Title: To James Madison from James Simpson, 19 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Simpson, James
To: Madison, James

19 March 1802, Tangier. No. 38. Forwards a copy of his dispatch of 20 Feb. Reports that the Essex arrived on 24 Feb. and sailed again on 26 Feb. On 13 Mar. the Batavian sloop of war Daphne arrived “with dispatches from that Government, containing assurances that an Embassy would be sent to Muley Soliman without delay”; the ship went on to Tunis and Algiers “with similar intelligence.” Relates the general belief that when the Dutch negotiate to renew their treaty a subsidy will be required of them; “but as Admiral de Winter comes to the Mediterranean with a respectable Fleet, they may probably obtain a ratification of their Antient Treaty, under its influence.” Swedish stipulations of munitions for Morocco have arrived, and [Peter] Wyk, the Swedish agent at Tangier, has gone to present other articles to the emperor. Dale has written from Gibraltar that he could not grant a passport for the Tripolitan vessel there without first obtaining permission from the president. “I am highly sensible of the very great impropriety of Muley Soliman making such a request, but with him it is not proper to speak all we think; for this reason, rather than impart Commodore Dales determination,… I have thought better to intimate to this Government … that [Dale] left the decision of the matter to his Successor and the Swedish Admiral.… This has satisfied them in the moment.” Should an absolute refusal be necessary, hopes that Sweden will join the U.S. in it. Confirms that the emperor has agreed to allow wheat to be sent to Tripoli but believes it will be almost impossible to charter vessels while Tripoli is blockaded. Dale urged him to see the emperor “in order to do away the favourable sentiments he seems to entertain towards the Tripolines”; knows JM will understand he cannot do so without presidential authorization. “At this moment in particular, such a measure is by no means necessary,” for Wyk will use his efforts on behalf of Sweden and the U.S. to convince the emperor that supporting the Tripolitans is inappropriate. Expresses doubt that the two frigates being built at Rabat will be finished by summer owing to lack of stores and amount of work remaining. Has heard that orders have been received recently at Tetuán to hasten the completion of two rowing galleys and that the emperor intends to buy some small vessels to be used as cruisers.
“His Majesty has been pleased to express himself in very gracious terms, on subject of the House mentioned in No. 37, he has directed it shall be sold for his benefit.… I have visited the House and find it very extensive, but by no means offering those principal accommodations required, such as a dancing Room & drawing Room, of that size indispensably necessary to a Consular House here. That part of the House not finished may be converted into these and some Bed rooms, this and other necessary alterations … may cost about three thousand dollars.” Has offered 4,000 ducats for the house.
Has heard repeated reports of the outbreak of the plague along the coast of Er Rif four to six days’ journey east of Tetuán. Requests instructions as solicited in his dispatches nos. 20 and 23 on the subject of U.S. vessels loading in Morocco “whilst the Plague rages”; “as the Vessels tradeing from this Country to the United States carry Goat Skins, Cow hides, Wool & Feathers, all which are very dangerous Articles, I beg with all due submission to recommend Government establishing a regulation for Trade, when the Plague or any Contagious disorder shall actualy exist.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tangier, vol. 1). 4 pp.; marked duplicate; docketed by Brent as received with Simpson’s 13 May dispatch (no. 39). Extract printed in Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary WarsDudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers (6 vols.; Washington, 1939–44)., 2:91–92. Jefferson communicated a brief extract to Congress with his annual message on 15 Dec. 1802 (printed in ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 2:465).

   PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:481.

   Jan Willem de Winter (1761–1812), who as vice admiral of the Batavian fleet was defeated and taken prisoner by the British in the Battle of Camperdown in 1797, negotiated treaties with the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers in 1802. De Winter would later become a marshal of the French Empire (Tulard, Dictionnaire Napoléon, p. 1752).

   Dale wrote two letters in response to Simpson’s letter referring to him Mawlay Sulaiman’s request for a passport for the Tripolitan ship Meshouda blockaded at Gibraltar. In the first, Dale stated that while “it will always give me pleasure to comply with the wishes of his highness … in this instance it is not in my power, nor can it be done without the orders of the President.” In the second letter Dale repeated this and advised Simpson to see the emperor himself (Dale to Simpson, 4 and 8 Mar. 1802, Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary WarsDudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers (6 vols.; Washington, 1939–44)., 2:77, 80–81).

   Simpson to JM, 20 Feb. 1802 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:481).

   Simpson to the secretary of state, 17 Aug. 1799 and 14 May 1800 (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tangier, vol. 1).

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Richard Söderström, 19 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Söderström, Richard
To: Madison, James

19 March 1802, Washington. “For fear I should displease you and do wrong in presenting the Petition to Congress which I had the Honor of sending you Copy of Yesterday—I have stopt same, till you will be pleased to inform me that I do right, and that same is pleasing to you.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, NFC, vol. 1). 1 p.; docketed by Brent.


Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Monroe, James

Dear Sir
Washington March 20. 1802
I now return the letters to you from Mr. Purviance & Cambaceres, with an acknowledgment of those in which they were inclosed. The papers last recd. from you in relation to Mr. Skipwith will be of use in establishing one or two material points. His case has been a hard one, but it may be questioned whether he be well founded in the extent of his claims for interest & Agency for Claims. The Report ⟨o⟩n it should have been required from the Treasy. not from this Dept. It involves considerable research & some difficulties & has been further delayed by the pressure of business & the sickness of the Chief Clerck of this Dept. Congs. have not yet passed the appropriation for the French Treaty, which with certain delicacies touchg St. Domingo, have added to my occupations. Our latest acct⟨s.⟩ from Europe are indecisive on points important to us. […] for Mrs. Monroe & yourself our sincerest regards
James Madison

   RC (DLC). Damaged by removal of seal.

   See PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:395–96.

   This was probably Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès to Monroe, 12 Dec. 1801 (NN: Monroe Papers), in which the second consul assured Monroe “that the spirit of our present Government is entirely bent on maintaining those tyes that should for ever subsist betwixt the two Nations.”


Title: To James Madison from Charles Pinckney, 20 March 1802
From: Pinckney, Charles
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
March 20: 1802 In Madrid
I have yesterday recieved your favour by Mr: Rose Campbell & immediately sit down to answer it. You say that only three Letters have been recieved from me. This is astonishing. I wrote four from the Helder & Amsterdam—one from the Hague: one from Brussells & Two to the President from Paris—one by Way of Havre & the other of London. The latter I gave to Mr Grant to forward. From Bourdeaux two & this is the fourth from Madrid & one from the Escurial. Until however very lately the Post from Madrid is extremely uncertain & from the Length of time that occurs & the uncertainty even from Paris for some months past I am not much surprised at some of my Letters miscarrying. I am hopeful however that all from the Escurial & Madrid will get safe—& these will give you some statement of our affairs here. They will inform you of the number of our Vessels that have been detained & condemned of those that are still in suspence, & the remedy I have proposed to the Spanish Government as the only probable one of ever soon deciding these things. It is that of the nomination of Commissioners in the mode formerly adopted. I am still waiting the answer to my different Letters to Mr: Livingston written since the 2d. Febry. on the subject of Louisiana & the Floridas as much more must depend upon the influence of France & her opinion, than any thing else. It is said that Spain is discontented with the cession she has made & that it is one of the reasons of Mr Urquijos disgrace, but situated as We are We must not only move with deliberation but with great caution & delicacy. I mean to go to Aranjuez in about a Week & I trust when you recieve my propositions to the Minister that you will not only approve them but particularly the manner in which they have been offerred. You may be assured that every thing shall be done by me to smooth over things that are unpleasant & obtain by mild & moderate language & conduct, the Justice that is due to our citizens. I have already found this efficacious in many instances & the release of more ships than had occurred for some time & the removal of the Quarantine, where the Spanish consuls certificate is produced, are joined to their speedy answer of my letters a proof of the Wish of their Government to oblige us. How far they may do so in the case of the Floridas remains to be proved. If the Object of France has been to obtain Louisiana in order to bridle the conduct of the Western Country & hold a check over their commerce, they will oppose the cession to us as it will defeat their intentions in a great degree to put us in posession of Florida.
I fear too that the Spaniards will consider it dangerous to give us such ports in the gulf of Mexico & so near to Cuba & their continental posessions. If the French have made them believe it is necessary to have their nation as a Barrier between us, they will consider this attempt to obtain Florida as verifying the predictions of the French & be of course disinclined to it. I foresee all these Objections but am nevertheless determined to make the attempt in consequence of your Instructions. The only hope I have is from their Want of Money here & as I have held out the idea to them of a purchase I am hopeful they will treat. I am to have an interview with the Prince of Peace on the subject & as soon as I can collect or discover his opinion I shall be able to know if it is possible to succeed. If he patronises the attempt we shall do very well but if he is opposed to it nothing can be done. I have been & am so much employed in the Business of reclamations & in the numerous suits now depending in their Tribunals that I scarcely have a moment to myself. You can have no idea of the immense labour of this Mission & the accumulated Business of it. I am now recieving every day answers & representations on Business that has occurred in many instances 2, & 3 Years Since & numerous ones in 12, 10 & 6 months & been that time before either their Departments or Tribunals. My representations on the subject of the Supposed Blockade of Gibraltar & on the Floridas have been made in the Spirit & terms of your instructions. I am also collecting all the information I can with respect to their discriminating Duties in Italy Spain & Portugal & have written to all our Consuls in these three countries a circular Letter on the subject. I have likewise purchased a small mercantile Book on the same which I mean To send you when I can find an Opportunity. I send you at present no Opinion on the affairs of Europe generally because until the arrangements at Amiens are finished it is impossible to say what will be their future fate—if Bonaparte is honest it is in his power to give rational liberty not only to France but to all the newly formed republics of Batavia Italy & Switzerland: I still hope he will do this at a proper time. If he does not after all the lost Blood & Treasure of the last 12 Years our own will be the only truly free country in the World—the only one which in the general Deluge of the rights of Man has been suffered by a benignant providence whose designs are unsearchable to float like the Ark of Noah untouched to preserve those Seeds which are yet one Day to repeople a World of Liberty.
I am sorry to inform you that I have been very sick for some Weeks. The cold keen air of these high Castilian hills higher it is said from the Sea than the Top of the Alps gave me some thing bordering on a Pleurisy. I am however now able to go out again & will Write You in future fully & constantly by Bourdeaux & Cadiz. Present me in the Most affectionate & respectful terms to the President. His Speech is exceedingly praised here & all Europe turns an astonished & I fear some of them a suspicious Eye to our rising & happy country. With a wish that heaven may continue to bless it with Liberty peace & Content I conclude myself with affectionate regard & sincere friendship Dear Sir Yours Truly
Charles Pinckney
This is the only paper of the Size you mention I can get. They all Write on Quarto Paper.
The Court goes to Barcelona to meet the Naples Family in September on the double Marriage. As no Business can be done here during that time the Minister going with the Court & as Barcelona is half way to Rome I wish you very much to obtain the Presidents permission for me to Visit the antient residence of Brutus & Cato. I can do it at the same time & shall be absent but a few Weeks.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 6). Second postscript written on verso of cover. Postmarked New York, 19 May; docketed by Brent as received 22 May.

   JM to Pinckney, 19 Dec. 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:325). Rose Campbell was a Baltimore ship captain who came to Madrid to pursue the case of the ship Clothier, which had been seized at Lima, Peru, in May 1800 for violating the Spanish law forbidding trade with Spanish colonies (David Humphreys to Cevallos, 6 Mar. 1801 [DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 6]).

   Of Pinckney’s letters to JM here mentioned, only those of 14 Sept. 1801 (from Amsterdam), 22 Sept. 1801 (from The Hague), and 14 Mar. 1802 (from Madrid) have been found (see PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:112–13, 126).

   Chevalier Mariano Luis de Urquijo, the former first minister of state, had been supplanted by Pedro Cevallos Guerra in 1800 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:53 n. 2). For Urquijo’s dismissal, see Hilt, The Troubled Trinity, pp. 116–18.

   In a 24 Mar. 1802 letter to Cevallos (extract printed in ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 2:479–80) that treated a number of topics at length, Pinckney challenged the legality of the Gibraltar blockade, following closely the seven points outlined in JM’s instructions of 25 Oct. 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:199–202; see also Pinckney to JM, 6 Apr. 1802, n. 3).


Title: To James Madison from Charles Pinckney, 20 March 1802
From: Pinckney, Charles
To: Madison, James

(Private)
Dear Sir
March 20 1802 In Madrid
The present opportunity I avail myself of to send you another copy of the same Book on the Duties & commercial regulations of Spain which I am hopeful you will recieve safe. This will go so slow by Mules to Bayonne & from thence to Bourdeaux that all my other letters written at the same time & I expect others written after will very probably reach you before this as I am obliged to send the Book by a private opportunity to Bourdeaux & not by Post. I therefore only say to you by this that from an Express just arrived they are every moment expecting the news of the conclusion & signing of the Definitive Treaty.
If you could conveniently send me by some good Opportunity either to Mr Terry or Iznardi at Cadiz or Kirkpatrick at Malaga or Mr Montgomery at Alicant: a very good likeness of the President at full Length you will much oblige me. I have one—but it is small & not very like & it is my wish to have one at full Length to place with General Washingtons & Columbus[’]s in my large Salle. I began housekeeping a few Weeks agoe & I trust in polite & decorous attentions the “Casa de America” as they call it here will be at least equal to any of them. I have two public nights in the Week & shall endeavour by every means in my power to make our Nation & myself as agreeable as possible to Spain. With my affectionate respects to the President & compliments to your good Lady I am my dear friend Yours Truly
Charles Pinckney

   RC (DLC).

   This book—which Pinckney also referred to in his public dispatch of 20 Mar. and his dispatches of 24 and 28 Mar.—was probably the Almanak mercantil (see Pinckney to JM, 14 Aug. 1802, and n. 3).


Title: To James Madison from Rufus King, 20 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: King, Rufus
To: Madison, James

20 March 1802, London. No. 59. Reports that Bird, Savage, and Bird will send to the Treasury Department the accounts for the Tunisian present and encloses copies of his letters on shipment of the articles. Has had no word from Hargreaves since he left Algiers; in early February Eaton was temporarily in Leghorn for his health. Nothing decisive has occurred in the negotiations at Amiens, but public opinion indicates the treaty will be “speedily concluded” in light of “Accounts of Toussaints opposition in St. Domingo.” Bill on countervailing duties has passed the House of Commons as it was introduced and should be completed in a few days.

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, DD, Great Britain, vol. 10); letterbook copy (NHi: Rufus King Papers, vol. 55). RC 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by King; docketed by Brent as received 31 May. Printed in King, Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 4:83. Enclosures are copies of a 16 Mar. 1802 letter from King to Gavino (1 p.) reporting shipment on the British frigate Medusa of a case containing guns and pistols, which comprised the remainder of the “Peace Presents” to the bey of Tunis, and forwarding a 16 Mar. letter to the commander of the first American frigate to land at Gibraltar on its way to the Mediterranean (1 p.), directing him to forward the case to Eaton at Tunis, and a 16 Mar. letter to Eaton (3 pp.) reporting on the arrangements for delivery of the case and other articles sent earlier. A 15 Mar. account listing the arms sent to Tunis is printed in Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary WarsDudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers (6 vols.; Washington, 1939–44)., 2:86.

   For Lewis Hargreaves’s role in delivering part of the U.S. tribute to the bey of Tunis, see King to JM, 14 Dec. 1801, and John Gavino to JM, 11 Jan. 1802 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:316–17, 387).


Title: To James Madison from George Washington McElroy, 20 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: McElroy, George Washington
To: Madison, James

20 March 1802, Philadelphia. Has been informed of his appointment as U.S. consul for the Canary Islands. Wishes to receive his commission as soon as possible, “being now on the point of Sailing for Teneriffe.” Reports the existence of an illegal trade “between some English houses in Teneriffe and their correspondents in Great Britain,” which employs captains “who have been in America, tho … not entitled to Citizenship.” Discovery of this trade will result in suspicion of legal American trade by neutral nations.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tenerife, vol. 1). 2 pp.

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Elias Vander Horst, 20 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Vanderhorst, Elias
To: Madison, James

20 March 1802, Bristol. Transmits a copy of his letter of 3 Mar. and four letters from Rufus King; encloses newspapers and a London price current. “The Season here for Agricultural pursuits was never more favorable than at present, nor do I recollect the fields at any former period so early in the year, wearing a more promising appearance.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Bristol, vol. 2). 1 p. Written at the bottom of Vander Horst to JM, 3 Mar. 1802. Enclosures not found.

   See Vander Horst to JM, 2 Mar. 1802, and n.

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Daniel Clark, 22 March 1802
From: Clark, Daniel
To: Madison, James

Sir
Philadelphia 22 March 1802
Since I had the pleasure of seeing you in Washington I have heard a variety of reports concerning Luisiana on the subject of which I did not think it proper to trouble you, but having been assured by Mr Duane two days since that the Province was unquestionably ceded to the U. S. and that he had received his information from a Source on which he could place the utmost reliance, and the Aurora of this morning mentioning an arrangement having taken place respecting it, I am induced to apply to you & request you will favor me with such particulars as may be communicated respecting it. Independent of the pleasure I shall receive in learning so important a piece of news, I think I shall have it in my power to render a Service to the Merchants trading to New Orleans if the matter is so far advanced as to suffer it to be made public—there are now from 80 to 100 sail of American shipping in New Orleans waiting for Cargoes & many are on the way to that Place—the Intendant in consequence of the old spanish systems of Colonial Trade is about to shut the Port, and will reduce our Commerce in that Quarter to the importation of articles necessary for the supply of our own territory on the River & exportation of its Produce—by this step we will lose an important Branch of our Trade—if however the Cession of the Province is a measure likely to take place on being advised of it from hence, he will not put the measure in execution. Should it be deemed improper in the present state of the Business to make a Communication to me with respect to it, I take the Liberty of suggesting that thro’ the Chevalier Yrujo to whom no doubt the negociation must be known, a hint might be given to the Intendant of Luisiana from which our Citizens would derive great Benefits. As you know how particularly I am interested in this great Event I hope you will excuse on that account the Liberty I have taken in requesting information from you respecting it. I remain Sir Your most obedient servant
Daniel Clark

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, New Orleans, vol. 1).

   The Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser of 22 Mar. 1802 stated that the efforts of Robert R. Livingston and Charles Pinckney had been successful in thwarting French plans to colonize Louisiana and hinted that Spain would soon cede the territory to the U.S. The next day’s paper was more specific, reporting that “it was publicly said in the Coffee House of this city last week that the island of New-Orleans was ceded to the United States, and we suppose the tract of about 40 miles between that island and our boundary line along with it.”

   It was not until 18 Oct. 1802 that Juan Ventura Morales, Spanish intendant in Louisiana, revoked the American right of deposit at New Orleans (DeConde, This Affair of Louisiana, p. 119).

   Daniel Clark (ca. 1766–1813) was born in Ireland and moved to New Orleans in 1786, where he joined his uncle and namesake and quickly established himself as a merchant of prominence. He became an American citizen in 1798 and was appointed consul at New Orleans by Jefferson in 1801. In the ensuing years, Clark played a major role in Louisiana politics through his relationships with James Wilkinson, William C. C. Claiborne, and Aaron Burr. He served one term in Congress as a delegate from Orleans Territory (1806–8).


Title: To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 22 March 1802
From: Lear, Tobias
To: Madison, James

No. 22
Sir,
Cape François March 22d: 1802.
I yesterday received the duplicate of the letter which you did me the honor of writing on the 26th of feby.
I hope my conduct, which you will find detailed under date of the 21t of feby, will meet the approbation of the President. Keeping in view the interest of our Citizens here, as well as the relation in which our nation stands with the Fr. Republic, I have endeavoured to conciliate the esteem of the Governmt. here, and, at the same time, ma[i]ntain the rights of our Citizens. The intemperate conduct and expressions of many Am. Captains and others, have not seconded my views; and many delays and vexations have been experienced by our Vessels. Upon the whole, however, I have ma[i]ntained my ground, altho’ I meet with bitter censures from those, whose imprudence, if not check’d, wd. have created serious difficulties. I have reason to think I stand well with the Genl. in Chief, the Prefect, and other principal officers: And, difficult and delicate as my situation is, I shall persevere in the conduct I have hitherto pursued.
The General in Chief has been absent since the 17th of feby, which is one reason of the inconveniencies we have experienced; as the Island is under military law, he is the only person to whom we can look for effectual relief in difficult cases.
An Embargo has been laid on all Vessels in Port, by order of Genl. Boyer, who commands here, since the 8th inst. He yesterday informed me he wd. permit ten Am. Vessels to sail; and I hope others will be permitted to depart as they may be ready.
Admiral Guanteaume sailed about ten days ago, with six ships of the line, it is said for France. Admiral La Touch commands at Port au Prince: And the Admiral in Chief, Villaret, left this place two days ago, in a frigate, for Port au Prince, to see the Genl. in Chief. He is about to sail for the U. States, as soon as he returns, with 5 or 6 ships of the line, it is said, for provisions &c. and that he will return again on this Station.
The Blacks have been in great force in the neighbourhood of the City, for some time past. They have completely devastated the Country about the Cape: And the force here is so small, that we have been in a state of seige: And many who were not acquainted with the strength of the place, have been in constant expectation of an Attack.
Three of the black Generals, vizt. Clerveau, Maurepas, and Paul Louverture, brother of the Genl. and who has commanded at Santo Domingo, have surrendered, with part of their troops: but there appears no immediate prospect of reducing the Island to complete subjection. The principal part of the Fr. force is in the South.
It is true that a force is destined to take possession of Louisiana. It is reported that General Barnadotte with 10 ships [of] the line is daily expected here on his way to take possession of that country. That this will be done I have no doubt but in the present state of the island all the force which [may] arrive here will be kept for the present.
I enclose an order for releiving provisions & Lumber from duties for 3 months—also a recital of facts made by the Municipality respecting the burning the Cape &c.
The number of Am. Vessels now in port are about 75, and they are daily arriving. I expect the adventurers hither will sacrifice much property. For if the Govermt. shd. decline to take the provisions, they wd. not sell for their first cost. Dry Goods are a perfect drug. With sentiments of the highest respect and purest attachment, I have the honor to be Sir, Your most obedt sert
Tobias Lear.
P. S. It is probable I shall make a visit to the U. States after the Genl. in Chief shall have returned hither, and the Am. Affairs are put in a regular train.

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Cap Haitien, vol. 4); FC (ibid.). RC marked “Duplicate”; docketed by Brent. Italicized words are those encoded by Lear and decoded here by the editors using a key from the Lear family papers (owned by Stephen Decatur, Garden City, N.Y., 1958). Words in square brackets were omitted in coding in the RC and are supplied from the FC. RC decoded interlinearly by JM. For enclosures, see n. 7.

   PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:489–90.

   Lear was probably referring to his dispatch no. 21, which was dated 28 Feb. 1802 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:499–522).

   Honoré-Joseph Ganteaume (1755–1818) went to sea at fourteen, served in the French navy under the comte d’Estaing during the American Revolution, and rose to the rank of admiral during the Napoleonic Wars. In January 1802 he left France as commander of a squadron of ships carrying arms to Saint-Domingue (Tulard, Dictionnaire Napoléon, p. 773).

   Louis-René-Madelène Le Vassor de La Touch-Tréville (1745–1804) saw combat in the naval battles of the American Revolution. He commanded a squadron in the Saint-Domingue expeditionary force (Biographie universelle [1843–65 ed.], 42:10–12).

   Louis-Thomas Villaret-Joyeuse (1748–1812) was a veteran of the French naval wars with Great Britain in the Indian Ocean and the Far East as well as numerous naval battles of the revolutionary wars. Tapped to head the naval forces for the Saint-Domingue expedition, Villaret later served as captain general of Martinique (1802–9) and governor general of Venice (1811–12) (Tulard, Dictionnaire Napoléon, p. 1725).

   Generals Clairveaux and Jacques Maurepas—who had fought with Toussaint since 1793—and Paul L’Ouverture, Toussaint’s brother, surrendered to the French authorities and took rank in Leclerc’s army, where they led troops against their former comrades (Robert Debs Heinl, Jr., and Nancy Gordon Heinl, Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People, 1492–1971 [Boston, 1978], pp. 67, 105; James, Black Jacobins, pp. 310–12, 346).

   Lear enclosed letters to him from the chief of naval administration at Cap Français, 18 Ventôse an X (9 Mar. 1802) (1 p.; in French), and Charles-Cézar Télémaque, 14 Ventôse an X (5 Mar. 1802) (1 p.; in French) (both filed after Lear’s dispatch no. 23 to JM, 29 Mar. 1802).


Title: To James Madison from Louis-André Pichon, 22 March 1802
From: Pichon, Louis-André
To: Madison, James

March 22d. 1802.
Mr. Pichon offers his respects to Mr Madison and begs leave to give him the trouble of perusing and forwarding to the Secretary of the Treasury the inclosed paper which relates to the already mentioned subject of drafts on france. Mr P. after a conversation on that topic with the Secretary of the treasury has thought it might conduce to a compliance of Mr P.[’s] wishes to State his proposals in writing. Indeed the more Mr P. reflects on the subject, the more he persuades himself that the mode proposed would subject the Executive Govent. of the United States to no not the smallest grounded reproach, for an undue facility to a foreign government it being a matter in the mere course of the negociations which the Treasury must make every day to remit to Europe, and turning altogether on the ideas which the treasury may entertain of the solvability or insolvability of the French Treasury; and the negon. proposed if the same is believed to exist, being expedient as well to the American as to the French Treasury: it is indeed to Mr Pichon and to the army at St Domingo of great importance and is so far a circumstance where it is in the power of the U. S., merely by pursuing their own concern, to show france an amicable and well wishing disposition.
Mr. Pichon sets off to morrow for Philadelphia where he requests Mr Madison to forward him within four days if convenient his answer to the last note of Mr P. on St Domingo; Mr P. going to Phila. on purpose to dispatch the Cutter arrived from france back to Brest. Mr. Pichon will repair to the State office to take Mr Madison’s command: this is a memorandum in case he does not meet him there. Mr Pichon will make but a stay of a few days at Phila. If Mr Madison will also forward his dispatches for Mr Livingston & Mr Skipwith they will be delivered to the captain with Mr Pichon’s packets.

   RC and enclosure (NHi: Gallatin Papers).

   The “inclosed paper” was a letter from Pichon to Gallatin, 22 Mar. 1802 (4 pp.), requesting the secretary of the treasury to buy French government bills of exchange totaling $400,000 issued to purchase supplies for the Leclerc expedition at Saint-Domingue. Pichon attempted to convince Gallatin the purchase would benefit both sides: the French would not have to sell large numbers of bills in the public market, and the U.S. would have an easy way of remitting funds to Europe. JM forwarded Pichon’s letter to Gallatin on the same day (JM to Gallatin, 22 Mar. 1802 [ibid.; 1 p.; docketed by Gallatin, “Pichon wanting to sell his bills to Govt. for relief of San Domingo. Rejected by me”]).


Title: To James Madison from Carlos Martínez de Yrujo, 22 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Yrujo, Carlos Martínez de
To: Madison, James

22 March 1802, Washington. Refers to his demand made a long time ago of the U.S. government to execute the stipulations of article 5 of the treaty between Spain and the U.S. in the pursuit of the bandit Bowles, long resident among the Indians in U.S. territory. Does not know what steps the U.S. has taken to comply with the stipulations of the article. If anything has been done, it has not been efficacious; Bowles has continued his forays against the Floridas and, according to reports, has also stirred up the Creek Indians and other tribes against those Spanish territories. The interest the U.S. has in protecting its frontiers and in restraining the Indians under its jurisdiction, coupled with his good opinion of the president, would be sufficient to reassure Yrujo that the U.S. will take steps to stop the abuses and irregularities committed by the Indians within its borders. But besides these motives of policy and humanity a formal obligation exists. Copies an extract from article 5 of the treaty: “‘And the better to obtain this effect’ (vizt, to maintain peace and harmony among the several Indian nations who inhabit the country adjacent to their Boundaries) ‘both parties oblige themselves expressly to restrain by force all hostilities in the part of the Indian nations living within their boundaries &ca.’”
Flatters himself the U.S. will fulfill the stipulations of this article and rid Spanish territory of this adventurer, who causes and has caused so much damage to its frontiers. Requests to be informed of the measures the U.S. has adopted to obtain an end as necessary as it is important.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, NFL, Spain, vol. 2). 3 pp.; in Spanish; in a clerk’s hand, except for Yrujo’s complimentary close and signature. Docketed by Brent.

   William Augustus Bowles (1763–1805), a Maryland-born adventurer and director general of the Creek nation, sought to expel the Spanish from the Floridas and create a Muskogee state under British protection. His three filibustering expeditions—1788, 1791, and 1799–1800—were unsuccessful, and he died in a Havana prison (J. Leitch Wright, Jr., William Augustus Bowles: Director General of the Creek Nation [Athens, Ga., 1967], pp. 1, 19–35, 55–86, 119–41, 169–71). For an earlier letter from Yrujo to JM on this matter, see PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:261.

   For article 5 of the Pinckney treaty of 1795, see Miller, TreatiesHunter Miller, ed., Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America (8 vols.; Washington, 1930–48)., 2:322–23.


Title: To James Madison from James Ross, 22 March 1802
From: Ross, James
To: Madison, James

Letter not found. 22 March 1802. Mentioned in Daniel Brent to Ross, 14 May 1802 (DNA: RG 59, DL, vol. 14), as a letter enclosing the deposition of John and Joseph Dunlap in support of their claim against Spain. Brent informed Ross that JM “thought it best to address a complaint to the Spanish Government” through Charles Pinckney at Madrid and had written to Pinckney accordingly; “he charged me also to signify to you, that some additional testimony will perhaps be useful, to give force to this deposition,… and that agreeable to a suggestion in your letter, he has informed Mr. Pinckney this testimony could be procured, and would be sent to him if necessary.”


Title: To James Madison from Albert Gallatin, 23 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Gallatin, Albert
To: Madison, James

23 March 1802, Treasury Department. “Enclos’d I have the Honor to transmit for your Information, the duplicate of a Letter from Messrs. Bird, Savage & Bird, Bankers of the United States, at London, dated January 13th. 1802—as also duplicates of the Accounts therein referr’d to.”

   RC (DLC: Gallatin Papers). 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Gallatin. Enclosures not found, but for a letter to JM from Bird, Savage, and Bird of 13 Jan. 1802, see PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:392–93.


Title: To James Madison from Elias Boudinot, 24 March 1802
From: Boudinot, Elias
To: Madison, James

Dr Sir
Philadelphia March 24t 1802
Altho’ I am much averse from intermeddling with the appointments of Government, well knowing the great difficulties attending them, yet from the peculiar Situation and adverse Circumstances of Mr. Isaac C. Barnet of Bourdeaux, a Son of an old Acquaintance who died in the Army during our late Struggle with Great Brittain, I am constrained to trouble you with this Letter.
I have been privy to the encouragement and even assurances of Government made to him, if he would continue at his Post, until peace should take place with France. I have been informed from the best authority, that his Conduct has been correct & useful. General Washington in his life time considered him as a very promissing Officer of Government and among the best in France.
Suffer me then Sir, to save you time, to enclose an original Letter, I have just recieved from Mr. Barnet, which will better communicate his real Situation, than any language of mine; and I shall be much obliged by your returning it, when you have done with it.
I do not mean, by this Communication, to urge any thing on Government they have reasons for disapproving, but barely to possess you with his Statement of Facts, and to beg such an Answer as you may think expedient, and which may decide his expectations and ascertain his future prospects. He seems to have his Eye, on the Consulate either of Antwerp or Lisbon. Government only can determine the propriety of th⟨e⟩ Application. I have the honor to be with great respect D Sir Your very Obedt Servt
Elias Boudinot

   RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9, filed under “Barnet”). Enclosure not found.

   Dr. William M. Barnet (or Burnet) (d. 1783) came from a politically prominent New Jersey family and served as a Continental army surgeon in the American Revolution (Isaac Cox Barnet to Jefferson, 10 Sept. 1801 [ibid.]; Heitman, Historical Register Continental, p. 88). For more on Isaac Cox Barnet, see Kline, Papers of BurrMary-Jo Kline, ed., Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr (2 vols.; Princeton, N.J., 1983)., 2:617–18 n. 1.


Title: To James Madison from Charles Pinckney, 24 March 1802
From: Pinckney, Charles
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
Madrid March 24: 1802
I Will thank you to excuse the paper I write on as it is the only paper of this Size I can find the Spaniards using altogether for their Writings the Quarto post & this Size only for covers & common purposes.
This is the third Letter I have written you this fortnight & the reason is to mention to you that from the account just recieved We have every reason to fear that the Vessel which I gave you the account of & which carried my original & second Dispatch to you With the statement of my arrival & reception here & of the number of our claims & their situation has been lost. I therefore take the earliest opportunity to send you a copy of the claims under their different heads, by which you will be enabled to judge of the extent & arduousness of the Business of this Mission. I have unremittingly attended to it & shall continue to do so & it is with pleasure I have seen some Vessels released since I have been here & I am hopeful a disposition to do more. I am moving with great caution—& preparing the best & most probable means of obtaining, if possible the Floridas. The whole of these papers will soon be forwarded to you—that is as soon as I can get a more safe & certain conveyance than the Post commonly is either to Bourdeaux or Cadiz or indeed any port in Spain—the roads being at this time so infested with robbers that I am afraid many of our Letters may have miscarried in that way. Indeed from the interior & remote situation of Madrid I fear this frequently happens. I have heard but once from my children since I left America & but twice or three times from you. I can send you nothing from hence about Amiens to which place all Europe now anxiously looks, as we have different reports every day & none of them true. I have purchased a Book for you which will give you the most recent account of the Mercantile regulations & Duties of Spain & mean to send it by the first good conveyance I can meet as it can not go by Post. I have also Written to all our Consuls for their accounts of the regulations in their different ports & hope to posess you fully of them. When we know what they will do at Amiens I will then endeavour to give you my Opinion of the State of Europe & it’s probabilities. Until then it is impossible even to conjecture for Bounopartes conduc⟨t⟩ in the affair of the Cisalpine makes it extremely difficult to penetrate his further Views. I still hope for the best from him, or at any rate that whatever may happen here, our ark will be suffered to float untouched. I shall be happy to hear from You & with my affectionate respects & best Wishes to the President for his health & honour I remain With the same to you my dear sir Yours Truly
Charles Pinckney
I mentioned to you in my former Letters that the King of Spain goes in the latter End of August or September to Barcelona to meet the Naples Family on account of the double marriage. His Ministers go with him & during this time no Business can be done here of course. Now as Barcelona is very nearly half way to Rome, & I can easily go there from Barcelona, going by Water to Genoa or Naples, & as I shall be able, if no accidents happen, to return to Madrid nearly as soon as the King does, I am hopeful the President will give me leave to go to Rome for a few Weeks, while the King is absent, whom I will accompany as far as Barcelona, & if convenient go from thence, with the Naples Family to Italy. If I obtain the Presidents permission for this Short absence, & I should notwithstanding find any unforeseen occurrences arise⟨n⟩ which Would make my presence necessary with the Spanish court, I will then be governed by circumstances & not go. As I am to stay sometime longer at this court I wish much to see Italy, & as the indulgence of these short absences has been generally granted to other ministers I am sure it will be also very chearfully given to me, for the very little time I expect it will take me to compleat it or occasion me to be absent from my Post In Madrid.
My best to Mr Gallatin, Mr Lincoln Mr: Dearborn & Mr Smith. I am happy to find the New administration move with so much advantage to their Country & Honour to Themselves.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 6). Docketed by Brent. Enclosure not found.


Title: Resolution of the House of Representatives, 24 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: House of Representatives,Beckley, John
To:

24 March 1802. Discharges the committee to whom was referred on 15 Feb. the petition of Timothy Williams and others and refers the petition to the secretary of state, “with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon, to the House.”

   Ms and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, ML). Ms 1 p.; marked “Extract from the Journal”; signed by William Lambert, acting for John Beckley; docketed by Brent. For enclosure, see n. 1.

   The undated petition of Timothy Williams, John Williams, and Joseph Lee, Jr. (1 p.), requested the Senate and House of Representatives to retain the sums they “were about to provide for Compensation to France for Captures before the Treaty [Convention of 1800],” so that the subscribers might receive redress for the brig Traveller, captured and condemned by the French at Ile de France after “the Treaty was known there.” No report by JM on this petition has been found.


Title: From James Madison to Tobias Lear, 25 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Lear, Tobias

Sir
Department of State. March 25th. 1802.
I have duly received your Letters of Feby 12th. and 28th. the latter of which includes your Journal from Febry 1st. to that date. The latter having but just come to hand, has been but barely perused.
We are fully sensible of the difficulties and anxieties into which you have been thrown by the late occurrences. It is with pleasure that I can console you with an Assurance, that your exertions have appeared to the President to justify his confidence in your zeal and judgment. To these you must still be referred in a great degree, for the conduct best adapted to the fluctuations and contingencies in which you are placed. A thorough recognition of the authority of the French Republic; a cultivation of good understanding with the chiefs deputed by it to St. Domingo, and a patronage of our rights and interests, both national and individual, form the outline by which you must be guided. As it may be satisfactory to you, to see the ground taken in our communications with Mr. Pichon and Admiral Villaret, in relation to the present state of things, I enclose herewith copies of the Answers to a note of the former to the Secretary of State, and to a letter from the latter to the President. You will also receive a sett of Newspapers, in which you will find the late proceedings of Congress, and other ocurrences at home, as well as accounts from abroad.
The frequency and particularity of your communications are justified, by the importance of the scene in which your trust is to be executed, and will continue to be acceptable. With great respect &c. &c.
J. M.

   Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IC, vol. 1).

   PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:462–64, 499–522.

   JM to Pichon, 25 Mar. 1802, and JM to Villaret, 25 Mar. 1802.


Title: From James Madison to Louis-André Pichon, 25 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Pichon, Louis-André

Department of State March 25th. 1802.
The Secretary of State has laid before the President the note of Mr. Pichon of the 17th. inst. and has the honor to assure him that his communications on the subject of St. Domingo, and the arrival there of an armament from France, have been received with all the interest which the ties of sincere friendship between the United States and the French Republic ought to inspire.
The note of the Secretary of State of Feby. 16. has already explained to Mr. Pichon the principles by which the conduct of the United States would be guided on such an occasion and he is now charged by the President to repeat that those principles will be observed with the most faithful and friendly attention: Mr Pichon will not doubt therefore that the declaration that a revolt exists in St. Domingo against the French Republic, and that all foreign trade with that Island is limited to the two ports of Cape Francois & Port Republicain, will receive from the United States the respect which is due the authority under which it is made, and is understood as subjecting individual citizens to the penalties legally attached to prohibited commerce. This assurance is given with the greater cordiality because it is attended with a confidence that whilst the just expectations of the French Republic will be thus fulfilled on the part of the United States, the rights of their lawful commerce will be no less respected by the authorities & officers of the French Republic; and it is with particular satisfaction that the Secretary is able to acknowledge the force given to this confidence by the friendly sentiments and assurances which have been expressed to the President by the admiral commanding the fleets of the French Republic in the West Indies.

   Tr (NHi: Livingston Papers); Tr (AAE: Political Correspondence, U.S., 54:264). First Tr sent as enclosure in JM to Livingston, 26 Mar. 1802; docketed, “Red. 2d. June 1802. in letter No. 3. from Sy. of State.” Second Tr in French; enclosed in Pichon to Talleyrand, 11 Germinal an X (1 Apr. 1802).

   JM undoubtedly meant his letter to Pichon dated 15 Feb. 1802 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:469).


Title: From James Madison to Louis-Thomas Villaret-Joyeuse, 25 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Villaret-Joyeuse, Louis-Thomas

Sir
Department of State, March 25th. 1802.
I have the honor to inform you that the President of the United States has recd. your letter of the 17th. Instant. He takes that just interest in its communications, which ought to flow from the friendly dispositions of the United States towards the French Republic, and from the importance which the future condition of St. Domingo may bear to other countries, as well as to that of which it makes a part. The United States will not fail to manifest on this occasion, the full respect which is due to the authority of the French Republic, and to the regulations adopted by it as necessary to give tranquility and happiness to a portion of its dominions so much distinguished by past calamities. Should any American Citizens therefore be allured into illicit commerce of any kind with that Island, they will contravene the purposes of their own government, at the same time that they will make themselves responsible to the jurisdiction of that against which the offence is committed. In giving to you these assurances, I am charged by the President to acknowledge his satisfaction in those which you have expressed of a solicitude to cause the lawful commerce of our Citizens to be respected; and to add, that the fleets and wants of the French republic, will find in the Ports of the United States, every proof of hospitality which is due to a nation with which the ties of former friendship have been so happily renewed. Accept the perfect respect and consideration, with which I have the honor to be &c.
James Madison.

   Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IC, vol. 1); Tr (NHi: Livingston Papers); Tr (AAE: Political Correspondence, U.S., 54:265). First Tr sent as enclosure in JM to Livingston, 26 Mar. 1802. Second Tr in French; enclosed in Pichon to Talleyrand, 11 Germinal an X (1 Apr. 1802).

   Villaret to Jefferson, 27 Pluviôse an X (16 Feb. 1802) (DNA: RG 59, NFL, France, vol. 1).


Title: To James Madison from James Anderson, 25 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Anderson, James
To: Madison, James

25 March 1802, Paris. Requests JM to confirm his appointment, made by Fulwar Skipwith, as vice-agent of the U.S. at the port of Cette. Recalls his service as commercial agent for fourteen months at Brest in the years 1794–95.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Cette, vol. 1). 2 pp.; marked “Duplicate”; docketed by Brent. Anderson was confirmed as commercial agent at Cette (now Sète) in January 1803 (Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:433, 440).

   See Skipwith to JM, 30 Mar. 1802.

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from William Savage, 25 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Savage, William
To: Madison, James

25 March 1802, Kingston, Jamaica. Encloses a list of American seamen discharged from [British] ships of war at Kingston since his last list. Also sends a list of “Americans still on board the navy here” and suggests that many can be liberated if documents are sent in a timely manner. There are more than forty warships at Kingston; Great Britain intends to keep a strong force “during the attempts of the French to subjugate the Colony of Hispaniola.” Has found it necessary since January to assist great numbers of American sailors in finding passage to the U.S. and provisioning them while at Kingston.

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Kingston, Jamaica, vol. 1). RC 2 pp. First page written at the bottom of a copy of Savage’s 12 Feb. 1802 dispatch (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:464). Docketed by Brent as received 30 June. Enclosures are a list of “American Seamen discharged from British Ships of War since 19 December 1801” (2 pp.) and a “list of persons on board the several ships of war on the Jamaica Station represented to be Americans,” dated 25 Mar. 1802 (2 pp.).

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Levi Lincoln, 26 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Lincoln, Levi
To: Madison, James

26 March 1802, Washington. “In answer to your communications, as contained in the letter of the attorney Genl. of the Mississippi territory, enclosed by Governor Claiborne respecting claims to vacant lands in that territory, I can state little more than general principles, and a loose opinion on the described cases.… Nothing can be clearer, than that all grants, made by the Spanish Government after the ratification of the treaty, by which the land was ceded to the United States, are void. A claimant who had, in fact, obtained a patent or a title before that time, under the Spanish, or since, under the American Government, can alone hold by his grant.” Thus, “the only question is, when was the patent granted?” A deed takes effect from the time of its delivery, and every deed is presumed to be delivered on the day of its date. But if a deed is challenged, then its execution must be proved, in which case “the greatest latitude should be given for the admission of evidence, & especially in suppression of fraud.” If evidence in the possession of the Spanish government is needed, “a line from the Spanish minister, at this place, on the subject, may be useful.”
“Mention is made of an action’s being brought by one Green against the United States for the recovery of public lands and buildings, and in which, after a verdict for the demandant, a new trial has been granted. It is not perceived, how an action could be brought against the United States.… As no case is stated, I do not see how Government can be bound by any verdict which may be given in the case, nor can I give any opinion on the subject.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, LOAG); Tr (Ms-Ar: Claiborne Executive Journal). RC 3 pp.; docketed by Brent. Printed in Hall, Official Opinions of the Attorneys General, 1:108–10.

   Mississippi Territory attorney general Lyman Harding’s letter (not found) was enclosed in Governor Claiborne’s 20 Jan. 1802 letter to JM. Claiborne asked JM to submit Harding’s letter to Lincoln and request his opinion on the validity of antedated Spanish land grants and on the best method for investigating them (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:413). If JM wrote to Lincoln when he communicated these letters, his letter has not been found.

   The public land in question was the Villa Gayoso, the summer residence of former Spanish governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos in Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory, which comprised some six “framed Buildings ill finished” on about two hundred acres of land. It was claimed by Everard Green, son of Col. Thomas Green, a former Virginian and Continental army veteran. The Green family had contested Gayoso’s use of the land, and when the Spanish turned the property over to the U.S. Army they transferred their dispute to the U.S. (Winthrop Sargent to Timothy Pickering, 29 Sept. 1798 and 1 Nov. 1799, and Sargent to John Marshall, 1 June and 10 Aug. 1800, Rowland, Mississippi Archives, 1:57, 184, 236, 265; Claiborne, Mississippi, as a Province, Territory, and State, 1:228–29 nn.).


Title: From James Madison to Samuel G. Perkins, 27 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Perkins, Samuel G.

Washington Saturday Mar. 27. 1802
Mr. Madison presents his compliments to Mr. Perkins, & incloses the letters of which he wished to be the bearer to Mr. Yard. The one which concerns Mr. Higginson & Mr. Perkins as well as Mr. Yard, is left open for Mr. P’s perusal.

   RC (DNA: RG 76, Spain, Treaty of 1819, Allowed Claims, vol. 23). Addressed by JM to Perkins at “Stelles Hotel / East of the Capitol.”

   The letter was probably JM to Pinckney, 27 Mar. 1802.


Title: From James Madison to Charles Pinckney, 27 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Pinckney, Charles

Sir
Washington Department of State March 27. 1802
Mr. Higginson & Mr. Perkins of Boston have represented to this department that they have a claim of great importance which they propose to address to the Spanish Government for injuries in South America, to a commercial undertaking for which the necessary sanctions had been given by the competent authorities. Mr. James Yard of Philadelphia will address to that Government a claim of still greater amount, founded on similar injuries, in a parallel case. Mr. Yard means to pursue his redress in person at Madrid, and will charge himself at the same time with the claim of his friends Mr. Higginson & Mr. Perkins. To his explanations therefore, in both cases, I refer you, with a request that you will give to the claimants the advice & support to which they are entitled by the wrongs which they appear to have suffered, by the magnitude of the interest they have at stake, and by the respectability of their characters; and to which I am persuaded you will be induced by a sentiment of benevolence, as well as by a principle of public duty. With highest respect & esteem I remain Dear Sir Your Most Obedt. servt
James Madison

   RC (DNA: RG 76, Spain, Treaty of 1819, Allowed Claims, vol. 6); letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IM, vol. 6).

   See James Yard to JM, 19 Mar. 1802, and n. 1.


Title: To James Madison from Robert R. Livingston, 27 March 1802
From: Livingston, Robert R.
To: Madison, James

No 9
Dear Sir
Paris 27h. March 1802
The vessel not going so soon as was expected gives me an opportunity of informing you that the definitive treaty was signed the day before yesterday differing very little from the preliminary Articles. You will find it in the enclosed papers. It is however understood that Martinique is to remain with the british till the debts are ⟨paid for French prisoners.⟩ I send you a note (No 1) from the minister of the marine on the subject of some seamen carried of[f] by Capt Mc. Neil whose conduct as I learn from Commo. dale has been upon this & other occasions such as merits a strict enquiry. At Gibralter he left 4 of his own officers on shore—who have been put to great difficulty & distress to find their way to his ship. At Touloun he reported himself direct from L’Orient (tho he had stoped at Gibralter) in order to avoid the quarantine & thereby committed the honour of the country had the deception been discovered. I am very fearful that the violence of his passions unfits him for the command of a ship of war—tho I have no compt to make of his treatment to me & my family which was perfectly proper so far as regarded myself or them. I also enclose my answer (No 2) to this note which I hope will meet the presidents approbation.
I send enclosed (No 3) my answer to so much of the Ministers note as relates to his observations on the debt—Not having yet had leasure to reply to what relates to prizes.
What I apprehended & predicted in one of my former letters relative to the conduct the French would pursue in the west Indies has I am informed already come to pass. I thought it proper to let the minister know that I was not ignorant of it in hopes that it may aid to ⟨ex⟩pedite the justice they owe us here & shall expect your orders with the official advises you may think proper to give me on this subject (No. 4) is a copy of my note. I easily forsee the flame that this measure will occasion in America & the handle it will give to the opposers of the Administration but I do not so easily see the means you have of redress shd France continue as I much fear she will this system of tyranny which she will endeavour to cover by her necessities. I have both in my public & private letters from my first view of the state of things here endeavoured to discourage our people from giving new credits. But even this will not be an adequate remy. against acts of violence. An embargo is the only one I see short of actual hostil⟨ities⟩ but before this reaches you Congress will have taken its own measures I trust they will be alike firm & prudent.
I long since informed you of the heavy duty upon tobacco & suggested the propriety of a similar duty upon the export in foreign ships. Since this subject has engaged you⟨r⟩ Attention I have collected the best information I can on th⟨e⟩ partial inconveniences to which our ships are lyable h⟨ere.⟩ On Leaf tobacco the duties are pr. hund: in foreign Ships 33 franks—in French ships 22—difference 11—this am⟨ounts⟩ to a prohibition—£4 Stg pr. Hogd. is now given for freight i⟨n⟩ French bottoms no Americans can be Chartered ⟨at⟩ any rate to bring tobacco. Fish imported in American or foreign bottoms—10 franks duty—in french 25 sous—difference 9 fr. 75 ctms besides this by a late law 17 Ventose an 1⟨0⟩ a bounty is given to the owners of fishing vessels of 50 fra⟨nks⟩ pr. Man employed in the Newfoundland fishery 15 franks or on the little banks—12 franks pr. myriagrame to french fishermen for fis⟨h⟩ exported from france or from the banks to their colonies 6 franks for the same quantity exported from French ports to Spain Portugal Italy or the Levant—5 franks if exported directly to those places from the banks—a small bounty is also given upon the oil drawn from this fishery—the port duties on foreigners importing fish are also advanced to 6 franks for 5 myriagrames.

Port duties on french Ships.

On foreign coming into a french port

Bound to the channel,

north sea Bay of Biscay &c.
3 Sols pr Ton
50 Sols—average difference 45½ Sols in favor of french Ships.

to a mediteranian french port
4 do.

from Assia Africa or America to a french port
6 Do.

This is exacted from our ships even if driven in by stress of weather & they go out without unloading.

There are also several advantages in Storages of goods designed for reexportation. It is certainly worthy the consideration of Congress to consider how these disadvantages are to be contravailed. ⟨I⟩ have endeavoured to impress France in the essay I sent you—with the folly of attempting to raise a marine by a commercial warfare. I was this day at the palace to congratulate on the peace when the first Consul took occasion to mention that he hoped the President would forbid the blacks being supplied. I told him I would communicate his wishes on that subject to the President who I did not doubt would treat them with attention. I much wish that no pretence may be offered on our part to cover their violences as I fear they will readily catch at very slight ones. And the rather as the Minister of the Marine complained to me of the supplies of arms found at the Cape which Genl Le Clerk wrote had been furnished by us—perhaps if an embargo is laid it would be well to urge this as a reason for it, since it can not be doubted that if the trade is free our vessels will go to the blacks who pay rather than to the w[h]ites who give bills. I have yet been honoured with only one set of dispaches from you. Reports laws—financial & statistical information lai⟨d⟩ before congress would be of daily use to me as would any ob⟨ser⟩vations of your own or of our writers on the commerce of our country. I have the honor to be Dear Sir With the most respectful consideration Your Most Obt hum: Sert
Robt R Livingston

   Draft (NHi: Livingston Papers); enclosures nos. 1–3 (DNA: RG 59, DD, France, vol. 8); letterbook copy and copies of enclosures nos. 3 and 4 (NHi: Livingston Papers, vol. 1). Italicized passages are underlined in the draft; Livingston apparently intended them to be encoded. Words and parts of words in angle brackets are illegible in the draft or missing from torn margins and have been supplied from the letterbook copy. For enclosures, see nn. 1 and 3–5.

   Enclosure no. 1 is a copy of Denis Decrès to Livingston, 3 Germinal an X (24 Mar. 1802) (2 pp.; in French; docketed by Brent), in which the minister of marine complained of Captain McNeill’s behavior in ordering the U.S. frigate Boston to sail while three French officers were dining on board. McNeill refused to allow the gentlemen to leave the ship anywhere on the French coast. They finally disembarked at Tunis.

   Daniel McNeill (1748–1833), who captained privateers during the Revolutionary War and slave ships afterward, was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Navy in 1798. The incidents referred to here, as well as others, earned him the disapproval of Commodore Richard Dale and the Navy Department, and McNeill was dismissed from the service in October 1802 (Christopher McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794–1815 [Annapolis, 1991], pp. 191–93).

   Enclosure no. 2 is a copy of Livingston’s response to Decrès of 5 Germinal an X (26 Mar. 1802) (2 pp.; docketed by Brent), promising that if the allegations against McNeill were substantiated, the president would “treat with the utmost severity an act so repugnant to his own feelings of propriety, & to his wishes to promote harmony between the two nations.” Livingston also offered to pay “any reasonable expense” for the return of the French officers.

   Enclosure no. 3 (11 pp.; docketed by Brent) is a copy of Livingston’s 5 Germinal an X (26 Mar. 1802) answer to Talleyrand’s note of 20 Mar. 1802, in which Livingston took exception to the French foreign minister’s interpretation of the second article of the Franco-American Convention of 1800 and of the reference to it in the ratification (see Livingston to JM, 22 Mar. 1802, and n. 1). Talleyrand had held that American losses owing to the embargo were not to be included in the American debt. Livingston maintained that in the negotiations for the convention there was not “the smallest reference to vessels that France retained in her ports at great expense to the proprietors” and furthermore that article 5 expressly stipulated the payment of “every debt contracted by the public.” Livingston went on to press Talleyrand for details on the time and method of compensation to be made to American creditors under article 5 of the convention.

   Livingston’s enclosure no. 4 is a copy of his letter of 27 Mar. 1802 to Talleyrand (1 p.), in which he objected to Leclerc’s intention to requisition American cargoes in Saint-Domingue at low prices “& to pay for them 1/5 in money & the remainder in bills upon Paris … while so many of those bills are dishonored by non-payment.”

   See Livingston to JM, 14 Mar. 1802, and n. 3.


Title: To James Madison from Charles Pinckney, 28 March 1802
From: Pinckney, Charles
To: Madison, James

(Private)
Dear Sir
March 28: 1802 In Madrid
Hearing of an opportunity by an American Gentleman to Bourdeaux I avail myself of it to send you a Book containing a general list of what are here called the reales derechos of the Customhouses & a pretty good view of their commercial regulations. It is in Spanish & I could get no translation of it either in French or English but as it appears to be complete on the subjects it treats of you can easily make it out, for the Spanish is very easy. I am hopeful it will be more fortunate than my other Letters & that it will arrive safe. In addition I have Written to all the Consuls in the different ports (& included Portugal & Italy) for their information as you have requested on commercial subjects & particularly on the discriminations of Spain & Portugal & Italy to the Disadvantage of our commerce in favour of their own. I am hopeful by this means to send you complete information on the subject. I have transmitted to the Secretary of State & the Prince of Peace my Letter on the subject of our claims & the purchase of Florida & am now waiting for another interview with the Prince of Peace & Mr. Cevallos to be able to see what will be the probability of our Success. For my own part I apprehend the Spaniards think We are near enough to them already & will very much fear giving us Ports in the Gulf so much nearer—besides We have here to day a report that the cession of Louisiana to the French has become a difficult Question at Amiens, as the British feel themselves much interested. If so our difficulties in the acquisition of Florida will be increased also. However I should suppose you will have no objection to things remaining as they are for a time—that is that Spain be allowed to retain both Louisiana & Florida. If Louisiana is really to be held by France, We certainly ought to Wish to have Florida & the only chance I think is in the Spaniards Want of Money & desire to get it—this may tempt them to sell. By the next conveyance You will recieve copies of my official communications on this subject. I am still however unwell & am waiting with anxiety the opening of the Spring. The cold & uncommonly rough Winter in all the south of Europe & the inundations in the southern & indeed in almost every part of France will make provisions very high next Year in France & Spain. They are now indeed very high here & in France. You Wrote to me sometime since, which I did not recieve for a great while, about my secretary who appears to be a well informed sensible Young man. I took the first floor & it’s appurtenances inhabited by Colonel Humphreys & in it are only three Rooms & a kitchen. One a large saloon for large companies—a dining parlour & a chamber—very handsome, but alone sufficient for a single person, or married one, having no children as there is but one chamber. I found Colonel Humphreys had always kept his Office & the Papers & archives of the Mission at Major Youngs house who was also his secretary & Consul General. As Major Young is single & one of the best men I ever knew—as the Books & archives have always been there—the house an excellent & pleasant one & as Major Youngs knowledge & indeed intimate acquaintance with the train of the Whole Business of Captures & reclamations is essential to our proceeding with accuracy, & as I had not a room in my own I proposed to them to live together at the Office & I would pay the additional rent & take care that it should be no Expence to Mr: Graham who would at the same time dine with me when he pleased—by this means too he would be more his own Master & should any thing occur to alter hereafter this arrangement I will take care to make it agreeable to him.
I mentioned to you that as the King of Spain goes to Barcelona in September, which is half way to Rome, & as it is now fixed, if I live, that I am to stay here sometime as Minister near this court, that I wished the Presidents Leave of absence for a few Weeks to see Rome, & I promise if no accident prevents to return to Madrid nearly as soon as the King can. His secretaries of state go with him. Of course no Business can be done during his absence & this is such a time for a few weeks absence that I am sure the President will have the goodness to consent to it. All the powers of Europe nearly have sent to congratulate the new King of Etruria on his accession to the Throne; as we have much trade with one part of his Dominions & have no Minister nor mean to have any in Italy—if You do not think it anterepublican & wish it done, I can & will do it with pleasure as I pass through Florence on my way to Rome, if permitted this short leave of absence by the President.
I request you to send me any intelligence you please under cover to Mr: Bulkely to Lisbon respecting the request I made you of a Letter of Credit on him or an authority to draw by way of Lisbon when the Exchange is greatly here in favour of Lisbon as it is now, & against Amsterdam nearly 8 per centum which is a serious difference. I have therefore hitherto drawn nothing either on one account or the other since my arrival which is the reason of your recieving no accounts from me as yet.
I only mentioned the Congratulation of the King of Etruria because all the European states have done it—& as we have no Minister in Italy nor is it worth our while, to have one there, or to send one on purpose—& as, if, I obtain permission of absence for a few Weeks to go to Rome, my road will be through Florence, I thought I would mention it to You, & if the President wishes, it can be done without the least inconvenience.
Please present me affectionately to the President & our friends at Washington & Believe me With great regard Dear Sir Yours Truly
Charles Pinckney
I must again apologize for the Paper none else of this Size was to be had in Madrid. I have just heard of the arrival of some English Paper & hope my next will be a better.
As it was too bulky to send by the french post I have this morning delivered the Letter & the Book of commercial regulations for you to Mr Peter Kuhn of Philadelphia to be fowarded by him to Mr Lee our Consul at Bourdeaux & I trust it will arrive safe. Please write to me By Duplicates & either By Bourdeaux, Cadiz, Corunna Bilboa or Malaga or Lisbon.

   RC (DLC). Marked “Duplicate.”

   See Pinckney to JM, 6 Apr. 1802, and n. 3.

   Letter not found. It was probably JM’s private letter to Pinckney carried by John Graham and mentioned in Pinckney’s letter to JM of 14 Mar. 1802. Graham arrived in Madrid on 20 Jan. 1802 and probably carried JM’s dispatches to Pinckney of 11 and 25 Sept. 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:100–101, 131–32).

   Peter Kuhn, Jr., was the son of Philadelphia merchant Peter Kuhn (1751–1826) and the nephew of Dr. Adam Kuhn, a prominent Philadelphia physician. He was appointed U.S. consul to Genoa in 1804 (John W. Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania [1911; 3 vols.; Baltimore, 1978 reprint], 1:528–29; Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:476, 477).


Title: To James Madison from James Blake, 28 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Blake, James
To: Madison, James

28 March 1802, Baltimore. In answer to JM’s letter of 21 Mar. [not found], received 27 Mar., reports his inability to “proceed to my department in France” because of claims “amounting to eleven or twelve thousand dollars” against his wife’s estate that remain to be settled; “it will not, probably, be in my power to leave the United States until about the middle of next summer.” Has been unable to learn if any vessels are cleared for Antwerp. If that happens “before the time I mentioned,” asks that the president allow him to appoint an agent to officiate for him in the meantime.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Antwerp, vol. 1). 1 p.

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Daniel C. Brent, ca. 28 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Brent, Daniel C.
To: Madison, James

Ca. 28 March 1802. Points out that the congressional session is ending and nothing has been done regarding the District of Columbia. “So defective & oppressive is the present system, as it relates to Jails & Warrant-Executions, that I feel it a duty to state them.… The Laws of Congress assumeing the Jurisdiction over the District of Columbia have mad[e] no provision for erecting Jail’s, the Laws of Maryland authorise the Levy Court’s to raise the sum only, of $400 pr Annum, for the repairing of Jails; this sum is not Sufficient to Build one, and if it was, it cannot be apply’d that way.… Under the p[r]esent laws of this District no Jail can be Built without the enterposition of Congress. When I came into office there was no Jail in the County of Washington, A House, the only one I could get, was rented, it is so insecure that Guards are necessary, it is too small, & altho a small house adjoining has been Rented, in which the Jailor lives and to which the Debtors are permitted to resort, Yet their situation is wretched indeed—so many are the Criminals kept in close Confinement that as the warm weather approaches disease of the most Malignant kind must ensue. This consideration renders it absolutely necessary that immediate measure’s should be adopted respecting a Jail.… The Jail in Alexandria is little better, has been presented by the Grand Jury as a publick nuisance.” Notes that in Washington County there are fourteen criminals and runaways in confinement and twenty-three debtors. Encloses “an exact list of the persons confined and the Cause of Confinement together with the dimensions of the rooms of the prison.” Fears many prisoners will be added within a few days on a number of criminal and civil actions, one of which is warrant executions—“that is Executions Issued by a single Majestrate for sums less than $20.” States that the warrant system in Washington County is “a fruitfull and Melancholy source of Commitment; It is a System extreemly oppressive on the lower Class of Citizens.… I think the better system would be not to put a debtor in Jail for a less sum than $20.” Asks JM to lay his letter before the president “if you think Sir, the subjects I have mentioned worthy of notice.”

   RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 46, President’s Messages, 7A-E2); Tr and Tr of enclosure (DNA: RG 233, President’s Messages, 7A-D1). RC 4 pp.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Brent. Undated. Enclosure 3 pp.; see n. 2. Jefferson transmitted Brent’s letter and enclosure to Congress on 29 Mar. 1802. The Senate committee reported a bill but postponed further action until November 1802 (Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 7th Cong., 1st sess., 207, 293, 298, 304).

   Daniel C. Brent was appointed U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia in March 1801.

   Brent listed the names and “Cause of Commitment” of twenty-one debtors and fourteen criminals. The statement of “Dimensions of Jail in Washington County” indicated that the debtors occupied two rooms measuring 10 by 14 feet and 8 by 9 feet, and the two rooms for the criminals measured 9 by 12 feet and 5 by 7 feet.


Title: From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 29 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Jefferson, Thomas

Department of State March 29th. 1802.
The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred by the President of the United States a Resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d Inst., requesting the President to communicate to that House such information as he may have received relative to the Copper mines on the South side of Lake Superior, in pursuance of a Resolution of the 16th. April 1800, authorising the appointment of an Agent for that purpose, begs leave to lay before him the Copy of a letter of the 24th. September 1800, from the late Secretary of State to Richard Cooper Esqr., of Cooper’s Town in the State of New York, appointing him an Agent, in pursuance of the last mentioned Resolution—and the Copy of one from the Attorney General of the United States, of the 30th. March 1801, at that time acting as Secretary of State, to the said Richard Cooper, signifying to him that as the Resolution in question contemplated an execution of the work and a report thereof, in time for the consideration of Congress at its next Session, and this had not been done, it was thought necessary to suspend the further prosecution of it, and that he was accordingly to do so. The Secretary also begs leave to lay before the President copies of sundry other letters on this subject, which, together with those mentioned above, serve to give a view—of the whole transaction, so far as this Department has had an agency in it, tho’ they do not afford the particular information required by the Resolution referred to the Secretary of State, by the President. All which is respectfully submitted.
James Madison

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 233, President’s Messages, 7A-D1). RC in a clerk’s hand, signed by JM. Jefferson transmitted the RC and enclosures to the House on 31 Mar. 1802 (Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 7th Cong., 1st sess., 1119). For enclosures, see nn. 3 and 4.

   The resolution is printed in Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 7th Cong., 1st sess., 1074.

   For the resolution under which Richard Cooper was employed, see JM to Cooper, 13 May 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:170, 171 n. 1).

   JM enclosed copies of John Marshall to Cooper, 24 Sept. 1800 (1 p.), and Levi Lincoln to Cooper, 30 Mar. 1801 (1 p.).

   Cooper to Lincoln, 25 Apr. 1801 (1 p.); JM to Cooper, 13 May and 6 Nov. 1801, Cooper to JM, 31 May and 30 Nov. 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:170, 241, 2:226, 288), and Cooper to JM, 13 Mar. 1802.


Title: To James Madison from Abraham R. Ellery, 29 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Ellery, Abraham R.
To: Madison, James

29 March 1802, New York. Solicits the consulship at Naples. Refers JM to Aaron Burr for a recommendation.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9, filed under “Ellery”). 1 p. Ellery’s application was unsuccessful; he moved to Natchez, Mississippi Territory, in 1803 (Kline, Papers of BurrMary-Jo Kline, ed., Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr (2 vols.; Princeton, N.J., 1983)., 2:824 n.).


Title: To James Madison from John Elmslie, Jr., 29 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Elmslie, John, Jr.
To: Madison, James

29 March 1802, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope. Has supplied the American merchant ship Equator with a mast, which he procured in lieu of a spare foreyard left behind by Captain Preble of the Essex. Encloses a promissory note [not found] from the master of the Equator to pay the secretary of the navy “what ever sum may be assessed for the value of the same.” Also encloses a copy of a protest left by the chief officer of the Philadelphia ship Asia, “who was forcibly detained with two Boys belonging to said ship, with the boat, logbook & other papers by Capt. Nicols commander of the English whaler Walker of London.” On the Walker’s arrival in Table Bay, Elmslie represented the matter to acting governor Dundas and requested the release of the chief officer, Peter Sutter, and the two boys. They were released, but the boat and papers were detained.
“As the Cape of Good Hope is likely by the preliminaries of Peace to change masters; It may not be improper just to hint, the advantage which the Citizens of America trading to the east of the Cape would derive from being permitted to touch at the Cape in order to refresh and in case of distress to refit, with liberty to dispose of so much of their cargoes as is necessary to defray their expences.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Cape Town, vol. 1); enclosure (DNA: RG 76, British Spoliations, 1794–1824, Ship “Asia”). RC 4 pp.; docketed by Brent as received 9 June. For surviving enclosure, see n. 1.

   The enclosed copy of Peter Sutter’s affidavit of 5 Mar. 1802 (18 pp.) is accompanied by a statement signed by Elmslie, 8 Mar. 1802, that Sutter “was sworn to the truth of the aforegoing Declaration Before me.” The affidavit gives a lengthier version of the events described in Jacob Peterson to JM, 13 Apr. 1802. JM forwarded both documents to Rufus King, 23 July 1802 (second letter).

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Rufus King, 29 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: King, Rufus
To: Madison, James

29 March 1802, London. No. 60. Annexes a copy of Lord Hawkesbury’s note announcing the signing of the definitive treaty.

   RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, DD, Great Britain, vol. 10); letterbook copy and copy of enclosure (NHi: Rufus King Papers, vol. 55). RC 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by King; docketed by Brent. Cover postmarked New York, 22 May. Hawkesbury’s 29 Mar. note, copied on the same page as King’s dispatch, reported the arrival of the definitive treaty of peace signed at Amiens on 27 Mar. by representatives of Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Batavian Republic. RC and enclosure printed in King, Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 4:93.


Title: To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 29 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Lear, Tobias
To: Madison, James

29 March 1802, Cap Français. No. 23. Transmits copies of his dispatches of 28 Feb. and 22 Mar., since which one warship and two frigates have arrived from France with troops. “Nothing more has occurred respecting Louisiana. That it is ceded to France is true and that part of the forces sent out are intended [for] that country there is no doubt but I are still of opinion that if they touch here there will be employment for the troops in the island for some time to come.” Neither the general in chief nor Villaret has returned. “I am very desireous of seeing the General in Chief [Leclerc] on many accounts; but I cannot venture to go to Port au Prince … lest he should arrive here in my absence. As he made no Arrangements for issuing the Bills on France, which were to be in part payment for the Cargoes bought,… the Vessels which have delivered their Cargoes return home, and have left this business to be settled by their Agents. This is a serious inconvenience.” Although an embargo formally exists, “every Vessel obtains permission to depart.” On 28 Mar. the prefect [Bénézech] issued orders to the customhouse to admit no American vessel without Lear’s certification that it is American property nor to allow departure without his passport. Has received the original of JM’s 26 Feb. letter with commissions for himself, Caldwell, and Dandridge; “to these Gentln. I have written, and communicated the instructions in your letter respecting the conduct to be observed by our Consuls &c.—but I retain the Commissions until I can have an interview with the Genl. in Chief.” In all their communications, the prefect and General Boyer express “the most friendly sentiments towards the Am. Commerce.” A British frigate arrived 28 Mar., and the captain and officers received “every possible mark of attention and respect”; a French frigate sent from Cap Français to Jamaica some weeks ago received similar treatment. “I have invited the Prefect, Genl. Boyer, and the principal Officers in the land and sea service to dine with me tomorrow; and I hope all differences & irritations which have taken place here, between the Citizens of the two nations, will subside.” In a postscript of 30 Mar. reports “a pretty severe engagement yesterday about ten miles from hence” between blacks reportedly led by Christophe and newly arrived French troops, in which the former are supposed to have lost more than four hundred men. “Accounts from the South say that Genl. Desselin (the blk. Genl.) has been obliged to abandon a strong hold, which he had near St. Marc’s, after losing 800 men. We do not know exactly where Toussaint is.”

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Cap Haitien, vol. 4); FC (ibid.). RC 4 pp.; in a clerk’s hand, except for Lear’s signature and postscript; docketed by Brent. Italicized words are those encoded by Lear and decoded here by the editors using a key from the Lear family papers (owned by Stephen Decatur, Garden City, N.Y., 1958). RC decoded interlinearly by JM. Duplicate copy (ibid.) bears an additional postscript, dated 2 Apr., reporting Admiral Villaret’s return from Port-au-Prince and adding: “as I find that the Genl. in Chief will remain for some time in that quarter, I have determined to sail tomorrow morning for that place.… In consequence of the meeting between the Genl. in Chief and the Admiral, it seems the Ships, which I mentioned in my letters wd. go to the U. States, will go to France.” Extract from RC printed in National Intelligencer, 18 [19] Apr. 1802.

   “Am” in FC.

   A full transcription of this document has been added to the digital edition.


Title: To James Madison from Carlos Martínez de Yrujo, 29 March 1802 (Abstract)
From: Yrujo, Carlos Martínez de
To: Madison, James

29 March 1802, Washington. In order to preserve the friendliest relations with the U.S. government and avoid occasions for differences between the U.S. and Spain, notifies JM that the Spanish policy prohibiting neutrals from trading with Spanish colonies will be energetically enforced, even to the point of confiscating contraband vessels. Hopes the U.S. will take steps to ensure that this resolution will be generally known and assures JM that the king of Spain has no other object than to promote the trade and profit of his subjects.

   Tr (AHN: State Archives, vol. 5630). 2 pp.; in Spanish; in a clerk’s hand, except for Yrujo’s complimentary close and signature. Enclosed in Yrujo to Cevallos, 31 Mar. 1802.


Title: From James Madison to Charles Pinckney, 30 March 1802
From: Madison, James
To: Pinckney, Charles

Sir,
Department of State, March 30th 1802
My last was of the 5th of February, and 27th of March. I have as yet received no letter from you since your arrival at Madrid. By one from Colo Humphreys, written a few days after it took place, we learn that you were then confined by indisposition, and had not presented your credentials. We are anxious to hear from you on the several subjects with which you have been charged; particularly on that of Louisiana. By a Treaty entered into between Spain and France in March 1801, and lately published in the Paris newspapers, it appears that in an antecedent treaty, the cession of that Country had been stipulated by Spain. Still it is possible that the cession may have been since annulled; and that such was, or was to be the case, has been stated in verbal accounts from Madrid. At Paris, Mr Livingston has been given to understand by the French Government, that the Cession had never been more than a subject of conversation between the two governments. No information however, has been received from him subsequent to the publication of the Treaty of March 1801, which must have led to some more decisive explanations.
The copies herewith inclosed, of a memorial of sundry inhabitants living on Waters running from the United States thro’ Florida into the Gulph of Mexico, and of a letter from the late Mr. Hunter representative in Congress of the Mississippi Territory, will present to your attention a subject of some importance at this time, and of very great importance in a future view. The Treaty with Spain having as these documents observe, omitted to provide for the use of the Mobille, Catahoochee and other rivers running from our territory through that of Spain, by the citizens of the United States in like manner with the use of the Mississippi, it will be proper to make early efforts to supply the defect. Should a Cession, indeed, including the Spanish Territory Eastward of the Mississippi have finally taken place, it can answer no purpose to seek from the Spanish Government, this supplemental arrangement. On a contrary supposition, you will avail yourself of the most favourable moment and manner of calling its attention to the object. In support of our claim you will be able to use the arguments which inforced that to the navigation of the Mississippi. If it should be observed, that a greater proportion of these rivers, than of the Mississippi, run thro’ the exclusive territory of Spain, it may be a set off, that the upper parts of the rivers run exclusively thro’ the territory of the United States, and do not merely divide it, like the Mississippi from that of Spain. But neither the one nor the other circumstance can essentially affect our natural rights. Should the Spanish Government be favourably disposed, it will be proper for you to pave the way for a formal convention on the subject, endeavouring to obtain in the mean time, such regulations from its authority, and such instructions to its officers as will answer the purposes of our citizens. Among other hardships of which they now complain, and for which a regulation is particularly wanted, one I understand is, that the article cotton, which is acquiring rapid importance in that quarter, must, after it has been conveyed to Mobille, be shipped to New Orleans and pay a duty of about 12½ ⅌ Cent before it can be exported.
The copies of a letter from E. J. Berry and of another from E. Jones herewith also inclosed, present another subject which will claim your attention. This is not the only complaint that has been received, of abuses relating to the effects of Americans deceased within the Spanish jurisdiction on the Mississippi. It seems so reasonable and necessary that the Consul residing there, or persons deriving authority from the deceased owner, should be allowed to take charge of such effects, that it is hoped a regulation for that purpose may be obtained from the justice and liberality of the Spanish Government.
Stephen Higginson Esqr. of Boston, has asked anew the attention of this department to two claims on the Spanish Government, one on his own account for the ship Pattern and cargo, the other on account of himself and Mr. William Perkins for the ship General Washington. As the papers and proceedings in both cases will have passed into your hands from those of Colo. Humphreys, and as your general instructions embrace all such cases, it is sufficient to refer to these, and to apprize you of the anxiety of the party interested that his claims may receive your early attention and best exertions. He estimates the amount of their losses at not less than $150,000. A like anxiety has been expressed to this Department by Messrs. Stoker, Amory & Hays, of Boston, who have, as they say, forwarded to you their complaints and documents. You will be pleased to forward to Malaga the inclosed letter which is connected with their pursuit of redress.
We have just received from Mr. King a Convention signed by him with the British Government, commuting the British claims on the U. States under the sixth Article of the Treaty of 1794 into a nett sum of £600,000 sterling payable in three anual instalments; and fixing the same periods and proportions for paying the awards to be made under the 7th Article. The Convention has just been laid by the President, before the Senate.
For the proceedings of Congress and other domestic occurrences, I refer to the collection of newspapers herewith sent. To them also I refer you for the latest accounts from St Domingo. I have the honor to be &c. &c. &c.
James Madison

   Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IM, vol. 6). Enclosures not found.

   PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:441–42.

   David Humphreys to JM, 18 Dec. 1801 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:321).

   See JM to Robert R. Livingston, 26 Mar. 1802, n. 2.

   This petition, from “sundry inhabitants” of Washington County, Mississippi Territory, was presented to the House of Representatives on 15 Feb. 1802. It requested that a “port of entry and delivery may be established at such a convenient point on the Tombigby river, as may command the navigation of the said river, as also, that of the Allibama river in the said territory” (Journal of the U.S. House of Representatives, 7th Cong., 1st sess., p. 237).

   “E.J. Berry” may be a clerk’s misrendering of E. H. Bay. An extract from Bay’s letter to JM of 4 Nov. 1801 was transmitted by Jefferson to Congress on 24 Feb. 1802, along with an extract from a 10 Aug. 1801 letter from Evan Jones, as part of a request for a marine hospital in New Orleans (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:28–29, 221–22). An earlier letter from Jones referred to the problem of American citizens who died intestate in Louisiana (Jones to JM, 15 May 1801, PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:184).

   Stephen Higginson had broached the subject of his claims against Spain to David Humphreys in early 1801 (Humphreys to JM, 27 Mar. 1801, PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 1:52).

   For King’s negotiations and the signing of the convention, see King to JM, 9 and 11 Jan. 1802 (PJM-SSRobert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—)., 2:380–81, 383–85).