Title: To James Madison from Stephen Sayre, 9 June 1801
From: Sayre, Stephen
To: Madison, James

Sir
Philaa. 9th June 1801.
I recieved your reply of the 23d May, in due time. You may beleive, that I know too well the nature of our government, to presume, that the Executive is bound to make compensation for any injustice, real or supposed, depending on the acts of the legislative. But, as my claims are of a very different nature, have existed long, & been kept in existence, by repeated demands, & sustain’d by reports, made in congress, in their favor, I concieve myself bound to make a fresh claim, where there is a prospect of more justice, & the security of more liberal & upright men, in the executive authorities, than I had the fortune to find there before. Let it not be conceived, however, that I require any partiality. I am satisfied to rest my demands on their own merits. Pardon me then when I say I make my claims on ground, positivly, & distinctly seperate from legislative authority.
I was employ’d, expressly, under the authority of the Commissioners, at Paris, in May 1777, to attend Arthur Lee to Berlin, to form friendships, & gain supplies from Frederic, who had made the first propositions. I was not employ’d by one, but by all of them, and the only reason why I had not a commission in form was; because they conceived a commission might have exceeded their powers.
They have never been condemn’d, for doing what they thought necessary for the public service in this appointment and I may fairly assert, that certain advantages, which I possess’d in political connections, contributed greatly to facilitate negociations, in many important matters at that court & others. The sum advanced to me, being one months pay, was never disputed—it must then be granted, that I was actually in the public service.
It stands an extraordinary fact, in our history, that I, who am the oldest diplomatic character that has survived the Revolution, should alone be still unpaid my just claims, and that I should be embarrased at law, this moment, for debts contracted, in the service of my country, while in that mission.
Had I deserted the cause of my country—had it been even suggested, that I had ever betray’d it—had my services ever been deny’d—then, indeed, this would not appear so very extraordinary.
The spirit of intrigue has so long govern’d our public affairs, that honest men now look up, with confidence to a different System. This intriguing spirit found its way, among our public characters, so early, as the period of my appointment, & has, in various shapes, follow’d me thro’ every step I have taken, & succeeded in defeating my just claims to this day.
It may be useful to state a few facts, generally. I was superceded at Berlin, by William Lee the brother of Arthur—William when appointed was an alderman of London.
As soon as Arthur had ascertain’d, that a Minister would be well received there, he wrote to his two brothers, then influential members of congress, & obtain’d the appointment for Wm. Lee, and this was done, so indelicately, that I was order’d there, at the same time to forward such supplies as we had already obtaind. You may find in your office, Arthur’s letters, more than caut[i]ously silent, as to every part of my agency, from the moment he had contemplated my removal—& he announces, if my memory serves me, the nomination of his brother in novr 1777.
Thus I was not only deprived of my just expectations, & the promises made me by the commissioners violated, but, at the time, Mr Izard, Mr Arthur, & Mr Wm Lee were enjoying £2500. sterling per an: in Paris, for years. I was thus superceded, and because I complain’d of the injury, further wrong was done, & perpetuated against me.
When I return’d in 1783, & some time after apply’d to congress for my salary, I found the Lee family bearing sway—yet I apply’d, tho’ they were my political enemies meerly from the injuries they had done me—but means still more imperious prevented my being then paid—I mean the state of the treasury.
The calls of honor obliged me to go soon after to England, to recover my property there, & to repay those friends who had sustained me against the persecutions of the british government.
So evident were my injuries that the delegates of Virginia, New York, Massachusetts &c gave me letters to Mr Jefferson & Mr Adams, then appointed Ministers to Paris & London recommending them, in the strongest manner, to employ me at Algiers—the intrigues of some eastern men, supported by Mr Jay, caused John Lamb to be appointed—Mr Jefferson must know what sort of qualifications he possess’d, & the services he has render’d.
Have I then no claim, either for property, so long due, nor for consideration in the public service? Have I not more than uncommon cause to complain of my former treatment? Does the injustice of past administrations invalidate my title to former unpaid demands? Must I conclude, that delay, & neglect have corrupted the fountain of right? Is it degrading in me to ask for employment to which I have an undeniable & prescriptive claim? Were I silent under such circumstances, you yourself would deem me infamous—contentment, under injuries of such magnitude, would give the world a right to conclude that I had deserved them.
I will conclude, by asking one question. Do you conceive it will do honor to the president—considering existing circumstances—to have it recorded in our history
That a man, had in the service of his country been a principal in dividing England on the American question, and uniting all Europe against her, was for twenty years afterwards prosecuted for debts contracted, in that public service, while the enemies of his country, were triumphing in his distress, & the ingratitude of Republics?

I am, with all due respect yours &c &c.
Stephen Sayre No. 31. north 8th Street Philaa.

   RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.

   On Lee’s unsuccessful mission to the Prussian capital, see Potts, Arthur Lee, pp. 174–78.

   Sayre referred to Francis Lightfoot and Richard Henry Lee.

   Arthur Lee to Richard Henry Lee, 4 Oct. 1777 (quoted ibid., pp. 182–83).

   Capt. John Lamb, a Connecticut native with five years of experience on the North African coast, arrived in Paris in September 1785 carrying congressional instructions that empowered the American commissioners in Europe to treat with the Barbary powers. Jefferson appointed him emissary to Algiers, but Lamb failed both to redeem American captives there and to obtain a treaty with the dey (Jefferson to Adams, 19 Sept. 1785, Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (21 vols. to date; Princeton, N.J., 1950—)., 8:526–27; Barnby, Prisoners of Algiers, pp. 71–76, 80–81).


Title: From James Madison to the Governor of Maryland, 9 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Madison, James
To: Governor of Maryland,Ogle, Benjamin

9 June 1801, Department of State. In reply to Ogle’s 6 June letter [not found], agrees to send copies of the Maryland laws to the other governors along with laws of the U.S. If they arrive within a month, they will be forwarded with the laws of the last session of Congress.

   RC (MdAA: Red Book 9). 1 p.; in Wagner’s hand, signed by JM.


Title: From James Madison to Israel Whelen, 9 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Madison, James
To: Whelen, Israel

9 June 1801, Department of State. Since the naval agent at New York reports freight charges on plank and timber from there to Philadelphia will amount to as much as purchase price, the agent has received orders not to ship. Instructs Whelen to provide those articles from another source.

   RC (NN). 1 p.; in Wagner’s hand, signed by JM; addressed: “The Purveyor of the U. states / Philadelphia.”


Title: To James Madison from John Gavino, 9 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Gavino, John
To: Madison, James

9 June 1801, Gibraltar. No. 65. Transmits copy of his dispatch no. 64. British frigate Sea Horse arrived 8 June from Minorca with convoy; commander took under his protection schooner Triton of Boston with wine for St. Thomas and schooner Charlott of New York with brandy. Commander of latter confirms many Tripolitan cruisers at sea and on coast of Catalonia. In postscript, mentions 9 Apr. letter he has just received from O’Brien; encloses a copy.

   RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, CD, Gibraltar, vol. 2). RC 2 pp.; docketed by Wagner as received 13 Aug. Enclosure 2 pp.

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


Title: To James Madison from John Mathieu, 9 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Mathieu, John
To: Madison, James

9 June 1801, Naples. Has received from Malta, via consular agent in Messina, a copy of Cathcart’s circular letter announcing Tripolitan declaration of war. Encloses a copy of Cathcart’s letter; has also forwarded to Appleton two letters received from William England, reportedly from Cathcart.

   RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, CD, Naples, vol. 1). RC 1 p.; docketed by Wagner as received 9 Oct. Enclosure is a copy of Cathcart’s 15 May circular letter (1 p.).

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


Title: Standing Instructions to American Consuls and Vice-Consuls, 10 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To:

Sir,
Department of State. 10 June 1801.
In addition to the special duties pointed out in the act of Congress relative to Consuls, passed on the 14th of April, 1792, which you will find in the 2nd Volume of the Laws of the United States, I must beg the favor of you to communicate to me, every six months, a report of the vessels of the United States, which enter at the ports of your district, specifying the name and burthen of each vessel, of what description she is (to wit; ship, snow, brig, etc.) the names of the master and owners and number of seamen, the port

   Should the Master or Supercargo decline to give this information, you will not insist on it as a matter of Right.

 of the United States from which she cleared, places touched at, her cargo outward and inward, and the owners thereof, the port to which she is bound, and times of arrival and departure; the whole arranged in a table under different columns, and the reports closing on the last days of June and December.
We wish you to use your endeavour, that no vessel enter as an American in the ports of your district, which shall not be truly such, and that none be sold under that name, which are not really of the United States: That you give to me from time to time information of all military preparations, and other indications of war, which may take place in your ports; and when a war shall appear imminent, that you will notify thereof, the merchants and vessels of the United States, within your district, that they may be duly on their guard: and in general that you communicate to me such political and commercial intelligence, as you may think interesting to the United States.
The Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States are free to wear the uniform of their navy, if they choose to do so. This is a deep blue coat, with buff facings, lining and cuffs, the cuffs slashed, and a standing collar, a buff waistcoat (laced or not, at the election of the wearer) and buff breeches; yellow buttons with a foul anchor, a black cockade, and a small sword.
Be pleased to observe, that the Vice-Consul of one district is not at all subordinate to the Consul of another. They are equally independent of each other.
It is understood, that Consuls and Vice-Consuls have authority of course to appoint their own agents in the several ports of their district, and that it is with themselves alone those agents are to correspond.
It will be best not to fatigue the government in which you reside, or those in authority under it, with applications in unimportant cases. Husband their good dispositions for occasions of some moment; and let all representations to them be couched in the most temperate and friendly terms, never indulging in any case whatever a single expression which may irritate. You will observe that the consular act requires certain bonds with sureties to be entered into by the Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States, previous to entering on the execution of their respective trusts; I therefore commit to you herewith two blank forms, one of which to be filled up and transmitted to this office, the other to be retained by yourself. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, Sir, Your most obedient servant,
James Madison
P. S. Whatever is above prescribed with respect to Consuls is intended to apply equally to Commercial Agents.

   Typescript (DLC, series 7). Ms source for typescript not found. The addressee, Thomas Aborn of Rhode Island, had been named commercial agent at Cayenne, French Guiana, in February 1801 and Jefferson retained him at that post (Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:385; National Intelligencer, 27 July 1801).

   JM’s directions adhered almost exactly to those Jefferson established ten years earlier in his letter to James Yard, 24 Feb. 1791. Jefferson and JM may have discussed such standing orders at the time, as they apparently did the first consular appointments. JM may also have had a hand in drafting the April 1792 statute that carried into effect the consular convention signed with France in November 1788. At some point JM made notes from Valin’s ordinances of the French marine, governing consuls of that nation (DLC, vol. 90); he also kept in his papers undated notes (in an unknown hand) on the functions of British consuls as defined in Sir John Comyns’s A Digest of the Laws of England, which first appeared in 1762 (DLC, vol. 91). Jefferson had a copy of the six-volume 1800 edition of Comyns in his library. Except for consular routine and duties in cases of shipwreck and the death of a countryman, however, these European precedents seem to have had little influence on Jefferson or JM (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (21 vols. to date; Princeton, N.J., 1950—)., 19:319–20; PJMWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (1st ser., vols. 1–10, Chicago, 1962–77, vols. 11—, Charlottesville, Va., 1977—)., 14:106 and n. 1; Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library, 2:233; U.S. Statutes at LargeThe Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73)., 1:254–57).


Title: Memorandum from Albert Gallatin, [ca. 10 June] 1801
From: Gallatin, Albert
To:

[ca. 10 June 1801]
In the case of monies & stock claimed by Mr Pichon, being proceeds of certain loan office certificates, it is suggested by the Secy. of the Treasury that it might be proper to state to Mr Pichon, that our Government had supposed that France had agreed to assume the payment of the 15,000 dollars, & transmit him a copy of Mr Fauchet’s letter.
It is the opinion of the Secy. of the Treasury that neither that letter nor any subsequent paper amount to a positive assumption. It is only implied in Mr F.’s letter, and the subsequent settlement of accounts would in any Court of justice where individuals were concerned supercede a preceding supposed implication.
If Mr Pichon shall insist, the Secretary of the Treasury shall have no objection to pay the money & fund the Stock unless otherwise directed by the Department of State.

   Ms (DNA: RG 59, Undated Misc. Letters, ca. 1790–1843). In Gallatin’s hand; docketed by Wagner. Conjectural date assigned by comparison with Gallatin to JM, 1 June 1801, and JM to Pichon, 12 June 1801.

   See JM to Pichon, 12 June 1801, n. 2.


Title: To James Madison from Richard Söderström, 10 June 1801
From: Söderström, Richard
To: Madison, James

Sir
Washington 10th. June 1801.
I had the honour of laying before the late Administration of the Government of the United States my respectful complaints of certain irregularities & violations of the Danish Flag which had been committed by some Officers of the American Navy while this Country was engaged in Maritime hostilities with France. My representations were listened to with the attention which the subject required & I had every reason to expect that Justice, such as becomes this respectable Nation would be done to the parties aggrieved. The changes which have lately taken place in the Executive Department have suspended for a while the effects of my application, but have not diminished my prospect of Success. I have a sure pledge of it in the virtues of the great character who now fills the Presidential chair and in the talents & integrity of those in whom he has placed his confidence. I flatter myself that the adjustment of the past will suffer so much the less difficulty that the possibility of any future ground for similar complaints is now entirely removed by the restoration of Amity between the United States & the French Republic.
With full confidence therefore in the magnanimity and Justice of the American Government, I shall now beg leave to draw your attention to Three cases of Capture of Danish Vessels in which I conceive that the sufferers have a right to claim a just indemnity from the Government of the United States.
The first case is that of the Schooner Mercator Capt Touissant Lucas, the property of Mr Jared Shattuck an old established Burgher of the Island of St Thomas and Subject of his Danish Majesty. This Vessel being on her way from St Thomas to St Domingo, duly documented as a Danish Vessel was captured on the high seas by Capt Maley of the Armed Schooner of the United States Experiment, under the real or pretended suspicion of her being an American Vessel covered by Danish Papers, a Suspicion, Sir, which nothing could warrant unless it were the English-sounding name of the Vessel & her Owner a circumstance common to most Vessels of the Danish Islands. Two days after she had been so captured, she was met with by a British armed Ship, who took & carried her into Jamaica, where she was condemned as Prize, without any reasons whatever being assigned for her condemnation.
I had the honor of writing at large to the late secretary of State respecting that particular case on the 24th of November last. I beg leave to refer you to that letter & those which followed ⟨it,⟩ Copies of which go herewith, in those letters I urged the claim of Mr Shattuck to an indemnification on the following grounds.
1st Because by the Law of Nations no Country has a right to violate a friendly Flag or to arrest the Vessels of other Nations on the high seas on suspicion of their having infringed a purely municipal law, such as the late act for suspending the intercourse between the United States & France. There is but one instance in History of a claim to such a right having been set up by any power, it was when Spain in the year 1739 searched the Vessels of other Nations, particularly those of England on suspicion of their being engaged in a Contraband trade with her Colonies. Nay she only assumed to search them, within a certain distance, from her Coasts where she might have claimed a Kind of Jurisdiction.
Nevertheless, this pretension was the cause of a long and bloody war between the two Countries and Spain was at last obliged to give up the point. The Speeches of the great Lord Cataret in the British House of Peers on that occasion, contain the most convincing Argument in favour of the Doctrine which England succeeded in Establishing for the benefit of the World.
2ndly. Because the act of Congress on which the Seizure was pretended to be founded did not in any manner authorize ⟨it⟩ as it only authorized the Seizure on the high seas of vessels of the United States, a technical Expression clearly excluding Vessels sailing under the Flag & Authority of other Powers.

3dly Because this vessel being unarmed there was no preten⟨sion⟩ for seizing her as an enemy vessel nor indeed could the Cruizers of the United States seize a Neutral Vessel under any suspicion by the just [sic] belli, as no war between the United States & any Country had been declared & notified to the Neutral Powers nor did the limited Kind of undeclared warfare in which the United States were then engaged authorize any such Seizure.
4thly. Because if the Vessels of the United States had a righ⟨t⟩ to seize Danish Vessels & carry them into Port for legal adjudication they were bound to protect them untill they reached the Port to which they were carrying, and not to suffer them to be wrested from them by the Vessels of any power.
5thly. Because it is a Doctrine fully established that the Capto⟨rs⟩ of Neutral Vessels proceed at their peril & are responsible for all consequent injury & Loss & so it was determined by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of Delcole Arnold 3 Dallas’s Reports 334.
These & other arguments (and amongst them was th⟨at⟩ no appeal had or could be made by Mr Shattuck, and if same was not made within a certain time all would be lost) which I urged partly by Letters & partly in the course of conversation with General Marshall, appeared to him so convincing, that before he retired from Office, he had given me reason to Expect that Mr Shattuck would receive from the Government of the United States the indemnity to which he is so justly entitled. I have no doubt but the Same principles of Justice will be found to animate his Successor. The War which has lately broke out between England & Denmark leaves no hopes whatever of obtaining any satisfaction from that quarter.
The next case which I shall now take the liberty to submit to you is that of the Schooner Charming Betsey also the property of Mr Jared Shattuck recaptured from the French by Captain Murray of the United States Frigate Constellation & carried into Martinique where her Cargo was sold & the Vessel detained & afterwards sent to Philada. for adjudication under pretence of her not being a bona fidé Danish Vessel. It would be unbecoming in me to go into a further statement of the facts of this case after the same has been found Specially by the Decree of the District Court of the United States for the Pennsylvania District which has awarded the restitution of the Vessel with Costs & Damages which have been assessed in a regular Course of proceedings & the assessment approved & confirmed by the Court, while this case was pending General Marshall to whom I had preferred my complaint of the Violation of the Neutral flag & applied for redress, answered that the Executive of the United States could not take upon itself to interfere with the proceedings of the Judiciary. I immediately acquiesced & did not urge my application any further but now that the case has received a full & compleat Judicial decision I think that I may renew without impropriety the Claim of Mr Jared Shattuck to be reimbursed by the United States of the Damages which he has suffered by this unjust detention.
That the Govt. of the United States under whose immediate authority Captain Murray acted, who would have been entitled to one moiety of the Prize had it turned out to be lawfull and for whose use as well as that of the Captor the proceedings were instituted in what is called the qui tam are responsible to the aggrieved party equally with the actual & immediate wrong doer is a principle of the Law of Nations which I presume will not be controverted. It is laid down by almost every writer on universal Jurisprudence & it seems to be settled that the illegal Captor & his Government are responsible jointly and in Solidum. Mr. Hubner whose authority is highly respectable, in his treatise on the seizure of Neutral Vessels Vol 1 page 122 Speaking of an unjust Capture made by a French Privateer says “On sent bien que La France doit etre tenue envers le Danemark à l’indemnisation du Navigateur. C est sans doute au Corsaire (Capteur) de rembourser l’Etat des frais qu’il lui a causé par cette saisie illegitime mais c est la une affaire entre le Gouvernement de la France & un de ses Citoyens, qui ne regarde pas la puissance Neutre.”
The Exclusive right of the tribunals of the Captors Country to try the validity of the Captors of Neutral Vessels has frequently been contested by Neutral Nations & by several eminent writers. Mr Rutherford an English writer & no friend to Neutral Nations while he asserts that Jurisdiction expressly founds it on the right which the Government of the Captors has to inspect into the Conduct of its own officers for which it is responsible. See Rutherf: B.2 C9.
A decent respect indeed for the modes of investigation which each Government may think proper to adopt, or if you plea⟨se⟩ which an universally received Custom may have established will induce a suspension of a direct application to a Govt. untill that investigation has actually taken place. On the other hand when a decision has been had by a tribun⟨al⟩ of its own appointment, it is not to be presumed that a Government will avail itself of the various modes of delay by Appeal or otherwise which its own institutions may offer unless the first decree should contain a gross & palpable injustice, which is not pretended to be in the present instance. I hope therefore that I shall be found correct in requesting that the Govt. of the United States will be so good as to take into consideration, that the Captain of the Charming Betsey has been waiting here near a twelve month at an immense expence & that they will not permit him any longer to waste his time & his Owners money in pursuing an indemnity which longe⟨r⟩ delays may render almost illusory.
The Third and last case is that of the Ship Henrich of Altona, Peter Schul, Master on which subject I have the honor to enclose a letter from General Lindeman, Governor General of the Danish West India Islands. This vessel was Captured on the high Seas by a French armed vessel & re-captured Shortly afterwards by the Armed Brig of the United States, Pickering Capn. Benjn. Hillier who carried her into the British Island of St. Christophers where she was libelled as well as her Cargo by Thomas Tingey Esqr. Captain of the Armed Ship of the United States the Ganges, as being French Property & lawful Prize & by Captain Hillier for salvage as being a re capture. The Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty of St Kitts applying to that Vessel & her Cargo, on the suggestion of Captain Hillier a Law of the United States, which was intended to apply to the recapture of American or perhaps of British & other Vessels of the Enemies of France, but not as I respectfully conceive & as I understand the federal Courts have adjudged, to Neutral Vessels, decreed Salvage to Captain Hillier & his crew of one moiety of the gross proceeds of the Vessel and her Cargo, the whole of which was immediately sold or rather sacrificed at an immense loss, so that after deducting the most extravagant charges which were laid on the remaining half of the proceeds, there was left but a trifling balance which the Owners have never claimed nor received.
The time Sir that has necessarily elapsed in procuring the necessary & true documents to lay before the Government of the United states, has prevented this Case from sooner being submitted to their consideration. I beg leave to suggest to you a few reasons in favor of the claim I now have the Honor to make of a just indemnity on behalf of the Owners.
In the first place you well Know Sir that the General Rule which the Law of Nations has laid down as to the recapture of Neutrals by the Vessels of Belligerent Powers, is th⟨at⟩ no Salvage is due, because no meritorious service is performed. The Capture or to Speak more properly, the arrest or Seizure of Neutral Vessels on the high Sea, is merely for the purpose of ascertaining their neutral condition. Condemnation therefore is never presumed and if the Seizure should be illegally made damages are expected to be awarded against the unjust Seizer. There is no ground therefore for recapture. It is an officious interference for which no recompence can or ought to be claimed. Nay in many case⟨s⟩ it is a real injury. During the American Revolutionary Wa⟨r⟩ several Neutral Vessels were recaptured by the French from the British & carried into the Ports of France, where the Captors sued for salvage. The Council of Prizes universally refused it on the principles above stated & their decrees are rendered at large in the excellent work intitled Code des Prises. I believe that the same practice has obtained with every other belligerent Nation. I Know of no case in which the British Courts of Admiralty have allowed salvage to the British recaptors of a Neutral Vessel, nor wou⟨ld⟩ it I presume have been decreed in the present instance even in the West Indies had it not been for the wrong statement which Captain Hillier made of the Law of the United States.
In the second place Captain Hillier was a wrong doer in carrying the vessel to a British Port when the Law of Congress as well as his instructions commanded him peremptorily to send his Prizes to some port of the United States. He was wrong also as well as Captain Tingey in libelling the Vessel before a foreign Court which had not & ought not to have assumed any Jurisdiction of the matter unless by Special agreement between the Govt. of the United States & that of Great Britain which I do not presume to have existed, at any rate the responsibility must still rest upon the United States, in case of a manifest injustice committed which has certainly been done by the admiralty Court in St Kitts.
Nor can it be said, I conceive that the owners ought to have appealed from that unjust decree to the Court of appeals in England. The present state of things between Great Britain & Denmark sufficiently shews how idle such a measure would have been, and indeed at all events it is doubtfull whether they would have received the appeal in a Case of which they had no Jurisdiction and after all the recapture having been made under the immediate Authority of the United States, the American Government cannot in Justice drive the party to seek his redress before a foreign tribunal to which the Captor now in this Country is now no longer amenable.
I have the honour further to enclose Extracts first of a work entitled “a concise enquiry respecting the Owners of Private Vessels &ca.” & Secondly of the “recapture of Neutral Vessels from Enemies.”
For the above reasons, Sir, & many more that I could alledge were I not afraid of trespassing upon your patience, I hope you will think it right to indemnify the Owners of the Henrich & her Cargo & the losses they have suffered by the irregular conduct of Captain Hillier. I have the Honor to be with great respect & High Consideration Sir Your Mo Ob & Very Humble Servant
Richd: Söderström

   RC (DNA: RG 59, NFC, vol. 1). In a clerk’s hand, signed by Söderström; docketed by Wagner, with the notation: “Recd. 23rd Septr. 1801 Returned the documents to Mr. Soderstrom.” On the originals of these papers, see n. 3.

   Shattuck’s Mercator claim was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1806 and the award fixed at $33,864.35. An appropriation was necessary before the settlement could be made. Congress passed a bill for Shattuck’s relief in January 1813 (ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 3:347; Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 12th Cong., 2d sess., 66, 849).

   William Maley commanded the Experiment from its commissioning in 1799 until July 1800. He was dismissed from the service “principally on account of the improper manner in which he has conducted himself towards neutrals” (Knox, Naval Documents, Quasi-WarDudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War between the United States and France (7 vols.; Washington, 1935–38)., 7:366; Marshall to Söderström, 26 Nov. 1800, ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 3:344).

   In the spring of 1810 Secretary of State Robert Smith reported Söderström’s letters of 24 and 25 Nov. 1800 lost, along with an accompanying letter from the governor general of the Danish West Indies, dated 6 Aug. 1800. Marshall referred to them in his 26 Nov. 1800 reply to Söderström (ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 3:344).

   John Carteret, first Earl Granville (1690–1763).

   The Supreme Court in 1796 held that the French captors of an American brig (a smuggler disguised as a Spanish vessel and lost after being seized) were liable for the full value of the brig and its cargo. “Seizing and bringing in a vessel for further examination,” decreed the court, “does not authorize, or excuse, any spoliation, or damage, done to the property” (Del Col v. Arnold, 3 DallasA. J. Dallas, Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States, and of Pennsylvania (4 vols.; Philadelphia, 1790–1807). 333).

   Martin Hübner, De la saisie des bâtimens neutres; ou, Du droit qu’ont les nations belligérantes d’arrêter les navires des peuples amis (2 vols.; The Hague, 1759).

   Thomas Rutherforth, Institutes of Natural Law: Being the Substance of a Course of Lectures on Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis (2 vols.; Philadelphia, 1799). Rutherforth discussed the obligations of belligerent parties toward captured neutrals in vol. 2, chap. 9, pp. 568–71.

   The Hendrick case reached Congress in February 1803. Although the House in January of the following year voted the president authority to make restitution to the vessel’s owners, the bill suffered successive defeats in the Senate (ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 2:483–86; Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 8th Cong., 1st sess., 887, 276; ibid., 9th Cong., 1st sess., 191).

   Master commandant Benjamin Hillar was in command of the Pickering when it disappeared sometime after August 1800 (Knox, Naval Documents, Quasi-WarDudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War between the United States and France (7 vols.; Washington, 1935–38)., 7:333).

   Thomas Tingey, a New Jersey native, commanded the U.S. ship Ganges from September 1798 to November 1799. In October 1801 he assumed duties as superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard (ibid., 7:353, 367).

   Daniel Marc Antoine Chardon, Code des prises; ou, Recueil des édits, déclarations, lettres patentes, arrêts, ordonnances, règlemens & décisions sur la course & l’administration des prises, depuis 1400 jusqu’à présent (2 vols.; Paris, 1784).

   Richard Söderström, Swedish consul general in the U.S., also represented the Danish government until the late summer of 1801.


Title: To James Madison from Josiah Blakeley, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Blakeley, Josiah
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801, Santiago de Cuba. Sent his 14 May letter by way of Lieutenant Rush of the Adams. Believes that many of his official letters have been lost. Reports that several American ships recaptured from enemies of Spain have been brought into port and condemned. On arrival he had sought release of U.S. seamen taken on British vessels and imprisoned. Gov. Sebastián Kindelán said he considers them Englishmen. Lists names of seven men believed to be Americans wrongfully imprisoned. Suggests letter from Spanish minister in U.S. to commander at Havana as possible remedy. Has received no letter from State Department since his arrival. Notes that port is wholly dependent on American supplies.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Santiago de Cuba, vol. 1). 3 pp.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Blakeley; postmarked New York, 18 July; docketed by Wagner.

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


Title: To James Madison from Sylvanus Bourne, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Bourne, Sylvanus
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801, Amsterdam. Offers suggestions for improving consular service by making international conventions more specific as to rights and privileges of consuls and defining their powers over American ships and crews that sail into ports where they are accredited. These powers ought to include a means of settling wage disputes between masters and crews, mandatory registration of ships on arrival in port, crew assignments to protect rights of seamen and prevent their arbitrary discharge, and curbs on the power of those masters whose niggardliness creates havoc with crews. Subterfuges have been used to discharge crews in order “to take others at a cheaper rate.” Suggests remedies for some of the problems (particularly bonding) created when U.S. ships are sold in foreign ports or U.S. citizens purchase foreign vessels registered under foreign flags. His ideas forwarded for the consideration of Congress and made in the public interest. Consuls are underpaid, and a better method is needed to ensure “the Justice due to the officer.” In postscript, reports that William Vans Murray had addressed similar suggestions to Secretary of State Marshall.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Amsterdam, vol. 1). 9 pp.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Bourne; docketed by Wagner as received 10 Sept.

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


Title: To James Madison from Thomas Bulkeley, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Bulkeley, Thomas
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801, Lisbon. Reports that presence in Lisbon of ten thousand Gallican laborers requiring protection creates local crisis. News from the frontiers is suppressed. The British have granted Portugal a subsidy of £300,000, and a fleet is now fitting out at Cádiz.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Lisbon, vol. 1). 2 pp.; cover marked private; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Bulkeley; docketed by Wagner.

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


Title: To James Madison from Joseph Pitcairn, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Pitcairn, Joseph
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801, Hamburg. Summarizes his 11 May letter. Has learned that differences between Great Britain and Baltic powers will be settled amicably. British fleet under Nelson is still in Baltic and prevents junction of Swedish and Russian squadrons. Appearance of harmony between Prussia and Russia may be owing to improved relations between Austria and France. Suggests that Ludwig Cobenzl is in Paris to negotiate peace, once the situation in Egypt is stabilized. Announces that Danes have withdrawn from Hamburg. Reports minor difficulties for U.S. shipping during occupation. Predicts that Tripolitan hostilities will force much U.S. trade to the north, which may result in some glutted markets. Freight advantages will be great. In postscript notes that peace signed between Tripoli and Sweden has not been ratified.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Hamburg, vol. 1). 7 pp.; postmarked Baltimore, 11 Sept.; docketed by Wagner as received 14 Sept.

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


Title: To James Madison from Winthrop Sargent, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Sargent, Winthrop
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801. Intends, after arriving in Boston, to send JM “such Vouchers for the Propriety of his public Conduct in civil and military Life as shall bring fullest conviction to the mind of the President that where and when he has been censured there have been—there are, no grounds even for Complaint, & that malice and self Interest strongly mark the Character of his base Calumniators.” Notes that many papers supportive of his case now are missing from State Department files, probably to be found with clerks of House of Representatives.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, TP, Northwest, vol. 2). 2 pp. Printed in Carter, Territorial Papers, Mississippi, 5:128.


Title: To James Madison from Frederick H. Wollaston, 10 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Wollaston, Frederick H.
To: Madison, James

10 June 1801, Genoa. Notes friendly disposition of government toward Americans. Encloses copy of Cathcart’s circular letter. Has been informed through arrival of the Maryland at Le Havre that the President has been ordered to proceed to the straits. Suggests that a small squadron would suffice to rid seas of Barbary corsairs and force them to sue for peace. Expects American trade in Genoa will become considerable. Repeats earlier request to become naturalized citizen. In postscript, notes that no U.S. vessels are presently in port.

   RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, CD, Genoa, vol. 1). RC 3 pp.; addressed to Marshall; docketed by Wagner as received 8 Oct. Enclosed circular letter from Cathcart, 2 June 1801 (3 pp.), endorsed by Wollaston as a true copy (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)., 1:483–85). The Senate had approved Adams’s nomination of Wollaston, an established merchant in Genoa, as consul on 10 July 1797, but complications delayed presentation of his credentials until 20 Dec. 1799 (Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:249–50; Antonino Rongo, L’assedio di Genova 1800 [Genoa, 1976], p. 111).

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


Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, 11 June 1801
From: Coxe, Tench
To: Madison, James

(for your private bureau)
Dear Sir
Lancaster Pa. June 11th. 1801.
Your letter of the 5th. instant came to my hands yesterday afternoon, and the mail will depart in two hours. On the rect. of it, I went to the house of Mr ——s brother in law, where he lodges when here, but find he has not returned, and is supposed by his friends in this place to be yet in Washington. I suppose he may have gone from thence to Norfolk, Baltimore or Philada. where he has mercantile connexions. I left my comps. for him with his family & a request to see him on his return. I shall not fail to know the impressions with which he left Washington, and to take the measures necessary to remove any unpleasant impressions.
I have understood that your health, never hardy, had become infirm, and that was one of my reasons for promising, that I should write with the more freedom, if you would not take the trouble to reply without real occasion. I wish that some few thousand dollars of misdirected emoluments of office were given to an under Secretary of state, or that the department were divided into two departments, foreign & domestic.
I am not certain that the gentleman has not wished to avoid an interview in which the conduct of the Admn. would be brought into view, from a consciousness that he has participated in their merits, and that he (so far as he can shew) led them into the measure dismemberment. The public papers may prove, that they had conceived and begun to execute the plan, but that does not appear from any thing he possesses. On the contrary it would seem, that he gave them the idea, when he did not know, that they had or had not conceived it, or imbibed it from some other source. I think, that scheme, and the possession of the evidence of their knowledge of it, will have a powerful influence in moderating the Senate, at their next Session.
I am very much obliged to you for the copies of Mr. Stricklands pamphlets. I will give them an useful direction in this place and state. I think all British publications should go into the hands of men of the soundest minds & political principles. Mr. Strickland seems to have considered the Southern agriculture as not meriting attention. Our returns state our exports of cotton at more than 17 millions. Rice, Indigo & Tobacco to a vast amount are all southern: and we have a prodigious trade in wood, tar pitch & turpentine from those states. Their numerous droves of little cattle are no small item in their actual exports by land & water. All these are overlooked.
The New England love of order is also placed in a prominent view. The paper of wch. I inclose a copy is no proof of that fact: & their treatment of N. York on the Subject of the Gore is equally disorderly. The insurrection of 1786 in Massachusetts, and the Conduct of Rhode Island, Vermont & New Hampshire in refusing the constitution for a time are unfortunate circumstances. The disorders about paper money in New Hampshire, at the same time, ought to be remembered. I have not however read Mr. Strickland, so as to do justice to all his facts & opinions. I must however protest against his character of our Western frontier, as well as the new settlements of Virginia &ca.
The subject of the executive arrangements is mentioned in your favor. Its intrinsic importance is very great. It has been affirmed here by one of the late Mr. Muhlenberg’s nearest friends, that he was to have the head of the external revenue service in Pennsa. His brother, I presume is to have the internal certainly. The Secretaryships of the Treasury & Navy have been given or offered, it is positively asserted, to Pennsa. I am informed by one, who says he is acquainted with the circumstances, that nothing further is to take place till the meeting of Congress. Another claiming to be equally well informed has assured me, that an active unfriendliness to me has manifested itself at Washington. I do not understand that it has ventured to display itself to the P. or to you, but I am told it has been actually exerted upon Members of the legislature and one member of the executive. This has been stated to me in terms so positive and by a person stating himself to have been a witness, that it is hardly possible to doubt it. My non inclusion in the first arrangements, tho personally & politically very peculiarly circumstanced, seemed to give corroboration to these representations. The presence of two persons at Washington in Feby. or March, who had shewn the most unreasonable jealousy of my supposed influence with Govr. McKean, when I had never even mentioned a person to him for either appointment or removal, confirmed the probabilities of an ingenious & covert unfriendliness, where they might suppose no other mode of opposition would do. When I had the real pleasure of becoming acquainted with you in 1786, unsollic[i]tedly brought forward by Doctor Franklin, I was in Business worth double the expences of a very genteel plain stile of living. The picture of our country, drawn at the Annapolis Convention, alarm’d me. I was drawn into various and incessant public exertions, till my business was declined, and public life became my principal Engagement. An adherence to my principles, my duties, & the real will of my Country occasioned me to be impeded in my rise and finally to be made a public sacrifice in 1797. My profession was gone. I was unable, under artificial alarms in our Country to sell an extensive property. The state of Pennsa. is my large debtor in Money. Her first office has been given to a near kinsman of the Governor whose name, in the struggles from 1788 to 1801, is perfectly unknown, a native of another state with a single child, while I with ten, am left to order a most abused department on a salary of £500. The second office in the State is kept in the hands of the most active enemy of our Cause and of our state, & federal chief Magistrates. Under such circumstances, I did not think it consistent with my duty to my family (for I care not at all for myself) to be silent. I have explained my public opinions & my personal views, in the highest place. I have troubled no one with solicitations to urge the President. I hope no one has pretended to speak, as from me. I have barely opend a channel of communication through a gentleman of Virginia of the most correct sentiments towards the President. He is now in Europe. My wishes Still continue directed towards N. 3 as expressed in my letter, tho I think it would have redounded to the benefit of our cause to have had it known that N. 6 & N. 3 were both in my offer, and that I refused the first, & prefered N. 3.
I do not complain, that tho I should have been the oldest, and, god knows, the only republican officer in the Executive if I had not been removed, Mr. Gallatin was preferd to the Treasury Department, tho I think there should have been some negociation on that subject; nor will I complain that the amiable Capt. Jones, of my own state, was offered the Navy department. For I acted from principle, and not from interest or Ambition. But removed for my principles, I remain the only person in a state of deprivation. I have not even been offered the office in which I was sacrificed, nor either of the two humbler stations N. 3 or N. 1, with which I offered to sit down unhonored and contented. Excuse the freedom of this Communication, but, Sir, I know the busy hostility of certain false brethren, and am obliged by my duty to my family to defend them from their indirect operations.
I should not wish this very confidential letter to be shewn to any person, but one to whom you may think it interesting. I do not ask you to shew it there, nor ever wish to know whether you have shewn it there. If I can place my family in the way of comfort, I shall content myself with public good, without any of the other gratifications to which an undeviating and successful pursuit of national benefits fairly lead.
The conduct of the Young Emperor of Russia seems to put a seal upon our Security at present. The objects of navy & commerce promised by a prosecution of the Northern confederacy, and of trade & territory promised by the Situation of Turkey seem to have decided him to avoid the expensive & bloody conflicts, with which the Armies of France, Prussia & Austria threatened his Empire. The British could not support him by land, & he is not vulnerable by France or Germany at Sea. I should however be very happy, if we could see in Europe greater dispositions towards republican Government & more freedom to pursue it in those who are so disposed. Those things alone can end our dangers and our Struggles.
I mentioned in a late letter to Mr Gallatin, the disposition of one of the Delaware Senators, Mr. White, to yield to the justice, policy, and propriety of restoring to the Republican interest its lost Share of the balance of executive power. To day I have had a conference upon the same Subject with a respectable federalist from N. Jersey. He embraced the idea, as the true restorative to harmony. I proposed it under this form—that there was an unvaried vein of federal appointments under the late administration; and that the Senate ought to concur in giving to the republican interest, without delay, a moiety of the offices. He seized it with ardor, as wise and liberal. I have enlarged upon it in a letter to a respectable friend of yours, the date of which shortly preceded your arrival at Washington. Let me only add to this long letter my sincerest offers of every aid & support in my power in the execution of your public duties. I am, with the most respectful Attachment—your most faithful servt.
Tench Coxe private

   RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.

   Jacob Mayer.

   Except for brief remarks on Georgia, Strickland’s passages on southern farming spoke only of Maryland and Virginia (he evidently journeyed no farther south than Lynchburg, Virginia). The climate of both states, he wrote, produced “bilious habits and complaints”; Virginians suffered from “wild theories” of politics, and agriculture in the commonwealth had reached “its lowest state of degradation” (Strickland, Observations on the Agriculture of the United States, pp. 27, 45).

   Overlapping claims of New York and Connecticut in the eighteenth century included a narrow strip of land along the southern boundary of New York which the Connecticut Gore Company opened for sale after 1795. Congress settled the conflict in 1800 by recognizing Connecticut landrights in the Western Reserve south of Lake Erie. In return the state government in Hartford relinquished all claim to political authority in the reserve and to other westward lands (U.S. Statutes at LargeThe Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73)., 2:56–57; Dixon Ryan Fox, Yankees and Yorkers [New York, 1940], pp. 176–79; Ruth L. Higgins, Expansion in New York, with Especial Reference to the Eighteenth Century [Columbus, Ohio, 1931], p. 107).

   The offending passage from Strickland’s Observations, p. 71 (cited in John G. Jackson to JM, 3 Aug. 1801 [ViU]), concerned “savage Back Woods Men chiefly of Irish descent.”

   Frederick Muhlenberg had nominated himself to be collector for the port of Philadelphia (Muhlenberg to Jefferson, 11 Feb. 1801 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–91). He died 4 June.

   On 28 Apr. 1801 McKean named his nephew, Thomas McKean Thompson, to replace Dallas as secretary of the commonwealth. Coxe described Thompson as a Delaware native who had lived in Virginia. He was in Washington, Pennsylvania, when appointed to office (Samuel Hazard et al., eds., Pennsylvania Archives [9 ser.; 138 vols.; Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 1852–1949], 9th ser., 3:1737; Coxe to Gallatin, 23 Apr. 1801 [NHi]).

   John Dawson was Coxe’s old friend (Cooke, Tench Coxe, p. 393).

   Coxe’s code of hoped-for appointments is not entirely clear, but evidently in mid-April he ranked the post of supervisor of the internal revenue for Pennsylvania first and the collectorship at the port of Philadelphia second, his third choice being the job of naval officer in the customhouse. He also considered himself a strong candidate for secretary of the navy (Coxe to Jefferson, n.d. [docketed as received 18 Apr.], and 19 Apr. 1801 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9]; see also Jefferson’s interlinear notations in Coxe to Jefferson, 24 June 1801 [ibid.], and Cooke, Tench Coxe, pp. 393–94).

   Samuel White filled the Senate seat vacated when Henry Latimer resigned in February 1801. White was reelected in 1803.


Title: To James Madison from Harry Innes, 11 June 1801
From: Innes, Harry
To: Madison, James

Sir,
Cincinnati North West of Ohio June 11th. 1801
Yesterday I attended at this place agreably to the Act of Congress for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States in order to give effect to the laws of Congress within the two Territories. The organization of the Court could only be partially effected, no person being appointed Marshal within the District, or if appointed no commission has come to hand.
It was suggested that a Mr. John Smith of this place had been named to the President as Marshal. I have been introduced to Mr. Smith, he is a man of respectable character, & fully competent to the duties of the Office, yet from the following circumstances I think there are some circumstances that ought to induce the President to confer the Office on some other person.
In a Republican government the accumulating offices on an individual is inconsistent with its vital principles & ought to be prevented. Mr. Smith is at present high Sheriff of the County of Hamilton & holds his commission during the pleasure of the Governor & I am informed is a great favorite, he is also a Collector of the Excise, which alone ought to be an objection from the mode of selecting Grand & Petit Jurors in this Territory as in case of suits relative to the Revenue he would (if disposed so to do) always have it in his power to pack Jurors. It is also said of Mr. Smith that his Politics are & have been decidedly Fœdral.
My acquaintance on this side of the Ohio is little, I know very few characters & on endeavouring to gain information to make a nomination, I found gentlemen too much disposed to favor their particular favorites.
There is one Gentleman to whom the office would be very convenient, & a man of merit, also a good republican, if he is not too intemperate—it is Doctor Richard Allison late Surgeon General of the Army—he has spent the best of his life in his country’s service & is yet not rich. I have experienced the goodness of this gentleman & feel myself under lasting obligations to him. I have been making inquiries respecting him, every man loves him; in his profession he is too liberal to make money & occasionally indulges over the bottle—he resides about 23 miles from this & hath commenced farmer [sic]—still his acquaintances do not class him with the drunkards, when speaking of him, say he is intemperate.
If the President would confer the appointment on the Doctor I will pledge myself to keep a watchful eye over his conduct & report him if he transgresses. Should it be the Presidents pleasure to do this, I should be obliged by having the Commission inclosed to me, that the Doctor might give me an opportunity of an interview before it was delivered to him.
There is also a Doctor Selman of this place who supports a respectable character & was also in the late Army tho’ not ’till the augmentation under Genl. Wayne. I am informed he is known to Genl. Smith of Baltimore he intends to become a Candidate—it is also said he is a good republican.
A District Attorney will also be an essential Officer to the Court. In this Territory two characters present themselves one is Mr. Arthur St Clair son of the Governor & now Atto. Genl. for the North West Territory—the other Mr. Jacob Burnet—as to political opinions they par—both Fœderalists—as to abilities particularly professional Mr. Burnet has in the general opinion a decided preference.
Pardon the liberty I have taken upon this occasion of addressing you, I conceived it a duty to inform you what has come to my knowledge of no Commission having come to hand for a Marshal & Atto., but the length of the epistle has been occasioned by a desire to oblige & promote the interest of a good man. With sentiments of great respect I remain sir your mo. ob. servt.
Harry Innes

   RC (DLC).

   In March 1800, noting the severe problem of distance in administering criminal and civil justice in the Northwest Territory, a House committee recommended dividing the region into the Ohio and Indiana territories by running a line from the mouth of the Great Miami River to the Canadian border. Congress adopted this plan in May 1800, to take effect 4 July of that year. Next, in the judiciary act of 13 Feb. 1801, Congress abolished the Kentucky district court and created a sixth federal circuit (encompassing Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Ohio and Indiana territories), with the usual complement of district attorneys, marshals, and clerks (Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 6th Cong., 1st sess., 1320–21; U.S. Statutes at LargeThe Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73)., 2:58–59, 89–101).

   Innes meant James Smith. John Smith, a prominent political figure and justice of the peace in the same county in 1801, went on to become a U.S. senator who was implicated in the Burr conspiracy (Carter, Territorial Papers, Northwest, 3:464, 527; ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Misc., 1:286; McMillan to JM, 15 June 1801).

   Richard Allison, a Pennsylvania native and Revolutionary veteran, was appointed surgeon with the first regiment of U.S. infantry in 1789. He left the army in November 1796 (Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:35, 117; Richard C. Knopf, ed., Anthony Wayne: A Name in Arms … [Pittsburgh, 1960], p. 504 n.).

   John Sellman, a Maryland native, was a surgeon’s mate in the army, 1792–96 (Knopf, Anthony Wayne, p. 197 n.).

   Jacob Burnet graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1791 and settled in Ohio in 1796. Prominent in the statehood movement, Burnet in 1801 was a member of the territorial assembly. He was later a U.S. senator, 1828–31.

   Harry Innes (1752–1816), born in Caroline County, Virginia, was educated at William and Mary, where he studied law under George Wythe. In 1783 he moved to Kentucky as state judge for that district and in 1789 was appointed a federal district judge.


Title: To James Madison from Thomas Bulkeley, 11 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Bulkeley, Thomas
To: Madison, James

11 June 1801, Lisbon. Announces retreat of Portuguese forces and preparation of strong Spanish naval force with troops. Postscript notes rumor that an express has just arrived with account of cessation of hostilities between Portugal and Spain.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Lisbon, vol. 1). 2 pp.; cover marked private; postmarked Philadelphia, 4 Aug.; docketed by Wagner as received 7 Aug.

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


Title: To James Madison from Albert Gallatin, 11 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Gallatin, Albert
To: Madison, James

11 June 1801, Treasury Department. Offers opinion (agreeing with comptroller) that Oliver Ellsworth “is not entitled to receive at the same time two salaries” for offices of chief justice and envoy extraordinary. The method of payment should be same as in case of John Jay when he was on his mission to Great Britain.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, ML). 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Gallatin. Reproduced in Papers of Gallatin (microfilm ed.), reel 5.


Title: From James Madison to Louis-André Pichon, 12 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To: Pichon, Louis-André

Monsieur,
Département d’Etat Wáshington le 12. Juin 1801.
Le contenu de Votre lettre du 18. ayant été référé au département de la trésorerie, il a été Constaté que le 28. Xbre. 1798. la Somme de 11,02⟨2⟩. dollars a été passée au credit de la République française et que le Jour Suivant le Controleur de la trésorerie a notifié à l’agent de Mr. Létombe qui avait fait le dépot Sur lequel le crédit avait été passé qu’il y avait à opposer au crédit une Somme de 15,000. dollars avancée par les Etats unis pour venir au Secours des réfugiés de St. Domingue en vertu d’un acte du Congrès du 12. février 1794. dont copie est ci Jointe. Je ne crois pas que conformément aux dispositions de cet acte la république française ait Jamais donné son consentement pour convertir ce débit provisoire en un débit absolu cependant la lettre ci-Jointe de Mr. Fauchet au Sécrétaire d’état du 1er. mars 1794. porte à croire que Mr. Fauchet étant chargé par le Gouvernement français de fournir à ces malheureux fugitifs les moyens de retourner chez eux, était autorisé à admettre cette Somme à la charge de la République et Sans considerer cette lettre comme une application positive de Son autorité à la chose en question, nous ne pouvons cependant qu’y voir une approbation implicite qui ne permettait pas de douter que la République ne reconnut la Justice de nôtre prétention au remboursement. Je Sens combien il est délicat de Suspendre l’effet d’un crédit reconnu en y opposant une prétention fondée à la verité Sur les principes d’une Stricte équité, mais neanmoins qui n’est pas reconnu entierement. J’espere néanmoins que dans votre réponse nous trouverons Si non une reconnaissance parfaite de notre prétention, au moins une raison nouvelle pour croire que vôtre Gouvernement approuvera que ces deux prétentions opposées restent dans l’état où elles Sont pour être un Jour arrangées à l’amiable.
Quand les agens autorisés par la République française en feront la demande Selon la forme accoutumée, les interests et les échéances à eux dus Sur les fonds des Etats Unis, Seront payés comme de coutume les obstacles momentanés qui existaient à la trésorerie ayant été levés.
Les Sommes trouvées à bord du Berceau et reconnues par le Capitaine Little S’élevent à un peu plus que 5000. Dollars elles Sont divisibles moitié aux Etats Unis moitié aux Capteurs: la derniere partie ne peut être restituée en ce moment mais le Congrès n’hésitera point quand la demande en Sera faite à approprier une Somme pareille. La premiere N’étant point soumise aux mêmes obstacles Sera remise par l’agent de la Marine à Boston à votre ordre.
Le delai qu’a éprouvé cette réponse n’a été occasionné que par les recherches qu’il a fallu faire dans les autres départements. Vous voudrez donc bien Monsieur excusez l’incertitude où Vous avez été laissé, et rester assuré de la haute estime et de la consideration avec laquelle J’ai l’honneur d’être
(Signé)   Madison.

Condensed Translation
Reports that Pichon’s 18 May letter was referred to the Treasury Department, where it was ascertained that on 28 Dec. 1798 $11,02⟨2⟩ was credited to the French Republic. On the following day the comptroller notified Létombe’s agent, who made the deposit, that a debit of $15,000 was advanced against that sum by the U.S. for aid to the refugees from Saint-Domingue as a result of a 12 Feb. 1794 act of Congress (copy attached). Although JM does not know that the French Republic ever consented to this action, the enclosed 1 Mar. 1794 letter from Fauchet to the secretary of state indicated that the French agent was authorized to furnish the refugees with the means to return to France. Suggests that the U.S. can see in the letter an implied approval that should lead the republic to recognize American expectations of reimbursement. Hopes to find in Pichon’s answer, if not a perfect avowal of the American position, at least grounds for belief that in time the matter will be settled amicably. Assures Pichon that when the authorized French agents make their request in established form, the amount due them will be paid, since the temporary obstacles at the Treasury Department have been overcome. The money found on the Berceau as acknowledged by Captain Little amounted to a little over $5,000, divided between the U.S. and the captors. Restoration of the latter party’s share will have to await congressional appropriation. The former party’s share will be remitted by the navy agent at Boston on Pichon’s order. The delay in responding is owing to the necessary research in other departments.

   Tr (AAE: Political Correspondence, U.S., 53:250–51). Enclosures not found, but see nn. 1 and 2. JM’s original letters to Pichon for this period have not been found, but the translations the French chargé sent to Paris are in the French foreign ministry archives. The first of these is printed here; subsequent texts will be omitted and only an abstract (a form of condensed translation) published.

   The text of “An Act providing for the relief of such of the inhabitants of Saint Domingo, resident within the United States, as may be found in want of support” is in U.S. Statutes at LargeThe Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73)., 6:13.

   Fauchet’s 1 Mar. 1794 letter to Edmund Randolph requested additional funds beyond the amount appropriated by Congress, claiming that the sum fell short of the cost of returning the refugees to their “mother country” (ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Foreign Relations, 1:427).


Title: From James Madison to Edward Thornton, 12 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To: Thornton, Edward

Sir,
Department of State 12th June 1801.
I have the honour to acknowlege your letter of the 8th inst. on the subject of a Spanish Ship, commissioned with letters of marque and reprisal, which has arrived with a British vessel as her prize in the port of Philadelphia. I have lost no time in laying the case before the President, who has decided, in conformity to principles uniformly entertained by this Government, that the prize should not be permitted to continue within the United States. Orders for its immediate departure will accordingly be forthwith issued. The important distinction between vessels armed for commerce rather than for war, and real privateers, and the necessary claim which this distinction has to attention, in expounding the Treaty of 1794 as well as in applying the general law of Nations, requires that the circumstances of the Spanish Ship and of the capture should be more particularly collected before any farther steps be taken. This information, the Collector of the port of Philadelphia is instructed to procure and transmit. The time demanded for the purpose, and for the consideration of the subject, which may ensue, will be shortened as much as possible, and the result you may be assured, Sir, will be such as the obligations on the United States shall be found to prescribe. I have the honour to be
(signed)   James Madison.

   Tr (PRO: Foreign Office, ser. 5, 32:136). In Thornton’s hand.


Title: To James Madison from Sylvanus Bourne, 12 June 1801
From: Bourne, Sylvanus
To: Madison, James

Sir—
Amsterdam June 12 1801.
I am honored by your letter of the 25 April by Mr Meredith. The inclosed letters for France have been duly sent on.
I learn from you with great pleasure that the Sensibilities of the public Mind which had been excited in the late contest for the election of the supreme Executive were softened down to a temper more congenial with the public prosperity.
I doubt not that a little experience of the measures of the future administration will tend to wear off the asperity of party spirit & inspire that general Confidence among the Citizens of the U States which constitutes the base & support of Republican Governments.
I wish it were in my power to announce the tranquillity of this part of the World—but it seems that apprehensions exist of a renewal of the War even on the Continent which the success of the British against the Northern Powers gives them the opportunity to create & nourish. I am sir With the greatest respect Yr Ob Servt
S: Bourne
The fate of Egypt is yet undecided.

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

   As acting secretary, Levi Lincoln had written Bourne that Jefferson’s election was bringing about an amelioration of party spirit that might not be reported in some of the newspapers. Thomas Meredith, son of the U.S. treasurer, carried the letter (Lincoln to Bourne, 25 Apr. 1801 [DNA: RG 59, IC, vol. 1]).


Title: To James Madison from Ferdinand Fairfax, 12 June 1801
From: Fairfax, Ferdinand
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir,
Shann. hill (Berkeley near Chas. town[)] 12th June 1801.
I am amongst the number of those who received real & sincere satisfaction at your appointment to your present office.
Knowing your desire to promote the public good by all means within your power or influence, I take the liberty of mentioning, as a matter of private opinion, that it appeared to me when lately in Richmd (where I suppose I heard all that could be urged in private conversation) that the charge agst. D. M. Ranph: of packing the Jury for the trial of Callender was far from being substantiated, as were also some other suggestions agst. Mr. R in his official Capacity; and I conceive that the freedom with which he has uniformly expressed an unfavorable opinion as to certain particulars of Mr. Jefferson’s conduct & opinions, had been in Richmd. the primary ground of suspicion of Mr. R’s improper bias in the discharge of his office.
Now as I am convinced that no personal or private Motive has operated with the President—it is for the public advantage that the thing shall so appear to the World; and altho’ I think the removal of Mr. R——ph from office has had & will have a good effect, in deterring other Mar—lls from practices similar to what he was charged with; yet I think the effect will be much more complete, if he should receive an appo[in]tment to some other office in the gift of the Executive—the ground of those charges not being made to appear.
You have, no doubt, noticed a Strange decision of the Fedl. Court at Richmond, by which very many importt. acts of the late Marshall would be rendered void—he would receive no compensation for very arduous services (at the same time that he is liable to prosecution for illegal proceedings) many individuals would sustain irreparable loss, and a degree of discredit be thrown upon the Executive. Is it not importt. that an appeal from that decision should be had, or that the question shou’d be brot. on in another form before the supreme Court? I am, Dr. Sir, most respectfully Your friend & hble. servt.
F: Fairfax
P. S. Should your official Situation lead you to be acquainted with foreigners or others desirous of buying a quantity of good Farming Lands within convenient marketable distance from Washington, I shall be obliged by your recommending them to me.

   RC (owned by Charles M. Storey, Boston, Mass., 1961).

   On Randolph’s partisanship as U.S. marshal for the district of Virginia, see Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, 12 Mar. 1801 (MHi: Jefferson Papers, Coolidge Collection), and Malone, Jefferson and His TimeDumas Malone, Jefferson and His Time (6 vols.; Boston, 1948–81)., 4:208–9.

   This case has not been identified, owing to the paucity of federal court records and Richmond newspaper files for the period.

   Ferdinand (or Ferdinando) Fairfax (1774–1820), third son of Bryan (Lord) Fairfax and godson of George and Martha Washington, was named in 1800 to a general standing committee of the Republican party in Virginia (Kenton Kilmer and Donald Sweig, The Fairfax Family in Fairfax County [Fairfax, Va., 1975], p. 50; CVSPWilliam P. Palmer et al., eds., Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts (11 vols.; Richmond, 1875–93)., 9:77, 83).


Title: To James Madison from Peter C. Brooks, 12 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Brooks, Peter C.
To: Madison, James

12 June 1801, Boston. Relates information on privateers based in Bahamas that seize ships carrying “goods of Spanish growth” without regard to vessel’s ownership. Admiralty judge at Nassau has ordered such property stored to await “the future decision of the Court,” releasing rest of cargo and vessel upon payment of “enormous” charges. Owners are uncertain about their course of action. They can take the loss or seek redress in England, but the latter route would be prohibitively expensive. Asks JM for advice, and wonders if U.S. can intervene “without the formality and delay of appeal.” Writes on behalf of “many merchants and underwriters of this place.”

   RC (DNA: RG 76, British Spoliations, 1794–1824, box 9). 3 pp.; docketed by Wagner as received 20 June.


Title: To James Madison from Thomas Bulkeley, 12 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Bulkeley, Thomas
To: Madison, James

12 June 1801, Lisbon. Reports peace between Portugal, Spain, and France to be publicly announced the next day with three nights’ illuminations. Suspects terms will be disadvantageous to Portugal. In postscript states that British merchants have been advised to exercise caution regarding their Portuguese property.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Lisbon, vol. 1). 2 pp.; cover marked private; postmarked Philadelphia, 4 Aug.; docketed by Wagner as received 7 Aug.

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


Title: To James Madison from William Loughton Smith, 12 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Smith, William Loughton
To: Madison, James

12 June 1801, Lisbon. Announces signing of peace treaty between Portuguese and Spanish-French, which reportedly contains provisions removing British from Portugal and placing French troops in key garrisons. Hopes soon to have a copy to transmit. Reports death of prince of Beira (age seven) and recent birth of a child to the wife of regent.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, DD, Portugal, vol. 5). 1 p.; marked private; docketed by Wagner as received 4 Sept.


Title: From James Madison to Carlos Martínez de Yrujo, 12 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To: Yrujo, Carlos Martínez de

Letter not found. 12 June 1801. Acknowledged in Yrujo to JM, 16 June 1801. Informs Spanish minister of Jefferson’s order that captured British vessel, prize of the Santa Escolastica, immediately depart port of Philadelphia. Seeks further information about the capturing ship.


Title: From James Madison to Levi Lincoln, 13 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To: Lincoln, Levi

Dear Sir
Washington June 13. 1801.
I recollect that on your leaving us you took with you certain papers relating to a case in which Mr. Bingham was concerned, and the U. S. alledged to be involved, with a view of examining them in your domestic leisure. I have just recd. the inclosed letter from Mr. Otis on the same subject, and beg leave to trouble you with it for the same purpose.
Notwithstanding the budgets from abroad which arrive from time to time, they furnish nothing worth your notice, which the Newspapers do not obtain thro’ other channels, or informally from this department. Mr. King has sent us by Mr. Sitgreaves his negociations on the subject depending with the British Govt. It appears that no advance had been made since the change in the administration there. He is not sanguine, but hopeful of an advantageous issue. I think there is at least as much room for doubt as for hope. The next information from Russia & Egypt may assist in weighing the probabilities.
We learnt at the same moment your ill luck in losing your baggage, and your good luck in recovering it. With great truth I am Dear Sir your friend & hble servt.
James Madison

   RC (MHi). Addressed by JM to Lincoln at Worcester, Massachusetts; docketed by Lincoln.

   William Bingham made a fortune during the Revolution while serving as the American commercial agent in the French West Indies. The controversial case of Cabot et al. v. Bingham, involving a prize ship brought to port by the Pilgrim, a Massachusetts privateer, wound its way through the state courts, went to the Supreme Court, and was not settled in Bingham’s lifetime. While a Federalist senator from Pennsylvania, 1795–1801, Bingham looked to Congress for relief, but the case was settled by an executor in 1804 for about $37,000 (Robert C. Alberts, The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham, 1752–1804 [Boston, 1969], pp. 78–79, 365–67, 417–18, 430).

   Letter not found.


Title: To James Madison from Robert R. Livingston, 13 June 1801
From: Livingston, Robert R.
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
New York 13th June 1801.
At Philadelphia Mr: Latrobe and Mr: Rosevelt shewed me proposals that they were about submitting to your inspection and consideration relative to the mint and requested me to state to you my opinion thereon it is certain that the Coin we now make is very imperfect & that the manner of Coining is more expensive than that they proposed if we must Coin (which by the by I have always Considered as very doubtful) we should certainly prefer doing it by an Engine to working by horses if the expence is equal for the reasons they mention particularly that which refers to the increased difficulty of Counterfeits, but you will form a better judgment on this subject than I can. All they wish me to say (and that I can do with pleasure) is that I am acquainted with these Gentlemen That I am satisfied of their Capacity to perform Any engagement which the Administration may make with them.

Having turned my attention to the steam Engines I have had frequent opportunities of conversing with their principal workmen in that branch of business as well as of examining their Engines of which I have seen three in operation they all appear to me perfect and to have made some important improvements on Watts Engine in the saving of fewel And the perfection of the Vacuum by means of a double Air pump. The workmen are inteligent and well Versed in their profession. As they have been obtained at great expence and Occasions may arise in which their Services may be essential to the Country it will be worth the attention of the Government to find some employment for them provided they can do it without loss lest they should quit the Country having as I believe little to do at present since the Philadelphia Engines were finished. It is unnecessary to trouble you further (as I presume they will tell their own Story best) than will I assure you of the sincerity of the attachment with which I am dear Sir your most Obt: humble Servant
Rob: R: Livingston

   Tr (NHi).

   Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Nicholas J. Roosevelt had worked together on the Philadelphia water system that employed steam-powered pumps (Edward C. Carter II et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe [3 vols. to date; New Haven, 1977—], 3:8).

   In 1797–98 Livingston worked with Roosevelt and John Stevens on a successful steam-navigation experiment with the Polacca (ibid., 3:8 n. 6).


Title: To James Madison from Albert Gallatin, 14 June 1801
From: Gallatin, Albert
To: Madison, James

Dr Sir
June 14th 1801
I enclose the papers relative to Priestmann’s case. The bearer is Mr Priestmann himself. The papers marked 1. 2. 3 belong to this office and are to be returned.
If the Secy. of the Treasy., after Mr Wolcott’s decision, had still a power to act, I would not hesitate to remit the whole forfeiture as well the part belonging to the informer as that belonging to the U. States. But the previous decision of the former Secy. precludes my having any authority in the case.
The President has agreed to grant a pardon. Shall that extend to the remission of the informer’s share? I have not the least hesitation in saying that, if the President’s power extends so far it ought to be exercised in this instance. Read the statement of facts & certificate of Judge Peters annexed to & at end of paper No. 1. Why Mr W. refused to remit is inconceivable. But the question is whether the President has power or not. I thought Upon a first impression that he had not & wrote him so. Mr Steele, (see paper No. 2) seems to think otherwise. I wish you Would investigate the case; for I do know this to be a persecution case. Mr Priestmann is an Englishman, rather eccentric & one of his eccentricities consists in lending money to republicans. This he had done in favor of some persecuted & obnoxious ones. And I have had no doubt these two years, still less since I have seen the papers, that this was the true cause of the No Remission OW endorsed on paper No. 1. This perhaps is judging with too much severity; but I do not believe myself mistaken. Your’s sincerely
Albert Gallatin
It is understood that the costs & Mr Rawle’s fee must be excepted out of the remission. At all events the U. States must lose nothing.

   RC (DLC). Cover marked private by Gallatin; docketed by JM. Enclosures not found.

   Merchant William Priestman, after importing at Baltimore and paying duties on watches valued at $3,385, had transported his wares in late 1797 to Philadelphia. In so doing he ran afoul of section 19 of the February 1793 act regulating imports, which required him to obtain a permit from the collector at the port of entry before taking from one port to another goods that might be reexported. Priestman’s watches were confiscated, and U.S. attorney William Rawle successfully prosecuted the case. Jefferson pardoned Priestman (who had made helpful loans to Philadelphia Republicans) on 27 June 1801, describing his breach of law as a matter of error rather than fraud or design. In ordering a return of the seized watches the president nonetheless left Priestman responsible for paying all costs connected with the case. Gallatin successfully argued that those costs should not include the reward paid to informer Jacob Gideon (Priestman’s memorial to JM, n.d. [DNA: RG 59, Petitions for Pardon, no. 41]; DNA: RG 59, PPR; U.S. Statutes at LargeThe Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73)., 1:313, 316; Gallatin to Jefferson, 9, 12, and 26 June 1801 [DLC: Jefferson Papers]).

   Federalist John Steele of North Carolina served as a congressman with JM, 1789–93. From 1796 to 1802 he was comptroller of the treasury.


Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 14 June 1801
From: Monroe, James
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
Richmond June 14. 1801
The day after the date of my last to you I saw Mr. Randolph & communicated to him the contents of the paragh. in yrs., which was intended for him. He promised to write you immediately on the subject of it. I requested him to confer with the late marshall and ascertain whether he wod. pay Callendar the fine remitted him, under the late order of the Treasury department, which he very willingly undertook, not with him in person but thro’ Wickham intimating he had lately had a variance with him. Two days afterwards he called to give an acct. of his negotiation, which was communicated to Mr Jones, (I being confined at the time to my bed by indisposition) the sum of wh. was that altho the late Ml. was absent, it was reduc’d to a certainty that he wod. not refund the fine. Mr. R. left Mr. Jones under the impression that he had reason to believe that his namesake acted by advice of some one or more here, who wished to turn the incident to the acct. of the party. Since that communication a plan, which is presented in the enclosed paper, has been set on foot for the relief of Callendar, under auspices which it is hoped will ensure it success. Mr. Pleasants who has the direction of it has I am told shewn it to Callendar and obtained his sanction to it.
The abolition of the missions to Batavia & Portugal was certainly proper. We have as much occasion for ministers to the princes of the Empire as to either of those powers. They were the offspring, especially in the grade to which they rose, of the day of our folly, and it was natural when the delirium went off, that we shod. get rid of them. Sin⟨ce⟩ my return home I have had no communication with France, and therefore can say nothing of the views of her govt. relative to the Floridas & Louisiana, otherwise than by reference to what occurr’d while I was there. While I was there the subject came often into view, and the resul⟨t⟩ of the opinion which I formed of their views on it, is contai⟨ned⟩ in page 378. of my publication. I presume the arrangmt was made in the time of the former admn. It is certainly properly chargeable to its measures & policy. Make our best respects to Mrs. Madison & believe me yr friend & serv⟨t.⟩
Jas. Monroe

[Enclosure]
The late marshall having refused to reimburse Mr. Callendar the fine imposed on him under the sedition law, wh. was remitted by the President, and the said Callendar being a victim of that law in support of the principles avowed by this Commonwealth, having suffered imprisonment for 9 months, and being as we have reason to believe in distress’d circumstances, which are increased by the said Marshall’s refusal to restore the money, a resource of peculiar importance to him at the moment of his discharge from prison while he is out of business, we the subscribers with a view to make some retribution to a person who has suffered under that law, and testify our abhorrence of it, agree to pay on demand the sums affix’d to our respective names, of which 200. dolrs. are to be immediately paid to the said Callendar, on acct. of the said fine, to be reimbursed whenever the said fine is paid, if desired, and the balance to be applied in paying for his board & cloaths for one year from the present date, which latter contribution is intended to preserve him from want till he gets employment. The money herein subscribed is to be plac’d in the hands of  who will take Mr. Callendars rect. for the 200. dolrs. on the payment of it, with an order on the publick officer for the fine, when recovered, and who will also apply the balance to defray the expence of his board & cloathing, contracting for the same with suitable persons, and taking rects. for payments when made.

   RC (NjMoHP); enclosure (ViU). Enclosure in Monroe’s hand; filed with Monroe to JM, 17 May 1801.

   John Wickham, the well-known Richmond lawyer, later served with Edmund Randolph among Aaron Burr’s defense attorneys at the former vice-president’s treason trial (Mary Newton Stanard, Richmond: Its People and Its Story [Philadelphia, 1923], p. 98).

   Possibly Meriwether Jones (1765–1806), a leading Richmond Republican who edited and published the Examiner (forerunner of the Richmond Enquirer) between 1798 and 1803. When Callender first arrived in Richmond he wrote for Jones’s Examiner, and while serving his prison term for sedition he contributed a regular column to the paper. Monroe wrote Jefferson that Jones “has that ascendency over the wretch to make him do what is right, & he will be happy to do it for you” (Monroe to Jefferson, 1 June 1801 [DLC: Jefferson Papers]; Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 2:1139; Richmond Enquirer, 22 Aug. 1806).

   A View of the Conduct of the Executive, in the Foreign Affairs of the United States, Connected with the Mission to the French Republic, during the Years 1794, 5, & 6 (Philadelphia, 1797; EvansCharles Evans, ed., American Bibliography … 1639 … 1820 (12 vols.; Chicago, 1903–34). 32491).

   Monroe left a blank space here.


Title: To James Madison from Stephen Cathalan, Jr., 14 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Cathalan, Stephen
To: Madison, James

14 June 1801, Marseilles. Refers to his earlier dispatches of 8 and 10 Apr. with enclosures. Now encloses copies of Cathcart’s 11 and 15 May circular letters and 2 June letter from Cathcart to Appleton concerning Tripolitan declaration of war. Hopes U.S. squadron is by now near Straits of Gibraltar, where it will not only protect flag but also take offensive. Is sending copies of Cathcart’s description of Tripolitan navy to U.S. consuls in Spain to transmit to Commodore Truxtun in order to prevent confusion with Tunisian or Algerine cruisers bearing same red flag. Reports two U.S. ships in port, the Martha of Salem from Smyrna and the Anna Maria from Tunis. Hopes that Adams’s appointment of William Lee to succeed him was not caused by official dissatisfaction; asks that Jefferson reappoint him. Circumstances have hindered trade here. Asserts that by the French constitution he has lost his rights as a French citizen but has not yet received U.S. citizenship; has received no replies to inquiries about this to previous secretary of state.

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Marseilles, vol. 1). RC 4 pp.; docketed by Wagner as received 31 Aug. Enclosures 5 pp.

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


Title: To James Madison from James Taylor, 14 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: Taylor, James
To: Madison, James

14 June 1801, Campbell Courthouse, Kentucky. Requests information on land deed that he sent to city of Washington sometime in 1800 to be patented. Recommends Dr. John Sellman of Cincinnati, “a decided republican,” to be marshal for the Northwest Territory.

   RC (DLC). 3 pp.; docketed by JM.


Title: To James Madison from Rufus King, 15 June 1801
From: King, Rufus
To: Madison, James

No. 22.
Dear sir,
London, June 15. 1801.
I have lately received a letter from Genl. Allen enclosing one to me from the Department of State, respecting his cause depending in the Court of Appeals. Without adverting to what passed in the early Stages of this Suit, it is proper that I should mention my having introduced the General to Messrs. Bird Savage & Bird, for the purpose of his engaging them to become his Bail, for the value of the arms which the Court of Appeals ordered to be delivered to him.
The enclosed Letter from these gentlemen will give you a correct view of the present situation of the cause, which, as I am advised, will most certainly be decided against the General in case he fail to supply the Proofs required of him. With perfect Respect & Esteem, I have the honour to be Dear Sir, Your ob: & faithful servt.
Rufus King

   RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, DD, Great Britain, vol. 9). RC in a clerk’s hand, signed by King; docketed by Wagner as received 23 Sept. Enclosures 3 pp. (see n. 2).

   Ira Allen, youngest brother of the Vermont patriot Ethan Allen, had been sent to Europe in 1795 to purchase arms for the Vermont militia. British officials captured him at sea on his return voyage and accused him of being an agent for Irish rebels. He remained abroad, either imprisoned or legally entangled, until finally cleared in 1804. He then faced a struggle in recovering the value of the Vermont arms, which Bird, Savage, and Bird had sold in bankruptcy proceedings (Allen, Particulars of the Capture of the Ship Olive Branch … [Philadelphia, 1805]; JM to James Monroe, 10 Mar. 1805, in A Concise Summary of the Second Volume of the Olive Branch … [Philadelphia, 1807]).

   King enclosed copies of letters from the London firm dated 19 and 24 June, both expressing surprise at Allen’s anger and impatience, emphasizing the importance of Allen’s supplying evidence in his own behalf, and calling on the American government to purchase the arms that the firm held as collateral for the amount of his bail.


Title: To James Madison from William McMillan, 15 June 1801 (Abstract)
From: McMillan, William
To: Madison, James

15 June 1801, Cincinnati. Observes that district court met there on 10 June but neither marshal nor attorney attended. Reports that at close of last session he (delegate from territory northwest of Ohio) and Senator Brown of Kentucky had discussed appointments to these positions and that Brown had intended to recommend James Smith of Cincinnati for marshal and William Sprigg of Chillicothe for attorney. Reminds JM that according to a recent act of Congress two commissioners are to be named by president to settle claims in Miami River region; recommends William Goforth and John Reily.

   RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9). 2 pp.; in a clerk’s hand, except for complimentary close, signature, and inside address. On the second page Jefferson noted: “I have in their proper place the names of Goforth & Reily: but they are not to act till Nov. 1. Therefore we need not appoint till Oct. 1. This will give time to hear more about them.” Filed with undated memorandum from John Brown on the same subject, but recommending McMillan for attorney. RC printed in Carter, Territorial Papers, Northwest, 3:141–42.


Title: From James Madison to Winthrop Sargent, 16 June 1801
From: Madison, James
To: Sargent, Winthrop

Sir,
Department of State Washington 16th. June 1801
In adverting to the law constituting the government of the Mississippi territory, it appears that the Secretary thereof is authorised to discharge the Executive duties in no other cases than those of the death, removal, resignation, or necessary absence of the Governor. It follows that since the expiration of your term on the 7th. of May, no provision exists for the emergency, and that it is become the duty of the President to supply the vacancy with as little delay as possible. The various, and some of them delicate considerations, which at present mingle themselves with the designation of the individual for this purpose, have rendered it expedient, in the judgment of the President, that the station should be filled by another than yourself whose administration with whatever meritorious intentions conducted has not been so fortunate as to secure the general harmony and the mutual attachment between the people and the public functionaries so particularly necessary for the prosperity and happiness of an infant establishment.
In communicating this determination, I have the pleasure to be authorised by the President to add, that he wishes it to be understood, as not conveying any definitive opinion whatever with respect to your official or personal conduct, which might wound your feelings, or throw a blot on your character. With great respect & esteem I have the honor [to] be, Sir, your most Obedient servant
James Madison

   RC (MHi). In a clerk’s hand, except for JM’s complimentary close and signature; docketed (by Sargent?).

   Appointed governor of the Mississippi Territory in 1798, Sargent soon became embroiled in controversy. Accused of irregularities in 1800, he traveled to Washington to defend himself in the spring of 1801, where he spoke to JM and Jefferson. On 10 June, preparing to depart for Boston, the besieged governor left JM another brief in his behalf. In fact, Jefferson considered the matter settled and on 25 May replaced Sargent with William C. C. Claiborne, a Tennessee congressman who was one of Sargent’s loudest critics. JM forwarded the interim appointment to Claiborne on 10 July (ASPAmerican State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61)., Misc., 1:234; see also ibid., 1:203–6, 207, 214, 233–41; Carter, Territorial Papers, Mississippi, 5:99–128; Annals of CongressDebates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56)., 6th Cong., 2d sess., 837–38, 875–76, 1037–38, 1074; Jefferson to Claiborne, 13 July 1801, Ford, Writings of JeffersonPaul Leicester Ford, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (10 vols.; New York, 1892–99)., 8:71–72; Papers, Relating to the Official Conduct of Governor Sargent [Boston, 1801]). The interim appointment, 25 May 1801, and JM’s 10 July covering letter are printed in Rowland, Mississippi Archives, pp. 342–43.


Title: To James Madison from Joseph Jones, 16 June 1801
From: Jones, Joseph
To: Madison, James

Dr. Sr.
Bowling Green. 16th. June 1801
Coming from Richmond in the Stage to this place in company with Col. Norton the Bearer hereof He mentioned the business which occasioned his coming to Virginia (to wit) the imprisonment of his Son in Law Capt. Merchant and another person who was his Mate. I told him I was present yesterday at Col. Monroes when Mr. Cyrus Griffin called to see him and heard Col. Monroe ask Mr. Griffin if he was at Court when the prisoners were tried who replied he was not but said he understood I think he said from Mr. Nelson the Atty. for the prosecution that the conviction depended on the Testimony of a Young Lad of abt. 14 yrs. old—whether this was the fact and the only positive proof I cannot say, but my mentioning the circumstance induced the Colonel to request I wod. oblige him with a certificate of the fact which I do with pleasure if in any respect it may contribute to authorise the extending Mercy to his unfortunate so⟨n⟩ in Law to obtain whose pardon is the object of his Journey to this State. I am on my return from the Genl. Court havi⟨ng⟩ been from Home ever since the first week in March. My intention is to go through Alexandria hence shod. I do so I will endeavor to call and see you and Mrs. Madison in your new station—wishing the family health I am Dr. Sr. yr. friend & Servt.
Jos: Jones.

   RC (DLC).

   In November 1800 the U.S. circuit court in Richmond found Elihu Marchant, with twelve others, guilty of having “unlawfully confederated on the high seas” and seizing the British armed brigantine Ranger. Marchant was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $100. Jefferson remitted the fine and pardoned the remainder of Marchant’s sentence exactly a year after Jones’s letter (DNA: RG 59, PPR).

   Washington named Thomas Nelson U.S. attorney for the district of Virginia in April 1796 (Senate Exec. ProceedingsJournal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828)., 1:205).

   Joseph Jones (1727–1805), uncle of James Monroe, had served as a member of the Continental Congress and delegate from King George County to the General Assembly during the Revolution. From 1789 to his death he was a judge of the Virginia General Court.