture
authorised by my government; the second,
that the beneficial consequences, likely to re-
suit to this country from the acceptance of
that proposal, were pursued" through more
ample illustrations"
With regard to the first of these supposed
differences, / feel persuaded, sir, that upon
further recollection, it will occur to you, that
at cur first conference, ! told you explicitly
that the substance of what / then suggested,
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