Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1814-03-26

'nd encourage them in the Use oil II. This
nav be especially done wherever you winter.
IL is impossible for Us to ioresec liz what |
manner you will be received by those people, |
whether with hospitality or hostility, so is it |
impossible 10 prescribe the exact degree of !
perseverance, with which YOU are 10 pursue
your Journey. we Waite too much the lives of
citizens 10 offer them TO probable destruction.
four,nnmbers will be Sufficient to secure you
against the unauthorized oppositiomof iudivi.
duds, or Of small parties; but IL superior
force, authorized ornot authorized, BY a nation
should be ariaycd against your further passage,
and inf1exibly determined to ar est it, You must
decline its further pursuit and return. In the
loss OF yourselves We should lose also the IN
formation YOU will have acquired by return-
ing safely with that, you may enable us TO re-
new the essay with better calculated means
To your own discretion, therefore, must be left
the degree OF danger you may risk, and the
point at which you should decline, only saying,
we wish you to err OH the side of your safety,
and TO bring back yonr party safe, even if il;
be with less Information.
As far up as Missouri as the white
settlements extend, an intercourse wiz prob
ably be found TO exist between them ard the
Spanish posts of St. Louis opposite Kaskas,
kia. From still further up the river. the tra>
ders may furuish a conveyance for letters
Beyord that you may perhaps be able to
engage Indians to bling you letters for the
government, to C;.:iokia, OF Kaskaskia, ON
promising thatthey shall there receive such
special compensation as you shall have stip-
ulated with thew. Avail yourself OF these
means to communicate to us, at seasoHatle
Intervals, copy of your journal, notes and
observations of every kind, putting in CIPHER
whatever might do injury if betrayed.
:. Should you reach the Pacific ocean, in
form yourself of fhe circumstances which
may decide whether the furs of'those parts
may not be collected as advantageously at
the head of the Missouri Convenient as is
supposed to the waters OF the Colorado and
Oregan or Columbia as at No tka Sound. or
any other point of that coast; and that
trade be Consequently conducted through
the Missouri and United States more bene>
fcially than by the circumnavigation now
practised.
Son your arrival on that coast, endea
YOUR to learn il there be any point within
your reach freQuented by the sea vessels Of
any natian, aud TO send two Of your trusty
people back by sea, in such way as shall aps
pear practicable, with copy OF your notes !;
and should you be OF opinion that the return
of your party by the way they went will be
imminently dangerous, then ship the whole,
and retarn by sea, by the way either ct
Cape Horn. or the Cape of Good Hope, as
you shall be able. AS yos will be without
money, cloathes, provisions, you must en-
tleavour TO use the credit of the United
States to obtain them (; for which purpose
open letters of credit shall be furnished you,
authorizing you to draw on the executive of
the United States, or any of its officers, e.
any part of the world, on which draughts
can be disposed Of, and 10 apply with our re-
commentators to the consuls, agents, mer-
chants, oroitizens of any nation with which
we have intercourse, assuring them, in our
name, that any aids they may furnish you
shall be honorabiy repaid, and on demand.
Our consuls, Thomas Hewes, at Batavia, in
Java, William Buchanan, in the Isles OF
France and Bourbon, and John Eln,slie, at
the Cape of Good Hope, will be able TO sup
ply your necessities, by draugets on us.
"Should you find It SAFE to return b, the
way you go, after sending two of your party
round by sea, or with Your whole party, if
no conveyance by sea can be found, do SO
making such observations, OH your return as
may serve to supply, correct, or confirm
those made on your outward journey
s'On re entering the United States and
reaching place of safety. discharge any of
your attendants who may desire and deserve
it, procuring for them immediate payment
of all arrears of paw and clothing which
may have incurred since their departure,
and assure them that they shall be recon,
mended TO the liberality of the legislature
for the graft of soldiers portion of land
each, asproposed in my message to congress,
and repair yourself, with your papers, to
the seat of government.
ITO provide. On the accident Of your
de ath against anarchy, dispersion, aud the
consequent danger to your party, and total
failure of the enterprise, you are hererauthor-
lied, by any iDstumeat signed and written
in your own hand, to name the person a
mong them who shall succeed to the coDl-
Brand on your decease, and by like instru-
ments to change the nomination., from time
to time, as further experience of the char
acters accompanying yeu shall point out
superior fitness and al the powers and au-
thor,ues given to yourself are, in The event
OF your death, transferred to, and vested in
the successor SO named, with further pow
er 10 him and his successor, In like man.
Ber, each to name his successor. who, on the
death of his predecessor, rhall be invested
with all the powers and authorities given to
yourself. Given under my hand at the CT
ty Of Washington, this twentieth day of
June, 1903.
THOMAS JEFFERSON"
"Presidenf Q)fhe United Sfmcs eC.lmerica.',
While these things were going on here, the
country Of Louisiana, lately ceded by SPAN
TO France, had been the subject of negocia>
ton az Paris between US and this last power
and had actually been transferred TO us by
treaties executed at Paris on the ;hirtie,li OF
April. This information, received about
the first day Of July, increased Infinitely the
interest we felt in the expedition, and les.
sened the approximations of interruption
from other powers. Every thing IN this
quarter being now prepared, captain Lev.