MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ' ACCOMPANYING A REPORT TO HIM FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE, AND SUNDRY DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE MISSISIPPI; THE INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIAN NATIONS, AND THE INEXECUTIOJtf OF THE TREATY BETWEEN THE f UNITED STATES AND SPAIN. 230! January, 1798, Ordered to lie on the Table. Publifhed by order of the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES, PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED BY W, ROSS, F373 MESSAGE. Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the Houfe of Reprefentatives, A T the commencement of this fejjion of Congrefs, I propofed in the courfe of it, to communicate to both Houfes, further information concerning thejituation of our affairs in the territories of the United States Jituated on the MiJJifippi river, and its neighbourhood, our inter- courfe with the Indian nations, our relations with the Spamjh government, and tht conduct of their officers and agents: This information will be found in a report of the Secretary of State, and the documents attending it, which I now prefent to the Senate and Houfe of Reprefentativ>es. JOHN ADAMS. UNITED STATES, Jan. 23d, xxxxx>&e<>o^ REPORT. To the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES. IN obfervance of your directions I have revifed the commu- nications from Mr. Ellicott, the Commiffioner of the United States at the Natchez, fmce my Report of the 3d of July laft, which, with the documents therein referred to, you, on the fame day, laid before Congrefs ; and now refpectfully fubmit to you a ftatement of whatever appears therein to be material. The laft letter from Mr. Ellicott, of which a communication was made to Congrefs, bore date the loth of May laft. His next, dated the 2yth of that month, I received the 24th of Au- guft. In this he mentions that reinforcements were fent from New-Orleans to the Poft at Walnut Hills, and rh?t repairs were made on the Fort at the Natchez : That h^ h.:d received very fatisfactory accounts from both the Chickafaws and Chac- taws, that for more than eight months paft, they had been tampered with by the Spanifh Agents and Traders, to prevent the late Treaty between his Catholic Majefty and the United States from being carried into effecl ; though Mr. Ellicott thinks, without fuccefs. On the nth of May, he wrote to Governor Gayofo defiring a definitive anfwer, as to the time he would be ready to proceed to the determination of the boun- daries between the two Nations, as fpecified in the Treaty ; to which he received an unfatisfactory anfwer. On the i6th, he addrefled to Governor Gayofo a retroipe&ive view of their correfpondence, and of that with Lieutenant Pope, exhibiting the repeated promifes and demonftrations of running the boun- dary Line and evacuating the Pofts the non-performance of thofe promifes and the varied pretences for the delay. To this detail of unfulfilled engagements and contradictory mea- fures, the Governor anfwered Mr. Ellicott on the lyth, " That he mould not trouble him with juftifying the motives which had caukdfome dijagreement in his (the Governor's) communi- cations;" adding however, that "they were far from being infmcere." 6. In his next letter dated the 4th of June, Mr. Ellicott men- tions that " The Citizens of the United States who are trad- ing on the Miffifippi are frequently treated with great info- lence, at the Spanilh Pofts, and their property taken for the ufe of his Catholic Majefty, when wanted, and always at a reduced price." He inftances the cafe of a Mr. M'Cluny, from whom a large quantity of flour was thus taken at the Walnut Hills and of Francis Baily, who was compelled to receive as Cafh, in payment for goods fold, a fpeciesof paper, which was. palling at a difcount of twelve per cent. With this letteVMr. Ellicott tranfmitted the copy of a Pro- clamation by the Baron de Carondelet, Governor General of JLouifiana, bearing date at New-Orleans the 24th of May ; and ordered to be publimed. In order to difiipate reports, which had alarmed the inhabitants of the Natchez, the Baron therein declares " That the fufpenfion of the demarcation of the limits, and the evacuation of the Forts, which will be comprehended on the other fide of the line, is at prefent only occafioned by the imperious neceffity of fecuring Lower Loui- fiana from the Hoftilities of the Englith, who (he fays) without regard to the inviolability of the Territory of the United States, have fet on foot an expedition againft Upper Louifiana, which they cannot, however, attack without traverfmg the aforefaid Territory." But he fuggefts, that if they made them/elves mailers of the Illinois Country, they would then attack Lower JLouifiani. This fabulous expedition of the Englifh from Ca- nada is thus made the pretence for the non-execution of the Treaty on the part of Spain. " We have thought proper (fays the Baron) to put the Poft of Walnut Hills in a refpe&able but provisional (late of defence, until the United States, in- formed of thefe motives, by the Minifter Plenipotentiary of his Majefty to whom we have communicated them, provide againft thefe inconveniences ; and by taking the proper fteps to caufe the Territory to be refpe&ed, mall put in our power to fulfil, without danger, the articles of the Treaty concerning limits." In this Proclamation, the information of the Englifh expe- dition is reprefented as having been communicated by the Ba- ron de Carondelet to theSpanifti Minifter in the United States ; but in his next Proclamation, one week afterwards (May 31 ft) he fets forth that he had received from that Minifter informa- tion of the expedition from Canada, and, therefore, " had judged it necelfary for the furety and tranquility of Lower JLouifiana, to fufpend the evacuation of the Ports of Natchez and the Walnut Hills." And as early as the firft of May, Go- vernor Gayofo, in a. letter to Mr. Ellicott, publifhed with the other documents laid before Congrefs, at the laft feflion, affigns the information before that day received by the Baron from the Spanifli Minifter, of the above pretended expedition, as the reafon for holding the Ports, and putting them in a ftate of de- fence ; particularly the Walnut Hills. In the fame Procla- mation (of which a copy No. I. is annexed) the Baron affedts to confider the march of a detachment of American troops from the Ohio to the ftate of TennefTee, while it has been intimated, as he fays, to the Militia of Cumberland to hold themfelves ready to march at the firft notice, as an evidence of a hoftile attack intended, even by the United States, on Louifiana. The pretences for holding the Pofts in queftion, and delay- ing to run the boundary line, having varied from time to time, it may be proper to prefent them in one view. In the month of March i ft. That it was uncertain whether the Forts, when eva- cuated were to be demolifhed or left (landing. 2d. That it was necefiary to fecure the real property to the Inhabitants. And both thefe points, it was faid, muft be ad- juftedby a negociation between the two Governments of Spain and the United States, prior to the evacuation of the Pofts. 3d. That they muft be retained until the Spaniih officers were fure the Indians would be pacific. On the 24th of May- 4lh. The Fnglifh Expedition from Canada, which could not proceed without violating the Territory of the United States. But in the Proclamation of this date, the putting of the principal Poft, that of the Walnut Hills, in a ftate of defence wa ; - declared to be only proVifioflal, arid until the United States fhould canfe their Territory to be refpeoted. ' 5th. On the -?i(r of May, the Baron's fccond Proclamation repeats the fame pretence, f he Enjglifh expedition, and adds a new one, That the Uinred States were marching troops, and prepa ing the militia to take the Spaniih dominions by furprize. Further motives 'are alfo affigned anterior menaces by the Commifiioner Mr. Ellicott and of Lieutenant Pope and the expected rupture between the United States Ind France. And new conditions are now mentioned to be performed by the United States, viz: That they fhould, as a neceflary evidence that they have no hoftile intentions ae;ainft the Spanifh Pro- vinces, either leave the Poft of the Natchez, or the Walnut Hills, in poffeflion of Spain as The only bulwarks of Lower 8. Louifiana to Hop the courfe of the Britim" ; or give to the Spa- niards " Security againft the article of the Treaty with Great- Britain which expofes Lower Louiiiana to be pillaged and de- ftroyed down to the Capital. Then (fays the Baron) we will deliver up the faid Pofts, and lay down our arms, which they (the United States) have forced us to take up, by arming their militia in time of peace, and fending a considerable body of troops by round-about ways to furprize us." Pretences more frivolous, or more unfounded and unwar- rantable, were perhaps never urged as reafons to excufe a viola- tion of the faith of Treaties. Never, perhaps, was conceived a more abfurd idea, than that of marching troops from the Ohio to the State of TenneiTee, and thence to the Natchez, in the whole a tedious, difficult, and expenfive route of many hundred miles, chiefly through a wildernefs ; when, if the United States had any hoflile views, they had only to collecl: their troops to the Ohio, and fufFer them to be floated down that River, and the Mifliflppi, almoft without labour, with great expedition and at fmall expence, to the country to be attacked. But the fuggeftion is as falfe as it is abfurd. Neither does any article of the Treaty between the United States and Great-Britain (the Baron doubtlefs means the Treaty of 1 794) nor the explanatory article of 1 796, give to Great- Britain any new right reflecting the navigation of the Miffi- fippi, and confequently do not expofe, more than it was before expofed, Lower Louifiana to be pillaged and deftroyed by the BritiOi. But this queftion having being fully difcuifed in my letter of the i yth of May laft to the Spanifh minifter, and his reafoning demonftrated (as I conceive) to be utterly un- founded, it would be a wafte of time to add any further obfer- vations upon it. If the pods of the Natchez and Walnut-Hills " are the only bulwarks of Lower Louifiana, to ftop the courfe of the Britifh," as the Baron aflerts, and if, therefore, Spain is juftifiable in holding them fhe may retain them without any limitation of time for her fecurity in any future war, as well as in that which now exifts. But this, like all the other reafons which have been before advanced, is merely oftenfible. The true reufon is doubtlefs developed by the Baron in his proclama- tion of the 31ft of May. The expectation of an " immediate rup- ture between France , the intimate ally of Spain, and the United States." The Spanifh minifter having refumed this fubjecl: in his let- ter to me of the I ith of July, his own printed tranflation of it, and my anfwer of the 8th of Auguft, are hereto annexed ; toge- ther with his letter of the I9th of Auguft, acknowledging the receipt of that anfwer, and his two fubfequent letters of the 9th of October ancl 21 ft of November. With the lad it feems proper to lay before you a paper figned VERUS, which ap- peared in the Aurora, printed by Benjamin Franklin Bache, on the morning of the 23d, containing in fubftance his letter of the 22d, which I received the preceding evening, and fome additional expreftions which the Minifter himfelf deemed too grofs to be addreffed to the government under his proper fig- nature ; but which, under the circumftances here mentioned, mult neceffarily be afcribed to him. In his next letter, Mr. Ellicott gives an account of an infur- rection of the inhabitants of the Natchez. A minute detail of the circumftanes which gradually tended to produce this event, he fays, would fill a volume. The following relation is ex- tracted from his letter of June 2yth. " The delay (fays he) on the part of the Spaniards, to carry the late Treaty between his Catholic Majefty and the United States into effet, gave great uneafmefs, which was daily increafed by the Spaniards reinforcing and repairing the Fort at this place and the Walnut Hills. The people confidered thofe preparations as a determi- nation on the part of Spain to retain the country, notwith- ftanding the late Treaty. A difpofition was frequently mani- fefted to refift the laws of Spain ; but they were, neverthelefs, fubmitted to without a direct, oppofition, until Friday the Qth inftant, when a Mr. Hannan, a preacher among the Baptifts, was taken on fome trivial pretence, and confined by his legs in a fmall building within the fort. This was confidered as an attack upon the privileges of the citizens of the v United States (Mr. Hannan being one) and a determination, at all events, to enforce the laws, civil and religious, of Spain, with rigour. Under this impreffion the inhabitants flew to arms, and the Governor and principal officers of government took refuge in the Fort. Thus in lefs than ten hours, by an unrieceflhry exertion of power, the authority of the Governor was confined to the fmall compafs of the Fort." " Saturday the loth, the oppofition to the Spanifh Govern- ment had extended almoft over the diiirict. Sunday the nth, a number of enterprifmg oppofers of the Spaniili Government called upon Lieutenant Pope and myfelf, and declared their determination of commencing hoftilities, in confequcnce of the irriprifonment of Mr. Hannan, and a proclamation of the Baron de Carcndeiet (that cfthe 31 ft of May before men- tioned) which they confidered as a declaration of war againft the United States : To oppofe them direlly would have put an end to our influence in the Country ; and to encourage them, in 10. my opinion, would have been improper, as the United States had not extended their jurifdiclion to this diflricl:. I, there- fore, on my part, refolved to do neither ; but, to divert their attention from immediate acts of hoiliiity, propofed to them, to make a formal declaration of their being, by the late Treaty, Citizens of the United States, that they might have fome claim to protection ; but at the fame time not to lofe light of their perfonal fafety, and act on the defenlive only. This had the effecl I expected. On the Evening of Monday the I2th, Mr. Pope and myfelf received a verbal melfage from Governor Gayofo, by his Adjutant Major Minor, to the following pur- port, " Gentlemen, Governor Gayofo requefts the favour of an interview with you, all as private Gentlemen : the inter- view to be without the Fort, to fee if fome plan cannot be devifed to quiet the prefent duhirbance in the Country." To this meflage I replied, that " I had no objection to the pro- pofed interview, that I approved of peace, and would join in any meafures for that purpofe, confident with the honour and fafety of the people, who generally considered themfelves Ci- tizens of the United States. 1 ' Mr. Pope's anfvver was very different, and to the following effe&. " You will pleafe to in- form Governor Gayofo that I will not agree to the interview, nor have any correfpondence with him, but what mail be offi- cial ; and I will repel by force, any attempts that are made to imprifon thofe who claim the privileges of being Citizens of the United States.' 5 As the meflage was jointly to Mr. Pope and myfelf, and Mr. Pope would not attend, I informed Ma- jor Minor that I mould not attend alone. All my addrefs was now exerted to avert the ftorm, and bring it to a favourable iflue ; and I could fee no mode fo likely to anfvver the purpofe, as meafures apparently decided. Under this imprelTion, about 10 o'Clock in the Evening, after Major Minor had been with us, I entered my approbation to a letter written by Mr. Pope to a large number of the Inhabitants of this diflricl:, aiTcmbled at a Mr. Belt's, about nine miles from this place*. On the morning of the I3th, I received a letter (No. 2.) from Governor * This letter from Lieutenant Pope has fince been tranfmitted by Colonel Anthony Hutchins of the Natchez, to the Department of Slate, and is as follows. " Natchez Camp nth June 1797. " Fellow Citizens of the Diftrift of Natchez. Having received information that a number of you will be collected at my friend Belt's, in conformity to an indirect invitation fent to you for that purpofe, I have now pofitively to make the declaration to you that I have made this evening to Governor Gayofo, that I will at all hazards protect the Citizens, of the United States from every aft 11. Gayofo, to which I immediately returned an anfwer [No. 3.) The enfulng evening about it o'clock, I received a verbal mefTage, by Mr. George Cochran, contra&oi* for the United States at this poft, from Governor Gayofo, requeuing a private interview with me at the Hovife of Mr. Gochran (which is in the neighbourhood of the fort) at 9 o'Clock the next morning: to this I had no objection, as I fuppofed the objecl of the internet v/a*> to fall upon foine plan of an accommodation. The next morning, being the I4th, I met Governor Gayofo', according to his requft. He appeared much agitated at iir;.l, but foon became calm, and we entered upon the fubjecl: of the tumult in the Country: He was defirous to know upon what terms the people would be willing to difperfe. I pro- pofed the outlines of an accommodation, to which he acceded. In order to prevail on Mr. Pope to confcnt to an interview with Governor Gayofo, I fpoke to Mr. Cochran and feveral other of his friends, whofe influence prevailed, and the inter- view took place at the Government Houfe, about 5 o'Clock in the afternoon ; when, after fome difcuflion, the Governor propofed the terms (No. 4) on which he was willing to ac- commodate with the people : Mr. Pope had fome objections, but at length withdrew them. On Wednefday morning the Governor publifhed the Proclamation (No. 5.) founded in part upon the terms which were agreed upon at our interview. But this Proclamation had not the defirecl effe ; in fome places it was torn to pieces. The words " Candid repentance," ren- dered the whole obnoxious. The people confidered themfelves not only Citizens of the United States, but fupportino- a virtu- ous and honourable caufe ; and, therefore, in no need of c( re- pentance". As foon as I difcovered that the Proclamation had of hoftility I mean all fuch as refide North of the 31 ft Degree of North Latitude, or within thirty nine miles due South of the Natchez. I now therefore, call on you in the moft folemn manner, to come forward, aflfert your Rights, and you may rely on my linccre corroboration to accomplifh that defirable object. I mall expect your affiftance to repel any troops or hoftile parties that make an attempt to land for the purpofe of reinforcing this Garrifon or other purpofes detrimental to the Inhabitants of this Country. PIERCY S. POPE Commanding U. S. Troops, Natchez. From the prefent alarming fituation of this Country I fully approve of Captain Pope's letter of this date to his Fellow-Citizens a'ifenibled at Mr. Belt's. ANDREW ELLICOTT. Commiffioner U. S. nth June, 1797. A true Copy, Examined per THOMAS M. GREEN. 12. no effeft, I gave the information to the Governor's Adjutant, Major Minor. The bufmefs now put on a very ferious afpe&, and hoftilities appeared inevitable. By this time the opposition to the Spanifh Government had aflumed fome form ; a number of refpeclable militia companies had elected their officers, and were ready to take the field. Friday the i6th, it was agreed that a meeting of the principal Inhabitants of the diftricl: mould be held at Mr. Belt's on Tuefday the 2oth. In the mean time both fides continued their preparation. Companies of militia were forming and organizing in the Country ; and the Gover- nor exerting himfelf by ftrengthening and reinforcing the Fort. He called to his aid every perfon who would join him, either through attachment or fear : he was, neverthelefs too weak to attempt any offenfive operations. On Saturday, the iyth, about 10 o'Clock at night, a Spanifh patrole fell in with a patrole from our Camp, and fired upon it, the fire was returned ; but I believe that there was no damage done. On Sunday Evening, the i8th, I received a verbal meffage from the Go- vernor, by his Adjutant, Major Minor, requeuing a private interview with me the next morning, at the Houfe of his Adjutant ; to which I confented without any hefitation. The next morning h left the fort and rode by a circuitous route to the Adjutant's place, where I joined him. Our converfalion immediately turned upon the State of the Country ; he allured me that he was very defirous of coming upon fome terms of accommodation ; and as he underftood that I intended to attend the meeting the next day at Mr. Belt's, he requefted that I would be fo good to ufe my influence to bring about a com- prornife. I told him that was my object ; and that a plan had already been agreed upon by Colonel Hutch ins and myfelf, t check, and finally put an end to the prefent difturbance ; but no terms could now be expected that were not honourable for the people : they had felt their ftrength, and would only agree to return home by being admitted to enjoy a ftate of neutrality, fo far as it reipeded military operations, till the late treaty be- tween his Catholic Majefty and the United States mould be carried into effecT:. To this privilege I thought them entitled ; but to go farther would be impolitic, and probably attended with ruin to individuals, if not to the Diftricl:. As the Go- vernor did not appear diflatisfied with my obfervations, I took it for granted he would agree to a qualified neutrality. On Tuefday the 2oth, I attended the meeting at Mr. Belt's, which was large and refpe&able. Here it was concluded that a Committee fhould be appointed to take the fituation of the Country into confideration, and make arrangements with the Governor for reftoring peace and tranquility ; which arrangements mould, as a'greater fecufity to the people, be ratified by the Governor General, the Baron de Carondelet. Seven Gentlemen were accordingly elected as the Committee, and Mr. Pope and myfelf were requefted by the fame meeting, unanimoufly, to attend with them. The Committee immediately wrote a note to the Governor, inform- ing him of their election ; to which the Governor returned a polite reply;" exprefling his happinefs that this falutary mea- fure was adopted. " On Wednefday the 21 ft, the Committee met and proceeded to bufinefs ; and after much deliberation and feveral interviews with the Governor, the propofitions (No. 6.) on the 22d, were agreed to, and confirmed by the parties. On the fame day, Mr. Pope and myfelf prefented the Governor our engagement (No. 7.) to co-operate with the Committee, in preferving peace and good order in the Country. On the 230!, the Governor's Proclamation (No. 8) embracing the four propofitions was published, which gave general fatisfadtion, and once more reftored tranquility to the Di(tri6t: thus ended this tumult, without a fingle act of violence having been com- mitted during the fufpenfion of the Government and Laws, for the fpace of two weeks. From the Baron de Carondelet's Proclamation of the 3ift of May, it would appear that I had menaced the Spanifh Government of Louifiana. This is wholly a mifreprefentation, and calculated to anfwer the worfl of purpofes. Ever fince I came into this Country I have been a cultivator of peace and harmony between the Spanifh and American Governments, for which I have been frequently cenfured by many Citizens of the United States, who have come on to this place fince the ratification of the late Treaty between the United States and the King of Spain. But when the late tumult began, I could not hefitate as to the part I mould take; and in taking the part I did, peace was my main object. If my endeavours have had the leaft fhare in bringing about the honourable compromife between the Governor and the people, I mail think myfelf amply rewarded for the trouble and anxiety I have experienced on that occafion." The agreement between the Committee and Governor Gay- ofo, was in due time ratified by the Governor General, the Baron de Carondelet. Mr. Ellicott, in his letter of September i2th (which was received the i6th of November) mentions that Governor Gay- ofo had fucceeded the Baron de Carondelet as Governor and General in Chief of Louifiana, and gone to New-Orleans, and had committed the government of the Natchez diftrict to major Stephen Minor. His communications relative to the Choclaw nations, fhcw their friendly difpofition towards the United States, and deter- mination to remain at peace. It appears that there is an unhappy di (Tendon among the in- habitants of the Natchez ; one party blaming, and. the other decidedly juftifying the conducl of Mr. Ellicott, as uniformly calculated to maintain the tranquility and happinefs of the fettlement. At the head of the former is Colonel Anthony Hutchins. Mr. Ellicott pointedly denies the charge of the Spanifh Mi- nifler That he intended to get pofTeflion of the Natchez fort by furprize ; of which the miniver faid Governor Gayofo jpofTerTed the proofs ; and far from evading an inquiry, defires Governor Gayofo to furnifh the minifter with all the evidences he potteries to fubftantiate the charge. In his next letter, dated the 24th of September, Mr. Elli- cott inclofes a refolution (No. 9.) of the permanent Commit- tee manifesting their confidence in him, and requeuing him to reprefent the prefent fituation of the Diftricl to the Prefident of the United States, and alfo all the meafures which from his knowledge of the circumftances of the country, acquired by his reiidence there, he mall deem to be conducive to its future welfare ; "In the event of the late Treaty between his Catholic Majefty and the United States, being carried fully into effecV Mr. Ellicott has accordingly exprefTed his opinion, founded on very cogent reafons, that the form of government eftablifhed for the Northweftern Territory, will be the moft proper for the Natchez Diftricl: ; with the exception refpecling Slaves, which was admitted when the fame form of Government was given to the Territory fouth of the river Ohio, now the State of TennefTee. His information in this letter refpe6Ung the titles to-the Lands held in that Country by the Inhabitants, will be ufeful when the introduction of a Government there, under the authority of the United States, mall be contemplated. By the communications in this difpatch, it appears that the permanent Committee, which are confidered as an im- portant part in the prefent adminiftration of the affairs of the Natchez Diftricl, were chofen freely by the inhabitants, af- fembled with the confcntof the Governor, and that they have his approbation for their fteaay zeal in promoting the peace of the Country. On the 28th of November, I received Mr. Ellicott 's letter of the yth of October, at which time no change h ; ad taken place in affairs at Natchez. He inclofes the copy of a letter from Governor Gayofo, dated at New-Orleans the I4th of September, in anfwer to one from Mr. Ellicott of the 6th, in which he referred to the reprefen- tations of the Spanifh Minifter in his letter to me of the 24th of June laft (which, with other documents, was laid before Congrefs on the 3d of July) criminating Mr. Ellicott 's conduct at the Natchez ; particularly that he intended to poflefs him- felf of the Natchez fort by furprize ; and defired the Governor to furnifh the Minifter with thofe proofs which the Minifter had aiferted to be in his pofTefTion. In the Governor's anfwer of September I4th, he fays to Mr. Ellicott " I am fure the proofs in my poffeftion, that the Chevalier de Yrujo refers to, are the remainder of the copies of your letters to me, which be then had not, but long before this muft have received. You may be aflured I never made any other conftruction upon your expreftions than that which may be conceived by every perfon in the United States." In the fame letter of September 6th, Mr. Ellicott fays, " So far x as I can judge at prefent, all the obftacles which occafion- ed the delay on your part, in afcertainingthe boundary lines be- tween his Catholic Majefty's provinces of Eaft and Weft Flo- rida and the Territory of the United States are now removed : I, therefore, wifh to be informed when you can with conve- nience proceed to the running of the lines above mentioned." The Governor in his anfwer of the I4th, fays, " Thofe diffi- culties which alternatively have caufed a fufpenfion in the execution of that pajt of the Treaty between his Majefty and the United States, in which we have the honor to be concerned, JLibfift yet : and the conduct of the Spanifh officers is completely juflified to the world, by the publication of Mr. Blount's letter and the correfpondence between the Secretary of State and Mr., Lifton. Until the King, my mafter, has thofe aflurances which are neceffary from the United States, to fecure the lafe- ty of this Province, you cannot reafcnably expect that I mould be authorized to ?.ct in a different manner than hitherto. As, foon as I receive orders, removing the prefent obftacles, I fhall cheerfully proceed to the running of the boundary lines." To this Mr. Ellicott replied, and recited the obftacles to the execution of the Treaty which -at different times had been pre- fented by the Spanifh Governors, and which he conceived to. be completely removed by the declaration of the Prefidcnt in his meiTage to Congrefs, on the i2th of June, the uniform coa- duct of the United States in refpect to the Indian nations, and- the exhibition of facts refpecting the pretended expedition of the Englifh from Canada, and the navigation of the Miffifippi. Mr. Ellicott's next letter is dated at the Natchez the 27th of October, and was received the 5th inilant. lie fays that coun- try " Is in great confufion ;" owing to the intrigues which have produced two parties among the people, tic adds " Congrefs' at their laft feffion, by not coming to any decifion relative to this Territory, has weakened the intereft of the United States among the Inhabitants more than you can conceive. It has been artfully propagated, from that circumftance, that the Treaty in all probability will not be carried into effecl, and the country remain as heretofore under the jurifdiction of his Catholic Majefty:" which belief is producing its natural con- fequences. He reprefents the permanent Committee as unwearied in their endeavours to promote peace and good order, and the cha- racters of its members as among the firil in that Country for refpeclability ; which is confirmed by the Certificate (No. 10} of the temporary Governor, Major Minor ; which alfo (hows that they are acknowledged, as an authorized Body, by the Spaniili Government. His next letter is dated at the Natchez the I4th of Novem- ber, and was received the 4th inftant. He details the different fadts and circumftances which have led him to think that de- figns are carrying on in the diftricl: unfavorable to the Interefts gf the United States. Colonel Anthony Hutchins prefented to the temporary Go- vernor an application dated the 9th of Auguft, fetting forth, that altho' the Inhabitants in general in their prefent ftate of Neutrality, are well difpofed, and fubmit " To the prefiding authority and the prevailing laws that are now executed with mildnefs ;" yet conceiving and firmly believing that the Treaty between the United States and Spain will be carried into effecl:, " and that there is more than a probility that the United States will avail tbemf elves of the claim of dominion to the ^ift degree of north latitude: under which confideration they conceive it expedient to appoint a man of fome abilities, with the appellation of agent to addrefs Congrefs on important occafions, and that there may be alfo a Committee of Safety who may correfpond with fuch Agent, and from time to time communicate to him the fenfe and will of the people:" He therefore, " In behalf of a very refpeclable number of the Inhabitants of the Natchez, and at their requeft, folicits for permiflion that elections may be held in the fevcral diftri6ts within that Province and in the town of Natchez, to elect fuch Agent and fuch Committee of fafety and Correfpondence on the fecond of September" in the manner defcribed by Colonel Hutchins in his application. This required that the Alcaldes (or Juftices) fhould hold the ele&ions, or in their default certain afliftants, whom he names ; and that the Alcaldes 'and afiiftants mould not be eligible : it alfo propofed to admit as voters all the inhabitants fettled and refiding in the diftrict who were " not lefs than eighteen years of age.'" To this requeft of Colonel Hutchms, the temporary Go- vernor acceded ; as appears by his act (No. u.) dated the i6th of Auguft. " Immediately upon this being made public (fays Mr, Elli- cott) it excited confiderable alarm, and was generally confidered by the well difpofed inhabitants as an artful mcafure, calcu- lated to divide the people between the two Committees, which if effected, would in all probability end in a breach of the neu- trality by one or other of the parties, and thereby produce the re-eftablifhment of the Spanifh Government." Under this im- preflion, fix of the ten fub-divilions, of which this diitrict is compofed, protefted againft the election, of courfe there were but four elections held agreeably to the permiflion" Among the reafons affigned in the protefts againft this propofed elec- tion, were thefe ; " Becaufe (fay the protefters) we dread the effect of fuch a precedent, which appears to us to involve the feeds of anarchy, and an open contempt of the authority in- vefted in the Committee, our only legal reprefentatives." " Becaufe by the mode of election not lefs than thirty of our moft intelligent and refpectable citizens are rendered incompe- tent to ferve either as the faid Agent or in the Committee." " Becaufe it is calculated to introduce a direct innovation in the principles of election, by admitting to the privilege of vot- ing perfons of the age of eighteen" And " becaufe neither the powers of the Agent nor Committee are properly defined." Mr. Ellicott flares that the four perfons elected in the other four fub-divifions, " with Colonel Hutchins at their head," proceeded to bufinefs. Afterwards another member was added by the nomination of ten voices in one fub-divifion ; and a fixth was appointed by the fubfcription of fewer than thirty perfons. The committee thus conftituted, produced a very long " Petition and memorial" addrefled to the " Houfe of Reprefentatives of the United States in Congrefs afTembled," of which Mr. Ellicott has tranfmitted a copy ; but of which it does not feerri neceflary to anticipate the presentation to Congrefs by the agent to whom it may for that purpofe be committed. One object of the memorial feems to be to criminate the conduct of the American CommiMioner, Mr. Ellicott, and the commander of the troops^ Captain Pope. But proofs accompany Mr. Ellicott's communications that this part of the long memorial was con- cealed from many who fubfcribed it, and other teftimonies in vindication of thofe officers. The exhibition of thefe docu- ments, I have thought might alfo be fufpended, until the \^ ' Petition and memorial" were prefented to Congrefs. It may, however, be proper to remark, that the memorial, as well as the proceedings of the regularly appointed permanent com- mittee, view the aclual eftablifhment of a government at the Natchez, under the authority of the United States, as to take place only when its prefent ftate of neutrality (hall ceafe ; that is, when the Spaniih jurifdiclion fliall be withdrawn. But as this may happen when Congrefs is not in feflion, and, if in feffion, much time muft elapfe in the ordinary courfe of doing bufmefs, before the form of government proper to be introduced at the Natchez may be agreed on ; confidering alfo the further lapfe of |ime before it can be organized, and put in operation, in a country fo remote from the feat of the general government : it appears highly expedient that the fubjecl; fhould now be taken up, and the neceftary arrangements made, to prevent the incon- veniences and mifchiefs which may refult from leaving a popu- lation of five thoufand perfons, for any length of time, without the powers of government. It remains for me to make a few remarks on the letters of the Spaniih minifter of the 9th of October and 2ift of No- vember. The principal object of the former, appears to be, to intro- duce fome evidence to fhow that Mr. Ellicott and Lieutenant Pope had conducted towards the Spanifh government in a manner irregular, provoking, infulting, and in fome degree hoftile. He adduces, as proofs, the documents inclofed in his letter, and numbered from i to 6. The declaration that Governor Gayofo had pofitive advice that in the camp of Lieutenant Pope, fcaling ladders and arms were preparing, having for their object an aflault on the Natchez, fort, is perfectly new. I have never received an intimation of it from any other quarter. Befides, this charge refts only on " pofitive advice " not pofitive proof- and is doubtlefs without any proof. Governor Gayofo, in his letter of the 1 3th of June to Lieu- tenant Pope, fays he is informed that fome of the inhabitants intended to attack the fort ; and at his inftigation ; and aflcs whether he had ftirred up the people to take the fort ? or incited them to other hoftile acts ? To each of which queftions Lieu- tenant Pope pofitively anfwers, no. To fimilar queftions put to Mr. Ellicott he alfo peremptorily anfwers in the negative. The documents which the minifter himfelf has furnifhed con- tain thefe queftions and anfwers ; and mould have prevented the infmuation here noticed. The other charge in the fame paragraph, that Mr. Ellicott and Lieutenant Pope, difcouraged by the firmnefs and vigilance of Governor Gayofo, from attempting to take the forts at the Natchez and Nogales( Walnut Hills) by force or furprize, they availed themfelves of fome profligate people to excite an infur- rection, is alike void of foundation. The rife, progrefs, and iffue of the infurreclion is fatisfaclorily exhibited in Mr. El- licott's letter of June ayth, from which copious cxtracls have been herein before given. And with refpedl: to the fort at Walnut Hills, they could never have entertained the remoteft idea of taking it in one way or the other : its fituation being about one hundred miles from the Natchez, up the Miffifippi, and its garrifon compofed of a force probably two or three times fupcrior to that under the command of Lieutenant Pope. The minifler confiders as an infult towards the Spanifh go- vernment, the following expreflion of Mr. Ellicott in his letter of the 1 3th of June to Governor Gayofo : " The people can- not with propriety be ccnfured for recurring to that conduct which will ultimately fecure their felicity." " This (fays he) is clearly an indirect attack upon the Spanifh government, as unjuft as improper on the part of an agent of a friendly nation." It may be pertinent here to remark, That when Mr. Ellicott was commifHoned as the agent of the United States, nothing was lefs expected than that he would be obliged to enter upon a tedious controverfy with the Spaniih officers on fubj eels really foreign to the bufmefs of his million that of running the boun- dary line between the territories of the two nations. If, after waiting feveral months to begin that operation ; if, after being repeatedly promifed that it ihould very foon be commenced ; if, after repeated violations of thefe promifes, and others relative to the evacuation of the forts, and p roc rafti nations reding on a fucceflion of pretences, frivolous, unreafonable, and unfounded, Mr. Ellicott Ihould have felt fome irritation, and been provoked to fome indifcreet acts, it would not be furprifmg. Whether, however, any part of his conduct merits the charader of 'inclif- cretion, may be determined by the documents now and formerly exhibited ; for he has not fought concealment. But if the inhabitants thought, what Mr. Ellicott exprefTed, that a change from the jurifdidion of Spain to that of the United States " would ultimately fecure their felicity," it may be accounted for by a few fa&s, which will juftify both one and the other. It is well known that the inhabitants of the Natchez dif- tricl: confift chiefly of perfons who were formerly Britiih fubje&s and their defcendants, and of emigrants from the United States. All thefe, born and educated under forms of government fo efTentially different from that of an abfolute monarchy ; and, efpecially, in all criminal and civil caufes, accuftomed to a ,2O. mode of trial peculiarly dear to the inhabitants of England and of the United States, and which the conftitutions of the latter have fo formally and fcrupuloufly guarantied, the trial by jury : the inhabitants alfo being nearly all Proteftants ; and in the United States, perfons of all perfuafions enjoying the mod perfect religious as well as civil liberty, they could not be in- different to, it is impoilible that they fhould not prefer a jurif- diction, which would perfectly fecure to them both their civil and religious rights. I need not remark, that, under the Spanifh government, trial by jury is unknown ; and at the Natchez the Governor was the Legiflator and the Judge ; and regulated and retrained their civil and religious rights. As an inftance, might be cited Governor Gayofo's proclamation of the 29th of March 1797, numbered XV in the documents which were laid before Congrefs on the I2th of June laft. By that act he fufpends the collection of debts, and reflrains to private meetings the exercife of any other than the Catholic religion. Thefe are his w r ords " This being the feafon in which the planters are employed in preparing for an enfuing crop, none ihall be difturbed from that important object on account of their depending debts." " Liberty of conference is hereby pofitively explained to be, that no individual of this government ihall be molefted on account of religious principles ; and that they mall not be hindered in their private meetings; but no other public worjbip will be allowed but that generally eftablifhed in all his majeily's dominions, which is the Catholic religion" The minifler alfo complains that Mr. Ellicott and Mr. Pope interfered in political matters ; becaufe they engaged thein- lelves to co-operate with the committee appointed to preferve the peace and to obtain the due execution of juftice, and ap- proved of the proportions prefented to Governor Gayofo. But a recurrence to the foregoing narrative extracted from Mr, Ellicott's letter of the 27th of June, and the documents he refers to, will mow that both were requefted to interfere, and that they were called on by the Governor to be confulted on the means of putting an end to the infurrection and that the refult of that confultation was a plan of accommodation, a propofal of meafures which (as afTerted in another document not before quoted*) " through the influence of Mr. Ellicott and Captain Pope were adopted. :> A few words on the Spanifh minister's letter of the 21 ft of November, will conclude this report.. * Letter from George Cochran to the permanent committee, in Oc- tober. 21. Referring to his letter of the 6th of May, and to my anfwer of the 1 7th (which are among the documents laid before Con- grefs on the ryth of May) he fays " His Catholic Majefty has not obferved in the faid anfwer from you, any reafon to induce him to change his opinion concerning the injuries refult- ing to his fubjects from the ftipulations of the Englifh Treaty, compared with thofe of the Treaty with Spain, as well on the fubject of the articles of contraband, as on the principle adop- ted in ours, " That free (hips mail make free goods, &c." " But what has mod aftonifhed his Majefty, and confirmed him in the juftice of his pretenfions, is what you have faid in your anfwer with regard to the navigation of the Miflifippi." It is much to be regretted that difficulties mould be raifed and perfevered in, on qucftions fo plain and eafy to decide. Without entering again into a particular difcuffion of this fub- ject, a fmgle fact, which on the lyth of May, I fuppofed probable, and which I am now authorized to affert, is fuffi- cient to obviate all the objections and arguments which have been adduced by the Spanifh Minifter. It is this That when the 'Treaty between the United States and Spain was negocia- ted by Mr. Pinckney with the Prince of Peace, the latter was furnimed with an entire copy of the Treaty of Amity, Com- merce and Navigation, between the United States and Great Britain : confequently it is to the laft degree prepofterous for the Spanifh Government now to complain that the Treaty with Great Britain rejected the principle that " Free (hips made free goods," or that it extended the lift of Contraband. With a perfect knowledge of the articles of the Britifh Treaty on thefe points, if the Spanifh Government had any objections to make, that was the time ; and to have refufed to enter into different ftipulations with the United States ; but having, not- withftanding;, voluntarily entered into them, it cannot now offer and infift on fuch objections, without a manifeft depar- ture from the principles of candour and good faith. The fame obfervations will apply to the queftion concerning the navigation of the Miflifippi. In the firft place, the Spanifh Government, when its Trea- ty of Peace with Great Britain was concluded at Paris on the 3d of September 1783, by which Weft Florida was ceded to "Spain, well knew that by the Provifional Treaty between Great Britain and the United States, concluded at Paris the 3oth of November 1782, the articles of which conftituted the definitive Treaty of Peace between thefe two powers, it was ftipulated that " The navigation of the river Miflifippi, from its fource to the Ocean, (hall forever remain free and open to 22. the fubje&s of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.' 5 And yet even this ftipulation, which was inviolably binding on the United States, by the Provifional Articles be- fore mentioned, nine months before Weft Florida was ceded to Spain, is now ftrangely objected to by the Spanifh Minifter, and as a reproach to the United States ! In the next place, when our Treaty with Spain was con- cluded on the twenty feventh of October 1795, the Spanifh Government poflefled the like perfect knowledge, that eleven months preceding, viz. on the I9th of November 1794, in the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, between the United States and Great Britain, the above ftipulation of 1782 and 1783 was recognized in thefe words " The river Miffifippi lhall, however, according to the Treaty of Peace, be entirely open to both parties." And on this occafion the Spaniih Government did object ; it wifhed the United States to enter into a mutual ftipulation with Spain for the purpofe of excluding Great Britain from the Navigation of the Miftifippi: but the Minifter of the United States explicitly refufed to do it; and in writing afligned the reafon That it would violate the good Faith of the United States previouily pledged to Great Britain : and the Spanifh Government gave up this ob- jection, or the Minifter of the United States would not have concluded the Treaty. How truly aftonifhing is it, after all this, that the United States mould be reproached for the ftipu- lation with Great Britain refpecting the Navigation of the Miffifippi ! And as having thereby offended zn&infulted Spain ! And how long is our patience to be abufed by fuch unfounded charges ? But although the Chevalier de Yrujo, in his argument upon this point, refers alike to our treaty of peace with Great Bri- tain in 1783, to our treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navi- gation in 1794* and to the explanatory Article of the latter concluded on the 4th of May 1796, yet in the end, as if con- fcious that his obfervations, as applied to the two former, were impertinent, he confines his charge to the latter, and fays that " His Catholic Majefty has juft motives for being offended with the Explanatory^ Article figned on the 4th of May 1796." But neither does this explanatory Article contain any- new ftipulation. It recognifes the principle, that a fubfe- quent treaty cannot annul any ftipulation of a prior treaty, and declares, that the fubjects of His- Britannic Majefty and the Citizens of the United States, and the Indians dwelling on either fide of the boundary line between the two powers, " Shall remain at full liberty freely to pafs and repafs, by land or inland navigation, into the refpective territories and 2 3- countries of the contracting parties, on either fide of the faid boundary line, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with each other, according to the Jtipulations of the faid third article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation :" Thus recurring to, and refting upon the Treaty of November iQth, 1794, \vhich, as above obferved, the Chevalier himfelf finally aban- doned, as affording no caufe of complaint, and without which the Explanatory Article itfelf would be a nullity. TIMOTHY PICKERING. Department of State y January 22, 1798. DOCUMENTS. (No. i.) Proclamation of the Baron de Cartmdelet of the 31/2 cf May, 1797. THE Government being informed by his Majefty's AmbafTa- dor to the United States of America, that an expedition allein- bled on the lakes was intended to attack the Illinois, has judged neceflary, for the furety and tranquility of lower Louifiana, to fufpend the evacuation of the polls of Natchez and the Wal- nut Hills, being the only Pods that cover it ; the poiTeffion of which will put the Englifh in a fituation to difturb and ravage the Country, in cafe they render themfelves mailers of upper Louifiana, with fo much more facility, as by an article ot the Treaty concluded pofteriorly with Great Britain, the United States acknowledge that the Englifh may freely navigate and frequent the pods belonging to the faid States, fituated on the rivers in general, lakes, &c. being a man ifeft contradiction to the Treaty concluded with Spain, which it appears to annul, becaufe by this the United States acknowledge that no other nation can navigate upon the Miflifippi without the confent of Spain. Notwithstanding the legitimacy of thefe motives, the fuf- penfion has been reprefented to the Congrefs of the United States with all the neceifary veracity, and intimated by our orders to the Commiflary of limits, as well as to the Com- mandant of the detachment of American troops now at Natchez. We are now informed that a detachment of the Army of the United States cantoned on the Ohio, are on their way by Hol- ftein towards Natchez, while the militia of Cumberland are in- timated to hold themfelves ready to march at the rirft notice. Thefe hoftile difpofitions can naturally only concern thefe provinces, becaufe the United States are in peace with all the Savages. The anterior menaces of the Commiffary of limits and the Commandant of the detachment of Americans now at Natchez ; the immediate rupture (and if the American gazettes are to be believed) already effected between France our inti- mate Ally and the United States ; engage us to be on our guard to defend our property with that valour and energy which the D 26. Inhabitants of thefe provinces have manifeftcd on all occafions ; with the advantage and fuperiority which a knowledge of our local fituation will procure and with that confidence which right and juftice infpires. If the Congrefsof the United States had no hoftile intention againft thefe Provinces, they will either leave the Pod of Natchez, or the Walnut Hills, the only Bul- warks of lower Louifiana to flop the courfe of the Britifh, or if that they give us fecurtiy againft the article of the treaty with Great Britain which jexpofes lower Louifiana to be pillaged and deliroyed down to the Capital, we will then deliver up the faid pofts, and lay down our arms which they have forced us- to take up, by arming their Militia in time of peace, and fend- ing a confiderable body of troops by round-about ways to fur- prize us. New-Orleans, yjl May, 1797. (No. 2.) Governor Gayofo dc Lemos, to Andrew Elllcott, Ef quire. Natchez, yum I3th, 1797. S I R, BY repeated informations and by every appearance it feems paft a doubt that a number of the inhabitants of this govern- ment fubjedts of his Majefty are at prefent in a ftate of rebellion with the hoftile defign of attacking this fort. I am informed that yefterday feveral of the faid infurgents were riding through the country foliciting fubfcribers to a lift that already contained the names of feveral perfons who de- clared themfelves citizens of the United States of America, though they are actually under oath of allegiance to His Ma- jefty, and under whofe dominion and protection they have lived and enjoyed the benefits thereof, and the bearers of this lift declare themfelves commiflioned by you for that purpofe. I cannot prevail upon myfelf to believe that you have either authorized or encouraged fuch proceedings, as a conduct of that nature would unavoidably produce the moft difagreeable and fatal mifunderftanding between our nations, and the total de- ftruction of this diftrict. Therefore I requeft you to give me fuch a pofitive anfwer as will enable me to inform the Commander General of this province for the intelligence of His Majefty, of the part you take in thefe tranfactions ; and mould you take 'fuch an active part as it is reprefented you do, from this moment I proteft in the name of the faid Commander General againft fuch conduct, and, make you anfvverable for the fatal confeqtiences that may enfue. I repeat the requefl of a pofitive anfvver on this fubje6t. I have the honor to be with the greateft regard, Sir, your moll obedient humble fervant, MANUEL GAYOSO de LEMOS. Hon. Andrew Ellicott. Andrew Ellicott, Ef quire > to Governor Gaysfo de Lemos. Natchez, June I3th, 179". S I R, IN order to anfweryour letter of this day that (from the fpirh of it) denies the exigence of that principle which has been the object of a long train of difcufTion between us, I mud refer to your letter dated the I2th of March lad. In that letter you admit not only that Daniel Clarke's will be about the point of demarcation, but that the Cdmmiflioner of His Catholic Majefty would in all probability meet me at that place. As the treaty itfelf was a fa& notorious, fo likewife ought to be all the transactions attending it either in direct performance or open violation. The people therefore became acquainted with thofe circumftances that were the refult either of my obfer- vations, or the acquiefcence of the Spanifh governmemV^They were matters that involved their felicity, and could not from duty or decency be withheld. If on the prefent oocafion, the people have thought proper to adt in conformity to the intel- ligence received, which intelligence had the combined fanclions of the agents of both governments for its fupport is my agency to be afcribed, or my condudt to be called to account with regard to the effects ? A little enquiry into the human heart, would have enabled you, Sir, to have difcovered a more powerful caufe than any operation of mine on the prefent oc- cafion. The people confidered themfelves citizens of the United States^-they had a right to confider themfelves fo and they have lately come forward individually to exprefs their willies and mentions. After this fhort detail of what is the real caufe of the prefent didurbance, I might flatter myfelf with a complete acquittal on your part, did not the firit paragraph of your laft letter compel me to form a different conclufion. On what principle do you ftill retain the idea, that the citizens of this country are 28. iubje&s of His Catholic Majefty ? Is there not a compact deliberately entered into by the two nations to the contrary of your opinion ? Have not you acknowlcged me to be the agent of the United States to carry that compact into effect ? And have you not repeatedly pledged your word to co-operate with me in that defirable object ? Here I might with propriety afk what human alfurances could have gone further than thofe that have been made on your part ? Do all folemn obligations between nations depend upon chance, or caprice, or is there fuch a principle univerfally acknowleged among different na- tions as the law of nature and nations ? If your Excellency admits that there is fuch a principle as national law, I alTert that the inhabitants of this country cannot be ccnfidered as any wife fubje6ts of the Spanifh monarchy. If you deny the exiftence of the principle, I have only to obferve that the people cannot with propriety be cenfured for recurring to that conduct, which will ultimately fecure their felicity. I have thus far proceeded by way of argument in anfwer to your communication, from the whole of which you will readily infer a very natural conclufion, that the delay op your part, in carrying the late treaty into effect, added to the inva- riable nature of the human heart, have produced the evils of which you complain. But fincc you demand a pofitive reply to the general queflion, whether I am concerned in meafures deftructive of His Ca- tholic Majefty 's intereft, or in an attempt to attack the fort I give you my honor that I am not : you have affifted me in confirming the fentiment that this territory belongs to the Uni- ted States and I do now therefore on the part of the faid United States, as their agent, mod folemnly and pointedly, proteft againft the landing of any troops, or the reparation of any fortifications, in this territory above the 31 ft degree of north latitude, as I /hall confider all fuch conduct as a violation of the treaty, and an immediate attack, upon the honor and dignity of my country. I fhall now finally obferve, that from your verbal meffage by your Adjutant, Major Minor, I expected that your Ex- cellency would have propofed fome fcheme of accommodation that would have been confident with the juftice, and fenti- ment, of the countries we have the honor to ferve. Should you have any propofals to make for an accommo- dation, I allure you that I feel every wifh to enter into a dif- cuflion for that purpofe. I am, &c. A. ELLICOTT. (No. 4.) STATEMENT of the principles on which I find myfelf dif- pofed, according to my duty, to put in practice for the tran- quilityofthe Country. ift. That all the people in general now collected or are collecting in bodies, fhall dilpcrfe and return to their farms and continue peaceably their domeftic bufmefs. 2d. That by fo doing it is warranted to them that they fhall not be profecuted for the prefent difturbance. 3d. That as an explanation, to banilh fome doubtful appre- henfions that perhaps has given rife to the prefent difturbance, I aiVure the public there are no preparations againft them ; that the detachment of troops coming up the river is not in- tended for this place, and are to proceed to their deftination ; nor have I ordered any troops from Nogales to reinforce me. 4th. That no Indians have been called, that no roads have been or mall be flopped. 5th. That there is no war declared between His Catholic Majefty and the United States ; on the contrary it is the in- tention of his Majefty to continue the beft harmony between the two Nations, in confequence thereof I have not the leaft idea of acling in a hoflile manner againft any force or perfons belonging to the United States, and whilft this good intelli- gence fubfifts between the two nations, no alteration fhall be made on thefe principles ; on the contrary, I fhall employ my greateft exertions to make every refident of this Government as happy as poiFible, further I declare that they fhall not be embodied as Militia, but againft an invalion of this Country ; and if Military bodies fhall be wanted out of this Diftricl:, they fhall only be formed by volunteers. MANUEL GAYOSO de LEMOS. Natchez l^th June 1797. (No. 5 .) Don Manuel Gayofo de Lemos, Brigadier in the Royal Armies, Governor Military and Political of Natchez and its dependencies, &c. &f. &c. WHEREAS the confufion in which the Country is at pre- fent involved threatens the entire deft ru 61: ion of its Inhabitants ; jt is our duty to employ every means to fave them from certain .30- ruin, which will be inevitable if they do not liften to the fa- lutary advice which the Voice of humanity dictates to our con- ftant attention to the welfare of every individual of this Go- vernment lenity in its greateft extent accompanies the obedience that is required, and general forgivenefs will be the fruit of a candid repentance , and theexa6t compliance with the follow- ing conditions. From the day after the publication of the prefent Procla- mation, ail perfons collected in bodies, or are colle&ing for any purpofe not fanctioned by us, will immediately difperfe, and every individual retire to the place of his refidence, attend to his farm, or other occupation, in a peaceable manner, and confider himfelf in the fame light as before the prefent diftur- bance, never to aifemble again upon the fame principles as the prefent, nor conftder themfelves as bound to do it, when called upon fimilar purpofes, whilft under the Government and laws ot his Majefty. Any perfon who from attachment to the Government and Laws of his Majefty, and with a view to prevent the impend- ing calamity, ihould have aftembled in bodies aje likewife to difperfe. No perfcn fhall ever be upbraided on account of his differing in opinion with any other, which, when net carried to excefs is allowed to every man ; when it is not injurious to the Go- vernment, and consequently to the community in general, By fo complying a general forgivenefs is warranted to every perfon who has been concerned in tjie prefent diflurbance, and no enquiry (hall be made for their names. It has been reprefen.ted to us that the prefent commotion has partly arifen from the following apprehcnfiens. That a war might be actually declared between his Majefty and the United States of America. That forces were accumulating here to treat with rigor thofe Inhabitants who have manifeftecl a partiality for the Govern- ment of the United States, and that Indians had been called upon for their aftiftance. That the roads and water communications were flopped ; and that the Inhabitants were to be compelled to embody into Military Corps. To banifh thefe unfounded apprehenfions and finally tran- quillife the minds of the people, we do hereby allure them that no war ex ids between his Majefty and the United States ; but en the contrary the moft friendly intercourfe is recommended to both Nations. No forces are accumulating here, and thofe for Nogales* are for the fole purpofe' of oppofmg an alu,al -* The Walnut Hills. 3 1 - enemy. No Indians have been called. No interruptions have or dial 1 be put to land or water communications ; and under the prefent lituation of this Country, no corps of MiUth ihali be formed ; but if any mould be wanted, out of the Diftri&, volunteers only ihall be called for, except in cafe of an inva- fion, either by water or by land within the extent of this Go- vernment ; in which cafe natural defence and general fafety admits of no exceptions. The Alcaldes in each DiftricT:, or perfons commiifioned for the purpofeofpromulgingthis Proclamation are hereby ordered to make it public with all poflible expedition, that it may pro- duce the defirable good effeft. Given under my hand and the feal of my arms, and coun- terfigned by the Secretary of this Government. MANUEL GAYOSO de LEMOS. Natchez I4*h June 1797. J. VI DAL. (No. 6.) Don Manuel Gayofo de Lemos, Brigadier General in the Ryyal Ar- mies ', Governor Military and Political cf Natchez and its depen^ dencies, &c. SIR, THE following proportions being unanimoufly agreed to by us the underwritten (being a Committee appointed by a very numerous and refpedlable meeting of the Inhabitants of this Diftrift) and A. Ellicott, Citizen and Commiffioner of the United States, and P. S. Pope, commanding the United States troops on the Miflifippi, are fubmitted to your Excel- lency with a requeft that you may accede to and tranfniit a copy of the fame to the Baron de Carondelet, and obtain his concurrence in order to reftore tranquility to this Diftri6t. I ft. The Inhabitants of the diilricl of Natchez, who under the belief and perfuafion that they were citizens of the United States, agreeably to the late Treaty, have afTembled and embo- died themfelves, are not to be profecuted or injured for their conducT; on that account, but to ftand exonerated and acquitted. 2d. The Inhabitants of the Government aforefaid above the 31 ft degree of North Latitude, are not to be embodied as Mi- litia, or called upon to aid in any military operation except in cafe of an Indian invafion, or for the fuppreffion of riots during the prefent ftate of uncertainty, owing to the late treaty be- tween the United States and His Catholic Majefty not being fully carried into effect:. 3d. The laws of Spain in the above Di(t.rict lhall be conti- nued, and on all occafions be executed with mildnefs and mo- deration, norfhall any of the Inhabitants be tranfported as pri- foners out of this Government on any pretext whatever, and notwithstanding the operation of the law aforelaid is hereby admitted, yet the Inhabitants mail be confidered to be in an actual (late of neutrality during the continuance of their un- certainty, as mentioned in the fecond proportion. 4th. The Committee afore faid do engage to recommend it to our Constituents, and to the utmofi of ou-r power endeavour to preferve the peace and promote the due execution of jultice. We are your moil Obedient and Humble Servants, A. HUTCHINS, BERNARD LINTOT, ISAAC GUILLARD, CATO WEST, WILLIAM RATLIFF, GABRIEL BONOIST, JOSEPH BERNARD. Natchez, June 22 running the boundary line, &c. J Refolved, i. That the 5th refolve of the 29th ult. be refcinded, and that Mr. Ellicott whofe inclination for the intereft and hap- pinefs of this country we have a convincing proof of in his former communications to the general Government, publifhed fmce and now in our hands, and who, from his refidence for feveral months amongft us is well acquainted with the circum- ftances of this Country, be requefted to reprefent our prefent fituation to his Excellency the Prefident of the United States, and likewife all the meafures which he mail deem to be condu- cive to the future welfare of this Country in the event of the late treaty between His Catholic Majefty and the United States being carried fully into effecl:. True Copy. G. BENOIST, Secretary. (No. 10.) Don Stephen Minor 9 Captain in the Royal Armies, Aid, Major and Governor, pro tern, of the Natchez and its dependencies, &c. I DO certify that Colonel Peter Bryan Bruin, Daniel Clark, Jofeph Barnard, Frederick Kimball, Gabriel Benoift, Ifaac Gaillard, Philander Smith, Roger Dixon and William Ratliff, Efquires, members of the Permanent Committee, duly elected by the people at large, under the fandion of Government, are the true and ible reprefentatives of the Inhabitants of this G- 35- vernment, and that faith is due to their proceedings as fuch, as alfo to the reprefentations they may make in behalf of the pub- lic in all cafes. In Teftimony whereof I have hereunto fet my hand and affixed my feal, at Government Houfc, (L. S.) Natchez, this 'fixteenth day of September, one thou- fand feven hundred and ninety feven. STEPHEN MINOR. I do certify that the above is a true copy of a Certificate obtained from Governor Minor, by the Committee, and lodged among their files. D. GILLESPIE, Secretary to the American Commif- \ fioner and permanent Committee. / (No. 11.) Stephen Minor, Efquire, Captain in the Royal Armies, and Go- vernor of the Natchez for the time being. IT being the undeniable and unalienable right of Free- men, to aflemble in an orderly and peaceable manner for the purpofe of confulting and deliberating on their mutual intereft, no oppofition {hall be made by the officers of his Catholic Ma- jefty to any affembly, whether partial or general, of the inha- bitants refiding in this diftrift, if conducted upon the princi- ples of good order and decorum. I do therefore hereby grant permiflion for the aflemblies or meetings, required in this addrefs, to take place on the day appointed and in manner recommended. STEPHEN MINOR. Augujl 16, 1797. (No. 12.) 'The Chevalier de Trujo, Minlfter Plenipotentiary of his Catholic Majejiy, &c. &c. to Timothy Pickering, Efquire, Secretary of State. S I R, YOUR additional report to the Prefident of the United States of the proceedings of the Officers of the King of Spain, in relation to the poft and the running of the boundary line, I which I find pub limed in all the newfpapers, obliges me to 36- trouble you with this letter. If your difcufiion of facts had been as correct and impartial as there was reafon to expect, I mould not have been under the neceffity of undertaking this talk ; but the conftruction which you are plcafed to put upon every act of the Spanifh Officers in general, and efpecially upon thofe in which I am perfonally concerned, compels me toobferve up- on feveral expreffions, which I have noticed in your laid Report, You begin, Sir, with faying, " that altho' I had declared I had juft reafons for fufpecting an expedition from Canada \vas preparing by the Britifh againft the upper parts of Louifiana, yet I never had mentioned a fmgle fact or reafon on which my fufpicion was founded." In my letter of the 2d of March, I pointed out to you the probable route which the expedition would take, and in our conference of the 2yth of February, I gave you information that a corps of 350 men had been railed at Montreal, and marched towards the Lakes, where, after the evacuation of the American fort?, there was no often flble object for them. I alfo told you that I knew that the Briiith Agents had treated with fome of the Indian Nations in that country, concerning the intended expedition, and I added, that I had received thofe advices from a perfon who might be depended on, who had feen thofe new levies paffing thro' Johnftown, on their way to the weftward. But, even fuppoimg that I had not entered into any particalars, even ftippoing that my information at that period was not com- plete, yet did not the intereft and dignity of this Government did not its friendly connection with Spain, require that it mould have taken every proper means to prevent the attempt we were threatened with, by giving fuitable orders to Gene- ral Wilkinfon, or to the Commanding Officers of the Mili- tary Force on thofe frontiers ? The abfolute filence in this particular of the documents which accompany the Report of the Secretary of \V ar, your never having communicated to me any determinate difpofition on this point, as you do in your an- fwer to my letter, which in the publication is marked No. 7. afford me fufficient grounds to fear that thefe precautions were omitted. ^ You add, Sir, with a degree of candour difficult to be conceived, that from my not having given to you detailed information refpecting the expedition, and from the anfwer which you received on the io,th ultimo, from the Britifh Mini- jler, you believed my fufpicions to be groundlefs. Is it poffi- ble, that any one will candidly imagine, that if the Engliih intended to violate the territory of the United States, in order to effect a coup de mam, they would be as ingenious in anfwer- ing, as you were in afking their Minifter the queftion ? I mail riot enter into all the obfervations which iuggeft 37- themfelves to my mind from your having communicated to Mr. Lifton the contents of my letters. I expected that the American Government would have watched his motions, and taken the means which I have already mentioned to prevent the fuccefs of a fimilar enterprize ; but I never could have imagin- ed that you would have given to the Britifh Minifler a piece of advice, which might enable him to alter his plan, by .letting him know that the former one was discovered. By the line of conduct which you have perfued in this bufmefs, I am con- vinced, that had I communicated to you more particular de- tails refpecting this tranfaction, you would, with the fame good-natured franknefs, have given information of them to Mr. Lifton. But, if you did believe that afking this queftion of the Britifh Envoy was the mod efficacious means to prevent the violation of the neutrality of the United States, and the invafion of the Spanifh territory, let me afk why you was lo rcmiis in this meafure, that although I had communicated this project to you verbally, on the 27th of February, and on the 2d of March, in writing;;, yet, in a matter obvioully fo urgent, you only wrote to the Britifh. Envoy on the 28th of April, that ij, t-iw* ninths afterwards r I ihall not quit this fubje^, without taking the liberty of making to you one obfervatinn which is intimately count with it. By the date of the letter I have juil mentioned, it evidently appears that I gave you advice of this intended expe- dition on the fecond of March, and that three days before y I had given you the fame information, verbally. I imagined from your known attention to bufinefs, and the importance of the fubject, that you would have fubmitted it immediately to the confederation of the Prelident of the United States. On the qth of March, I had the honor of (peaking to Mr. Adams, at his lodgings at Francis's Hotel, and mentioned this fubjecl; as a matter that I {uppofed him already fully informed of; arid, it was with no fmall furprize I heard him fay, that he knew nothing about it. I produced the map, which I had in my pccket-book, and he liftened with great attention to all that I had to fay to him. It was no doubt to this conference with Mr. Adams, that I was indebted to your anfwer of the nth of the fame month. I mail entirely abftain from putting any construction upon the reafons which induced you to omit mak- ing this communication to the Preiident ; but they mud have been very powerful motives which could oblige you to remain fl> long filent on a matter of fuch importance. You fay, in the third paragraph of your Report, that on your afking me what meafures Spain had taken in order to carry into execution that part of the Treaty which relates to the with- drawing the garrifons, I anfwered you on the I ^th of April, that I had been for fome months without receiving letters from the Baron, and confequently " was entirely ignorant of the fteps which had been taken for the execution of the Treaty." From this expreflion, which, in order to draw attention, you place between inverted commas, you infmuate an inference which in my opinion is very far from being true, when you add, immediately afterwards : " Nevertheless, he had previouJJy Informed the Baron of his fufpicions of a projected expedition." What is tliis to prove, Sir ? That the Baron indeed had re- ceived my letters, but not that I had received his. The irre- gularity and uncertainty of navigation eafily ihows that your logic on this point is extremely falfe. In the lifth paragraph, after giving an account of my letter of the 24th ultimo, and of its object, you obferve that I have omitted to mention, among the other complaints of the Baron that of Mr. Eliicott's not having given him notice of his arrival at Natchez. Permit me, Sir, to reprefent to you, that you have entirely miftaken what I had the honor of telling you on that occafion, for I fimply mentioned, not as a complaint, but as a mere obfervation, that the Baron, in the rigour, might not have coniidered Mr. Ellicott as an American Corn mifti oner, for not having given him on his arrival official notice of his ap- pointment, having merely informed him of it in the way of a confidential communication. You cannot be ignorant, Sir, that there are certain requifite formalities when Nations treat with one another of their mutual concerns, which are not re- quired between individuals. The Baron, when he fpeaks in this manner, clearly points out his meaning, that, befides the confidential letter, the communication of which you conjider as Jo important, no doubt he expected another official one, includ- ing his Commiflion, Authority, or fome other document, to afcertain the identity of the perfon, and the object of his mif- fion. When, on my arrival in this country, I had not yet prefented my credentials to the Prefident, although I had de- livered to you a copy of them, you might, in the rigour, not have recognized me as the Envoy Extraordinary of the King my Mailer, for want of having complied with that necefTary requifite of the eftabifhed etiquette. I do not mean to fay that in the prefent cafe it was absolutely neceflary to go through a fimilar formality ; nor did the Baron mention this but as a mere matter of obfervaticn, which was not to affect: the object in quef- tion, although you, thinking that it affords you a victorious argument, are pleafed to give to this circumftance an impor- tance which it does not deferve. Befides, Sir, I might ob- 39- ferve to you, that when, after a mixed and defultory conver- fation upon various fubjects, I had collected and methodized my ideas, and committed them to writing, your anfwer and obfervations ought to have been confined to the written com- munication, clothed with all the neceffary formalities; but neither do I wiih to make of this an object of difcuflion. The proof which you give in the fixth paragraph of your Report, to mew that it is not certain that Mr. Ellicott intended to get poffeflion of Natchez by furprize, and that for that pur- pofe he had endeavoured to gain over the inhabitants, is merely negative. From your examination of the two perfons you mention, you had very little to expect : the circumftance alone of their being the bearers of Mr. Ellicott's difpatches, points out that they were both in his confidence; and it may be pre- fumed without temerity, that being his friends, or employed under his orders, they would hardly make a denunciation that might be prejudicial to him. Governor Gayofo declares that he has proofs of the fact in his power. I ihallnot fail to apply to him for them, and perhaps I may one day fpeak to you more pofitively on this bufmeis. After having difcuffed the hiftory of thefe tranfactions with all the force and accuracy which refult from thefe obfervations, you allure with a very ill-grounded confidence, that upon a view of the whole it appears that His Majefty's Governors on the Miflifippi, have, on various pretences, poftponed the run- ning of the boundary line and the evacuation of the pofts. But I appeal to that candour which you have fo generoufly fhewn to the Britifh Minifler, that you may tell me, whether it can be called a pretence, that the Baron de Carondelet, who was entrufted with the fafety of Louifiana, refufed to carry into execution a pretention that ^uas not ftipulated for by the treaty ? By the fecond article it is only agreed that the garrlfons (hall be withdrawn ; and as I had the honor of reprefenting to you in my letter of the 24th ultimo, it is not to be prefumed that it could ever have been the intention of his Catholic Majefty to deliver up fortifications, which, befides that they have coft him confiderable fums of money, may by the effect of political vi- ciflitudes, be one day prejudicial to his fubjects. If not to do what was not ftipulated for, and the execution of which would be contrary to the interefts of Spain, is a pretence, we mult confefs that it is a very plaufible one. With refpect to the line of demarcation, it appears by the cofrefpondence and letters of the Baron de Carondelet, which are in my pofleflion, that although he entertained the fame doubts which were fuggefted by Governor Gayofo refpecting the pofts, yet he was confenting, that the aftronomical obfer- 40. vations fhouldbe begun upon, for which purpofe the Engineer Mr. de Guillemand had already arrived at the Natchez, with all the inftruments and apparatus. Such was the fituation of things when my communications refpe&ing the intended expe- dition got to hand ; from that moment imperious neceflity, and the great principle of felf-defence, made His Catholic Majefty's Officers turn their thoughts to objects of a more ur- gent nature. Mr. Blount's letter, and the late detected con- fpiracy, evince how far their conduct in this refpecl: was ne- ceffary ; and you, Sir, pofleft as you were, of all the facts, when you laid the facts before the Prefident, ought to have been one of the laft to have ftigmatized the motives with the epithet of pretexts. So palpable an attempt to make ground- lefsand unfair impreffions on the public mind, is well calcu- lated to defeat its own ends, and appear (till more extraordi- nary when we confider that the American Government is in every way anxious, by its own confeffion, to maintain peace and harmony with Spain. Nor do your ill-founded infinuations ftop here : fentiments and expreflions ftill more violent, flow from that fame hafty pen. You fay in another part, that there is but too much reafon to believe Mr. Ellicott's fufpicions well-founded, that an undue influence has been exercifed over the Indians by the Officers of his Catholic Majefty, to prepare them for a rupture with the United States. Fortunately, Sir, you have told us the fource whence you derived all thofe dreadful conjectures of your's; other- wife, perhaps, the weight and authority which your high official character ftamps upon whatever you write or fay, might make an undue impreffion on the public. You acknow- ledge, Sir, 'twas a private letter of Mr. Sargent's (Secretary of the North-weftern Territory) that gave rife to your furmi- fes : we ihall now fee what the letter lays. [ No. 14. ] Extract of a letter from Winthrop Sargent, Ef quire. Secretary of the North-weftern Territory, to the Secretary of State, dated Cincinnati, June ^d, 1797. GENERAL WILKINSON fending off an exprefs, I feize the occafion to tranfcribe for you fome paragraphs from a weftern letter. " The Spaniards are reinforcing their upper pofts on the Miflifippi considerably. General Howard, an Irifhman, in quality of Commander in Chief, with upwards of three hun- dred men, is arrived at St. Louis, and employed in erecting very formidable works. It Hkewife appears through various channels, that they are inviting a great number of Indians of the territory to crofs the Milfifippi ; and for this exprefs purpofe, Mr. Lorromie, an officer in the pay of the Crown, made a tour through all this country laft fall, iince which time feveral Indians have been font on the fame errand, and gene- rally furnifhed with plenty of caih to defray their expeiices. " A large party of Delaware* patted down on White River about the 6th of May, on their way to the Spanilh fide, bear- ing the national flag of Spain, fome of them from Saint Louis. " They (the Spaniards) have above the mouth of the Ohio, on the Miillfippi, feveral row-gallies with cannon." Now, Sir, what inference can be drawn from that letter ? Why, that the Spaniards have fortified San Luis, and availed themfelves of every means of defence that the country afforded! But let me afk you, Sir, againft whom it is that they were thus preparing to defend themfelves ? Surelv the documents which you have laid before the Prefident, and the momentous bufmefs which now engages the attention of Congrefs, and agitates the public at large, afford a complete and fatisfa&ory anfwer. I mention to you, in my letter of 2d March, that the object of the Britifh was to attack Upper Louifiana, and take San Luis and New Madrid by furprize. It will not be queflioned but that prudence required of us, at that juncture, to fortify the threatened points. This, Sir, was all we did; and this, Sir, you knew many months paft ; yet Mr. Sargent's letter, which in fubftance fays no more, fills you all at once with fears and feif-created apprehenfions, and makes you declare in the face of the American people, " that the Spanifh Officers are exciting the Indians to a rupture with us." No one will fay, that preparations for our felf-defence were not necelThry on our part. The aifurance given you by the Britifh Minifter, with all the appearance of a confidential commuuication, but without any fignature, did not infpire the feryants of his Catho- lic Majeity with the fame blind confidence which it produced in you. We know from daily experience how religioufly the Britifh nation obferves the rights of neutrality. Witnefs the American failors ! Witnefs the Republic of Genoa, in whofe port they attacked and made prize of the French frigate La Mod-ode, as me lay at anchor there. Witnefs the inhabitants of Trinidad, when the Britifh, though then in amity with them, entered their capital, with drums beating and colours Hying, in purfuit of a few French, who had taken refuge there. Thefe and other inftances of the fort, too numerous to be recapitulated, make us lefs credulous on the fcore of Great- Britain's refpect for the rights of neutrality than you appear to -have been, F 42. As to thofc tender confiderations which actuated the Britiilr Minifter to reject the plan on account of the inhumanity of calling in the aid of the Indians, I did expect that fuch vague, unauthenticated declarations, would have been appreciated as they deferved by you, Sir, who fought in the glorious caufe of American Independence, who witneiTed the humanity of their conduct in the courfe of that war, and who cannot be ignorant of what has happened lince. Your afcribing hoftile views to the preparations for our felf- defence, .cannot, Sir, have been matter of much furprize to me, after having heard a certain Member of Congrefs, who is known to be the organ of the will of adminiftration, declare in that Houfe that he afcribed to the fame motives the prepa- rations we were making for the defence of Florida, though probably he was not ignorant, at the very time, of their real objecl:. Thus then, Sir, according to your mode of reafoning, and that of the Gentleman I have juft alluded to, though we were certain of being attacked, and though we were not cer- tain that the American Government had taken the proper mea- fures for protecting its neutrality, yet we were to adopt no meafures for our defence, but tamely fuffer his Majefty's forts and pofFeffions to be taken, and all this for fear of creating ill- founded fufpicions in your minds ! If you have not been very fuccefsful, Sir, in the folidity of your reafonings, you appear not to be more fo in the method of following them. After having denounced us to the whole American nation as ftirring up the Indians againft the United States, and preparing them for a rupture, you fall into the moft glaring inconfiftency in the following paragraph : Whether this plan of exciting the Indians to direfl hoftilities againji the United States, has been contemplated and promoted by any of our own Citi- zens, it may be difficult to fay ; but that one or more of thofe Citizens have propped and taken meafures to detach the Southern Indians from the inter ejh of the United States, and to deftroy the influence of the pub- lic Agents over thofe nations, and thus to defeat the great objects of their appointment, the chief of which is to preferve peace, is certain. I again appeal here, Sir, to your generous candor. How is it pofTible to reconcile fuch evident contradictions ? On the one hand the Spanim Officers are thofe who excite the Southern Indians againft the United States, and on the other you quickly follow prefuming, with fufficient foundation in my opinion, that it may be fome Citizens of the United States. But al- though you might entertain any doubts yourfelf on the fubjecT:, which I am fure no perfon in America will after reading Mr. Blount's letter, did not this very fame doubtful cafe and uncer- tainty, require in your fituation more circumfpeft language ? 43- And if even in this cafe you appear to have gone beyond what found policy, the tranquility and intereft of the United States required, how much more unjuit are your infmuations againft Spain, when the public poffefs, in Mr. Bloimt's letter, a do- cument by which they can fee, that if the manoeuvres with the Indians were not favourable to the United States, they were precifely combined to attack the Spaniards? From this me- thod of reafoning of yours, it appears as if the Spaniards were, jointly with Mr. Blount, ftirring up the Indians to attack them! elves. Refpecting the laft article of your Report, I have only to ob- ferve, that although you have constantly allured me that Go- vernment had not the leaft information refpecling the fubjecl: of my reprefentations, and although the letter of Mr. Jackfon, of Georgia, appears to coincide with your ideas, neverthelcfs time has fhewn that I have complied with my duty by not re- pofing on fuch aflurances. The plot is discovered, and no- body any longer doubts that the expedition was to have taken place. After having followed you ftep by ftep through the various points of your Report to the Prefident, I iTiall make a fhort com- pendium of fuch as arife from this letter ; from which it re- fults, 1. That on the 27th of February, I gave you fufficient par- ticulars refpeding the intended expedition, to have attracted the attention of this Government. 2. That although to this verbal communication, I added another in writing on the ad of March, the Prefident had not the leaft knowledge of it on the Qth of the fame month, and that without doubt you muft have had very powerful motives to prevent you from communicating it to him. 3. That it does not appear by the documents prefented by the Secretary of War, that Government had given orders to the military Commanders to caufe the territory and neutrality of the United States to be refpe&ed. 4. That you made to the Englifh Minifter, a communica- tion, which in my opinion you ought not, and that even if you thought it neceffary^ you delayed doing it for two months, that is, from the 2yth of February to the 28th of April, although it refpecled a mod urgent and important object. 5. That the Baron de Carondelet could very well have re- ceived my letter, without its neceffarily following that his had come to hand. 6. That the Baron did not reprefent Mr. Ellicott's not writ- ing to him officially as a complaint, but as an obj'ervatlon y and that in facl he never has done it in thofe terms. 44- 7- That the proofs you allege to exculpate Mr. Ellicott, refpecting his intentions of taking the Fort of Natchez by fur- prize, are purely negative. 8. That it is not merely pretences, but very powerful rea- fons, which have impeded the evacuation of the Polls, and the running of the Boundary Line. 9. That the infmuations with which you are willing to per- fuade the American People that our arming is directed againfl them, are unjufl as well as unfounded, as by Mr. Blount's letter it is clearly demonftrated to be a precaution for the mere purpofe of defence. 10. That 'you evidently contradict yourfelf, when on one hand you are pleafed to attribute to us the movements of the Indians, and in the very next paragraph you fhew it might proceed from American citizens, as it actually does according to Mr. Blount's letter ; and that he acted with the knowledge and intelligence of the very fame Britifh Minifler, in whofe Private Notes, without Jignature, and perhaps not of his own hand writing, you place fuch implicit confidence. 11. That although in all your official communications, you have always manifefled to me that the American Government knew of nothing which indicated any foundation for my fuf- picions, Mr. Blount's letter clearly proves that I was perfectly in the right. I have thus fulfilled a very difagreeable duty. Always de- firous to contribute to ftrengthen the bauds of friendfhip which unite Spain and America, and to which their fituation, their wants and refources, invite them, I have fecn with the mofl pro- found grief, that the language and tenor of your communication to the Preftdcnt, is not, in my opinion, calculated to promote fo defirable an object to us all. For my part, although I (hall leave nothing undone, to cement the union and harmony with a Nation which I refpect ; neither mail I ever fuffer the in- terefls of the King, my Mailer, in any cafe whatever, to be facrificed to an unjufl partiality. I pray God to preferve you many years. Tour moft obedient humble fervant, CARLOS MARTINEZ DE YRUJO. Philadelphia, July n, 1797. 45' (No. 13.) Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State, to the Chevalier de ?>///*, En- voy Extraordinary and Minifter Plenipotentiary of His Catholic Majefty, to the United States of America. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Philadelphia, Auguji %tb, 1797. S I R, I DULY received your letter of the nth of the laft month, to which my other engagements have till this time prevented an anfwer. My additional Report to the Prefklent of the United States, on the 3d of July, in relation to Spanifh affairs has offended, you, and is mentioned as the caufe of your .writing to me on the nth. If, Sir, I were now to make the juft remarks and recriminations which your letter obvioufly fuggefts, I am afraid you would be ftill more offended. I am not fure, indeed, that I can poflibly frame an anfwer that will efcape your dif- pleafure : but I fhall endeavour that it be exprerTed not in a Kyle indecorous, unufual, and unbecoming a diplomatic corre- fpondence, while it contains a fair expofition of facts and ar- guments, in oppofition to errors and actual mifreprefentations. In refpedt to your fufpicions of an expedition preparing on the lakes by the Britifh, for an attack upon upper Louifiana, I have faid that you never mentioned a fingle tact or reafon on which your fufpicions were founded. In contradiction to this aiTertion, you fay that " In our conference, on the 2"th of February, you gave me information that a corps of 3^0 men had been raifed at Montreal and marched towards the lakes, where, after the evacuation of the American ports, there was no oftenfible object for them :" " That you knew that the Britifh agents had treated with fome of the Indian na- tions in that country, concerning the intended expedition ; and that you added, that you had received thofe advices from a perfon who might be depended on, who had feen thefe new levies palling through Johnftown, on their way to the weft- ward." To this, Sir, I anfwer, That I have not the flighted recollection that you mentioned either of thefe circumstances ; that the Secretary of War happened to come into my office while we were converfing, at which you expreiTed your fatis- faction, and repeated your fufpicions, and he fays you then mentioned no fact or reafon as the ground thereof ; and that when I mentioned the fubject to the Prefident, certainly within fcn or twelve days after this conference, I perfectly remember making to him this remark That in your letter of March ad, you faid you had three days bfore declared to me the^'w/? reafons you had for fupe&ing that the Englifh were preparing the expe- dition in queftion ; whereas you had offered me no reafon at all. Hence I am obliged to conclude that you might have held fuch 'a convcrfation with fome other perfon, and by miftake have applied it to me. The Englifh raifmg 350 men marching them through Johnftown and tampering with the Indians to promote the expedition were circumftances which appeared perfectly new to me when I received your letter of the nth inftant. I remember alfo, that the conference ended by your faying you would write to me on the fubjefl ; which evidently im- plied that your written reprefentation was to be the bafis of any act of mine, or of the government. In that letter, Sir, if you poffeffed any grounds for your fufpicions, you ought to have ftated them. For, contrary to the opinion you have now exprelTed, I have no hefitation in faying that the government of the United States was not bound to talte notice of the vague and unfupported fufpicions of any minifter ; at leaft not to in- cur expenie, by its military arrangements, to prevent an ima- ginary expedition, fuch as was the object of yours. When you made a formal ftatement of your fufpicions, but without any fact to mew that they were founded ; when the govern- ment of the United States pofTeired no other information nor the knowledge of any circumftances indicative of the expedition ;' and when in itfelf it appeared deftitute of even the fhadow of probability ; it was an act of complaifance to aflure you that it u would be anxious to maintain the rights of their neutral fitu- ation, and on all occafions adopt and purfue thofe meafures which fliould appear proper and expedient for that end." What thefe meafures fliould be, and when to be .taken, thd government itfelf would judge. It was an act of ftill greater complaifance, when on the 2ift of April you renewed the declaration of your fufpicions, but Jl'tll without aligning any reafons, for the government to refolve on, and to communicate to you, what you are pleafed to allow to be a " determinate difpofition on this point." In the next fentence (as in many others) you mifreprefent my expreflions and mifunderftand my meaning. I do not fay, that " from your not having given me detailed information re-l fpectingthe expedition, and from the anfwer which I received! from the Britifh minifter on the i9th of June, I believed the] expedition to be groundlefs :" But after remarking that yoi^ never mentioned a fingle fact or reafon to fupport your fufpi-; cions I fay, " From all the exijlmg circumjtances I ever believ- ed the fufpicion to be groundlefs." If proofs hadexifted, ycvf 47- would have produced them : For although intrigues and confpl- racies for the purpofe of a military expedition may long be concealed ; yet the preparations for an expedition (and fuch you fuggefted were making) mufl be vifible to many ; efpecially '* on the lakes," where every movement for fuch a defign would be unufual, and therefore attract the more attention ; and fa- tisfactory proofs of fuch preparations would have been attaina- ble : but you produced none. Another material circmnftance I muft notice That troops of the United 'States were ftationed at Niagara, on the Miami, at Detroit, and Michilimackinack ; and confequently in fitu- ations well calculated to protect our territory, as well as to difcover or get information of, any warlike preparations fo coniiderable as fuch an expedition would require ; and the of- ficers commanding on thofe ftations could not have failed to communicate fuch difcoveries or information tq the Depart- ment of War : Yet no fuch communications were made. But it was alfo well known that they had not on the lakes a force adequate to the interprize in queftion. I confidered alfo the great difficulties that would attend the tranfportation of troops, equipage, provifions, cannon, and ftores, by either of the routes fuggefted if either could have been taken with- out violating the territory of the United States. Thefe were circumftances abundantly fufficient to difcredit naked fufpicions ; and the declaration of Mr. Lifton, in his note of the 1 9th of June, was mentioned only as confirming the juftnefs of the opinion which I had at firft formed in March, and which I continued to entertain of your fufpicions. I might add, that at that early period, Mr. Liiton airured me that he had no knowledge of fuch an expedition ; and his inquiries of the Governor-general of Canada and the Britilh Secretary of State, have enabled him pofitively to allert, in the above note, that no fuch expedition was ever intended. And this fact re- pels your fuggeftions that I had been " remifs" in not doing for two months, what, on my own principles, was proper to hav ( been done. But you think I ought not to have communi- cated your fufpicions of this expedition to the Britiih minifter, although " his motions were to be watched." You think, on the contrary, that the Prefident fhould " have given fuitaWc orders to General Wilkinfon, or to the commanding officer -of the military force on thofe frontiers;" but have kept a perfect filence towards the Britilh have let them complete their pre- parations (if any had been making) and collect their army on the lakes have let them move forward, until they mould enter upon the territory of the United States : snd feeing the Prefi- ^ent could not know beforehand, whether they would profe- 4 8. cute their march by " Fox River and Ouifconfin, or the .Illinois,'* we may fuppofe your ideas of the " fiiitable orders'' to the mi- litary to be that at a great expenfe the troops of the United States mould be drawn into that country and divided into corps, to be polled on thofe rivers, to have fought the Britifh army, and thus have defeated the enterprize. Sir, this is not the only inftance in which, after having defired the American govern- ment to do fome aft interetting to your own, you have then prefumed to dictate how it fhould be done. " But (you fay) you never could have imagined, that I would have given to the Britifh minifter a piece of advice, which might enable him to alter his plan, by letting him know that the former one was difcovered." And what, Sir, was the plan of the Britifh to defeat which you defired the American go- vernment to interfere ? Why, according to your fufpic ions, it was to march an army through the territory of the United States again ft ' Upper Loui/iana. If then the communication of your fufpicions to Mr. Litton would induce him to " alter his plan" it would by a word or a letter, inftead of an army, defeat the expedition ; for it was not poilible it mould go forward except through the territory of the United States ; and confequently the communication, inftead of disappointing, would have per- fectly accompli/lied what you requeued. In your 5th paragraph, you are pleafed to mention what you confider as another omifTion of duty, That although on the sd of March you wrote your fufpicions, and three days before you mentioned them verbally, yet on the gth, I had not laid the matter before the Prefident. I will take the trouble to mow with how little reafon you have made this remark. The fe- cond of March was the day next preceding the diflblution of Congrcfs ; and at the clofe of a fefilqri the Prefident is over- whelmed with bufmefs that cannot be poftponed. On the third the then Prefident's term of office expired. On the 4th the inauguration of the fucceeding Prefident was celebrated. The 5th of March was Sunday. The five following days were not unoccupied ; and on the eleventh of March the anfwer to your letter of the 2d was given. And although you attach much importance to your fufpicions, the details I have given prove that they were then dettitute of probability, that they were in fa6t unfounded ; and confequently of no importance ; that as fuch I then juftly confidered them ; and therefore needed no " very powerful" motives to remain filent fve days. I cannot but regret that my reafoning is fo often not under- flood. When reciting my inquiry whether the potts occupied by the troops of Spain within the territory of the United States, had been evacuated ; and your anfwer, that not having for fomc . 49- months heard from die Baron de Carondelet, you " were deprived of any information touching the fteps taken for the execution of the treaty." I put thefe lafl words between inverted commas,, not as you fay, " in order to draw attention" but becaufe they were an exadl quotation from the tranflation of your letter. And when I added, in my report, " nevcrthelefs he (the minifter of his Catholic Majefty) had previoufly informed the Baron de Carondelet of his fufpicions of a projected expedition from Canada ;" it was not to prove either that the Baron had received your letters, or that you had received his : but as that very in- formation was afligned by the Baron as a reafon for ftill retain- ing and reinforcing the pods, the obvious conclufion was that you wrote and transmitted to him the information with that view : and hence, that inftead of difclaiming all knowledge on the fubjecl, candour ihould have induced you to anfwer me, That although you had not received any late letters from the Baron, and therefore you could not fay what fteps had actually been taken for the evacuation of the ports, yet that on account of the fufpected expedition from the Lakes, of which you had informed the Baron, you prefumed for you advifed, and probably you did advife) that he would ftill hold pollefTion of them "to cover Louifiana." This " logic," Sir, I hope is intelligible ; and at any rate, not " extremely falfe." I cannot omit noticing your obfervations on the 5th para- graph of my report. If, as you were obliging enough to pro- ruife, you had favoured me with copies of the Baron dc Caron- delet's two letters (of which you undertook to give me an oral but literal tranflation) inftead of their " fubftance," I might have been more corre6t in reciting his affertion That Mr. Ellicott had not given him notice of his arrival at the Natchez as the Commiffioner of the United States for running the boun- dary line. Whether this was a complaint , or an " okfervation" as you choofe to call it, every reader of your letter will fee to be of no confequence. But whether the aflertion was founded or unfounded, was material ; feeing, in the fame letter, Mr. Ellicott is charged with having " carried his zeal fo far as to attempt to get poiretfion of the fort of the Natchez by fur- prize ;" and an affertion fallows, that " Governor Gayofo fays he has in his power documents which prove evidently the inten- tion of this attempt." This accufation againft Mr. Eljicott I confidered as injurious, not to him only but to the government ; for which in the character of commiffioner he was appointed to acl:. If other circumftances induced me to doubt its correcT:- nefs, the other complaint or tf obfcrvation," which I knew to be unfounded, could not but increafe my doubts. It was jm- G 5 o. portant, therefore,' and my duy, to prefent them together to the Present's notice. I have not " entirely miftaken" this matter. In my report to the Prefident, I did not undertake to recite what you "mentioned," but what you tranjlated from the Baron de Carondelet's letters : you repeated the charge in qucftion ; and it was not till then that I handed ycu the copies of the Baron's and Mr. Ellicott's correfpondence fhewing the re- pugnance of fact to affertion ; and it was then that you blufhed ; as I had before been aftonifhed. And your remark, afterwards, was what I have itated in my report, " That you fuppofed the Baron did not confider Mr. Ellicott's letter as official." You then made no diftinction between a complaint and an t( obferva- fion," nor ufed the phrafe " in the rigour," nor any other qualifying words ; except thofe which are flated in my report. Eefides, the Baron had no right to expect any other evidence of Mr. Ellicott's appointment than his letter, until they mould meet for the purpofe of commencing the bufmefs of their ap- pointments ; when of coui fe they would mutually exhibit their commiffions. And from the Baron's anfwer of the ift of March, it is plain that he expected no other notice : for he therein recognizes Mr. Ellicott as the commiflioner of the United States. In the laft fentence.of your paragraph on this fubject you fay, " That when after a mixed and defultory converfation up- on various fubjects, you had collected and methodized your Ideas, and committed them to writing, my anfwer and obferva- tions ought to have been confined to the written communica- tion." This obfervation, Sir, is inaccurate. It may, however, be applied to a former part of your letter. You fay that in our conference on the 2yth of February, you mentioned to me the raifing of 350 men at Montreal that your informer faw them pafs through Johnftown and that you knew the Britiih agents had treated with fome of the Indian nations concerning an expedition preparing on the lakes. But in your letter of the 2d of March, in which you were " to col- lect and methodize your ideas" oh the fubject of your fufpi- cions, you do not introduce one of thofe fufpicions : of courfe, on your own principles, I ought, if they ever had been men- tioned, to have considered them as nullities. In the 8th paragraph of your letter, you obferve that my proof obtained from Mr. Ellicott's mefiengers, that he did not attempt to get pofTeirion of the Natchez fort by furprize, is merely negative. I offered it only as fuch. But the negative teftimony of two men of good characters againft a fact which they were likely to be acquainted with, if it exifted, and jwhofe existence other circumftarices rendered improbable, and fi 1 - the afieriion of which is mingled wtih aflcrtion.?, by the fame perfon, of other fa6ts, of which fome, or even one, is known* to be unfounded, merits confideration. There is, however, further evidence applicable to this cafe. In the letter dated at the Natchez the 5th of May, from Lieutenant Pope to Gover- nor Gayofo, you will fee that the governor had made the like accufation againft the lieutenant. " A gentleman had inform- ed him (the governor) that the lieutenant intended to attack the garrifon at that place.' 5 Lieutenant Pope, juitly hurt by the groundlefs affertion, dcfircs the informer may be named, and required to acquit himfelf of his alfertion, or be punifhcd as a falfe accufer. ' The governor anfvvers the next day,- fpeaks of the information as communicated to Lieutenant Pope in familiar cwverfation ; and adds, that the informer was to be dejpljed. Yet from the pointed- manner in which Lieutenant Pope made the demand, it is evident that the information was prefented to him as a ferious accufation. After 'this detail, will it not be conjectured, that the governor's " documents" refpedling Mr. Ellicott's " attempt" are of a piece with his " famijiar converfation" with Lieutenant Pope concerning his " intended attack ?" In the Qth paragraph of your letter, you fay that " after having difcufied the hiftory of thefe tranfadlions, with all tiic force and accuracy which refult from thefe obfervations, I af- fure, with a very ill-grounded confidence, that upon a view of the whole it appears, that his majefty's governors on the Miflifippi have on various pretences, psftponed the running of the boundary line and the evacuation of the pofts." I mull here alfo complain of mifreprefentation. I did not' in my re- port draw my conclulions from the hiflory of tbcfe tranuicli- ons that is, of the tranfa&ions which you have previoujly^ men- tioned in your letter, and which I have already noticed in this anfwer: but " Upon a view of the whole corrcfpondence then and before fubmitted to the Prefident." This correfpondence I will now examine, to fee whether the caufes afligned by the Spanifh governors, for poftponing the running of the boundary line and evacuating the pofts, merit the name of reaf of Spain and the United States, to iecure to the inhabitants of the Natchez the right to their real property: that that right could not be fecured but by an additional article to the late treaty ; and that he ihould keep poifeiTion of the country until that article ihould be officially communicated to him ; and until they were fure that the Indians would be pacific. This laft reafon particularly warrants niy aflertion That the governors meant for an indefinite period to avoid an evacuation of the ports for while a tribe of Indians exifted in that quar- ter, the governors could not be Jure that they would be pacific. And as to their real property, feeing the great body of the in- habitants appear not to defire the patronage of the Spanifh go- vernment to fecure it : As the government of the United States mr.il be at lead as an,x'ious as that of Spain to protect the inha- bitants in their rights, when become ciiizens of the United States : I believe there can be no difficulty in deciding whe- ther this is a reafon or a pretence. Eefides, the negociation mentioned by the governor about the real property of the inhabi- tants^ has never exifted; nor even been -propofed or hinted, either to or by the government of the United States. I hope, therefore, it will not be deemed harih, or unbecoming in a letter of this kind, to fay, that this motive for fufpending the evacuation of the pofts that a negociation was then on foot to fecure the real property of the inhabitants does not merit the title even of a pretence. So foon as the governor discovered that his proclamations, inftead of quieting the minds of the inhabitants, produced a contrary erFecl:, he fent tw r o gentlemen of the fettlement to inform Mr. Ellicott that he, the governor, had received di- rections from the Baron de Carondelet to have the artillery and military ftores expeditioufly removed from the forts, which Were to be given up to the troops of the United States imme- diately on their arrival. As this information did not remove fufpicions, Mr. EHicott wrote the governor on the 3ift of March, dating divers circumftances which (till kept thofe fuf- picions alive. The governor anfwered on the fame day in di- rect contradiction to the information given by the gentlemen, his agents, to Mr. EHicott, and confirming the declarations made in his proclamations. He added alfo a new motive for retaining the pofts, viz. That the treaty left it doubtful 'whether, when the pofts (hould be evacuated, the works were 51- to be left Handing, or. to be demoiiflied , concerning which the governor general found himfelf obliged to confult his Ca- tholic Majefty ; and had given the governor pofitive orders to fufpend trie evacuations of the ports until the matter ihould be amicably fettled between the two governments. On the id of May, another motive is affigned for retaining the pods The envoy of his Catholic Majefty in the United States, had informed the governor general cf an attack pro- pofed againft the Spanifli part of Illinois (the upper part of Louisiana) by the British from Canada, and, therefore, the pofts at the Walnut Hills and the Natchez muft be kept for the defence of lower Louifiana. This laft motive is alio offered as a reafon why the running of the boundary line is poftporied ; as ail their attention was drawn towards the defence of the province-, againft an iuva- iion which, a$ I have already mown, was never contemplated. To all thefe facts, I.lsave to add the declaration of Ge- neral Wilkinfon, in his letter of June 2d, to the Secretary of War " I have (fays he) information through a confidential channel, that it was determined as early as September loft, not to give up the pofts on the MiHifippi." If this information be correct, no other proof is neceifary to mew that all the rea^ fons from time to. time fuggefted for not evacuating the pofts were mere pretences.. I have here brought into one view the moft material facts relating to the queftion between us, * which are fcattered throughout the reports made by me to the Prefident of the United States on the loth of Jiine and 3d of July, and by the Secretary of War on the 3oth of June, and the documents ac- companying them, as they have been published. And from this brief recital it evidently appears, as I have faid in my re- port " That the governors of his Catholic Majefty, on the Miflifippi, have, on various pretences, poftponed the running of the boundary line, and the withdrawing of his troops from the pofts they occupied within the territory of the United States : And that after repeated overtures, promifes, and appearances of commencing the execution of the treaty be- tween the two nations, in both thefe refpects, their conduct demonftrates, that for an indefinite period they meant to avoid doing either/' You controvert this conclufion only on one ground. You fay that the Treaty ftipulated merely that the Spanifh garnfons mould be withdrawn, not that fortifications which might one day be prejudicial to the king's fubjects, mould be delivered up : and hence you infer that the neceiiity urged by the two governors of delaying to withdraw the gar-rifons until this queftion' is de- 55- cided between the two governments, is not a pretence , but a fubftantial reafon. Here I mufl pbferve that the governors, had already demoliilied the poft at the Chickafaw bluff: And it appears in the foregoing recital that they were going to de- molilli the port at the Walnut Hills : and the reafon afligned is that the treaties with the Indians required the demolition : and governor Gayofo ailigns but one motive for fufpending that Operation that he had been informed of the unfettled difpofl- tion of the Indians ; yet afterwards this reafon (that their trea- ties with the Indians required the demolition of the ports) is forgotten, and their destruction, or their delivery with all the fortifications and other works Handing, is by the governors made to depend entirely on the ilfue of a negociation between the governments of Spain and the United States! Can any farther proof be wanting to juftify me in calling this a pretence? But you feem to rely on this your conftru&ion of the Treaty rela- tive to the pofts : You have urged it in your letter to me of the 24th of June ; and therefore I will confider it. The 2d article of the Treaty having defcribed the boundaries between the territories of the United States and Spain, thus proceeds " And it is agreed that if there mould be any troops garrifons or fettlements of either party, in the territory of the other, according to the above mentioned boundaries, they ihall be withdrawn from the faid territories within the term of fix months after the ratification of this treaty, or fooner if it be poilible : And that they (hall be permitted to take with them all the goods and effecls which they poiTefs." But to juftify your retention of the pofts, you fay that the demarcation of the boundary line fhould precede the withdrawing of the Camions : Yet you fuppofe it probable and his Catholic Majefty's gover- nors well knew, that the Chickafaw bluff the Walnut Hills* and the Natchez are within the territory of the United States. Governor Gayofo fpeaks of the boundary line as being near Clarkefville, a place many miles below the Natchez ; and he alfo knew the refult of Mr. Ellicott's aftronomical obfervations on the fpot, which afcertained the Natchez to be about thirty nine miles north of the fouth boundary of the United States. There being then not a fhadow of doubt with refpecl to the pofition of thele pofts that they are all within the territory of the United States, there was no neceffity previoufly to run and mark the boundary line : which befides, if fet about in good earneft, it would take at leaft a year to accomplifh, through a wildernefsof many hundred miles in extent; and therefore it never could have been contemplated as neceiTary to precede the ^evacuation of the pofts which was to be effected injtx mcntbs, orfoonerifpoftwk. Yet fifteen months have elapfed, and yon itill keep pofleffion. But you fuggeft that it is at lead doubtful whether by the Treaty it was intended to leave the fortifications ftanding, when the garrifon fhould be withdrawn. You fay " It is not to be prefumed that it could ever have been the intention of his Catholic Majefty to deliver up fortifications, which, befides that they had cofl him confiderable fums of money, may, by the effe from which it was itipulated to " withdraw" an army or a garrifon, would be fuch an aclt of barbarifm as ought ne- Ver to take place among civilized nations. One of the lateft treaties made by the United States (that with Great-Britain) has the fame phrafe " His Majefty will withdrew all his troops and garrifons from all ports and places within the boundary lines afligned by the treaty of peace to the United States. This evacuation mall take place on or before the firft day of June 1796." Andthefeexpreflionsareufedin the fame treaty as equi- valent to " the delivery of the faid pofts." The Britifh treaty was in this manner accordingly carried into efFect the Britifh troops were withdrawn, and the works left jlanding. The Britifh officers were even careful not to expofe the works to accidental deft rut ion : for as the American troops did not reach the pofts by the firft of June, fmali Britifh guards were left to preferve the works from injury until the American troops arrived. By the treaty concluded at Versailles the 3^ of September 1783, between Great-Britain and Spain, it was agreed, "That the King of Great-Britain fhould caufe Eaft Florida to be eva- cuated three months after the ratification of that treaty, or foon- er, if it could be done." The evacuation took place, but no demolition of fortifications. In the preliminary articles of peace between England, France and Spain, figned the ^d of November 1762, it was ftipulated " That as foon as poffible after the ratification of thefe preli- minaries, France fhould evacuate Cleves, Wefel and Guelders, s 57- and generally all the countries belonging to the King of Pruf- fia :" were tbofe places demolifhcdy or the country laid wafte, when the troops withdrew r Or were there any fubfequent negocia- ations to remove any doubts on the fubjecl ? But I have dwelt too long on a point that really required no elucidation. On this, as well as on another occafion, you have thought fit to upbraid me with (hewing to the Britifh Minifter a degree of candour and confidence which you infmuate he does not de- ferve, and which, you feem to think, I have withheld from you. Yet, Sir, all the declarations made to me by that Mini- fter, verbally and in writing, touching the points in contro- verfy between you and me, have been verified. As I have alrea- dy fa id, you declared to me that you had jult reafons for fufpe cl- ing that an expedition was preparing on the lakes by the Fng- lifh, in order to attack Upper Louifiana. The Britiih Mini- fter, in the firft inftance, affured me that he had no knowledge .of it and his fubfequent enquiries enabled him further to af- fure me that no fuch expedition had been or was intended by the Britifh government. And I have in another place offered other reafons which confirm the truth of thefe aiTurances. Yet you tell me, that the allurance given me by the Britifh Mini- fter, but without anyfignature did not infpire the fervantsof h is Catholic Majefty with the fame blind confidence, which it produ- ced in me. I lhall take no other notice of this remark, thau to put you right in point of facl. The note of the Britiih Mi- nifter containing the affiurance to which you refer, is not " without a fignature:" This (like other official notes from that Minifter) has his fignature his name written with his own hand at the head of it. You declared to me " that you knew to a certainty that the Englifh had made propofitions to General Clarke, of Georgia, in order to avail themfelves of his influence in that State, to- gether with fome other perfons, for making a diverfion, or fe- rious attack againft Florida." The Britiih Minifter informed me that although he knew nothing of General Clarke or his expedition from Georgia, a proportion had been made to him (the Britiih Minifter) for an expedition againft the Floridas : but that he told the proje&or, that he had no' power to autho- rize it : and befides, that there were among other objections to the plan, two of great weight one that the Indians were to be employed the other, that it would violate the neutral rights of the United States. The Britifti Minifter has fince (hewn me an original letter from Lord Grenville, dated the 8th of laft April, in which he informs tjie Minifter, that if H 58- there were no other objections to the plan, the two mentioned by him, viz. that it could not be executed without employing the Indians arid without violating the rights of the United States, would be fufficient to induce the Britifh government to reject it. This proves, Sir, that Mr Lifton's declarations on this point were not " vague and unauthentic" as you pronounce them, but in ftricr. conformity with truth. As to General Clarke of Georgia, the Britifh Minifter decla- red he had never even heard of him ; and the extra6t of the let- ter from Mr. Jackfon, the diftridl attorney of Georgia, refpect- ing General Clarke and any expedition forming there, in behalf of the Erigti/h againft the Floridas, will incline every candid enquirer at leaft to doubt whether fuch a project has ever been propofed to him. We fhall afterwards fee that Mr. Blount's plot does not appear to have any connection with an expedition under General Clarke. Thus you fee, Sir, that I have not blindly placed a confidence in the Britilh Minifter : for aught that has yet appeared, he was entitled to the credit he has received. I return to your letter. You mention your communications to the Baron de Carondelet refpecting the intended expedition from Canada : from that moment, you fay, imperious neceiTity, and the great principle of felf defence, made his Catholic Ma- jefty's officers turn their thoughts to objects of a more urgent nature than running the boundary line. And here you intro- duce " Mr. Blount's letter, and the late detected confpiracy, as evincing how far their conduct in this refpect was necef- fary.'"' It is wonderful, Sir, that you mould attempt to make it be believed that Mr. Blount's letter and the late detected con- fpiracy had any connection with the expedition which you fug- gefted was preparing on the lakes of Canada againft Upper Louifiana. All that is yet difcovered of Mr. Blount's project or confpiracy, proves that it was to have been formed in one of the States South of the River Ohio ; and that it was deftined againft the Floridas, and perhaps Lower Louiiiana, I, there- fore, feel myfelf, for this and the other reafons before exhibit- ed, ftill warranted in confidering the fufpeded Canada expedi- tion among the pretexts for delaying to evacuate the pofts, and to run the boundary line : and consequently that your charge, that I have in this inftance "palpably attempted to make groundlefs and unfair impreffions on the public mind," is alike unfounded and unbecoming your public character to fuggeft. In your next paragraph you thus addrefs me. " Nor do your ill founded iniinuations ftop here : fentiments and expref- fions ftill more violent, flow from that fame hafty pen." This paifage is in perfect correfpondence with the general drain of 59- your letter. Whether your charge is correctly made is now to be examined. I am ready to confefs that my report thus ftigmatifed was, from the preiiure ofbufmefs, written in hafte : but a revificm of it fatisfies me, nevertheless, that it is not inaccurate in its ftatements. You quote the pafTage in my report which has called forth this reproach ; it is in thefe words " That there is but too much reafon to believe Mr. Ellicott's fufpicions well founded, that an undue influence has been exercifed over the Indians by the officers of his Catholic Majefty, to prepare them for a rup- ture with the United States." And then you lay that I men-' tion the fource of thefe " dreadful conjectures" to be, a private letter from Mr. Sargent, Secretary of the North-weftern Ter- ritory. Here you are extremely incorrect ; as ufual when you undertake to recite my conclufions and the facts and circum- ftances jupon which they are formed. It is from " a view of the whole correfpondence" referred to in my reports of the roth of June and ^d of July. On the intelligence received by the Secretary of War and the private letter from Colonel Sargent, that I drew the conclufion you have quoted. Mr. Eilicott formed his fufpicions on the fpot, from what was pairing before him ; and he is not a carelefs or undifcern- ing obfervcr. General Wilkinfon fays " Letters from all quarters an- nounce the di (contents and menacing afpect of the Savages ; , two white men have been recently murdered on the Ohio below the Cumberland ; and the Savages beyond the Miffifippi, and thofe who pafs Maifac, make no hefitation to avow their pur- pofe for war." And then he refers to a letter from Colonel Hamtramck, who commands the United S.tates troops at De- troit, in which the Colonel fays " I am pretty fure that both the French and Spaniards have Emiiraries among the Indians. I have it from indubitable authority, that a large belt [by which he meant a Speech] from the Spaniards is now travelling through the different nations ;" meaning the nations within the territories of the United States. Colonel Sargent writes, it is x true, a private letter ; but it is to a public Officer ; and his fituation as Secretary, and Governor for the time, of the North-weftern Territory, would render it his duty to be vigilent for its fafety ; and his character vouches for the accuracy of his information ; and you do not queftion the truth of any part of his ftatement. After mentioning that the Spaniards were reinforcing their v upper pofts on the Miffifippi, that upwards of three hundred men had arrived at St. Louis and were electing formidable 6. works ; he adds " It likewife appears, through various chan- nels, that they are inviting a great number of Indians of the territory (meaning of the United States north-well of the Ohio) to crofs the Miffifippi : And for this exprefs purpofe Mr. Lor- amie, an officer in the pay of the crown, made a tour through all this country lafl fall ; fmce which time feveral Indians have been fent on the fame errand, and generally furnifhed with plenty of cafh to defray their expenfes" " A large party of the Delawares parted down White River about the 6th of May, on their way to the Spanifh fide, bearing the national flag of Spam fent them from St. Louis. Lieutenant Pope, in his letter of May gth to the Secretary of War, fays" There have been feveral attempts made to draw on the Indians upon my troops : I have fully afcertained this fal, and demanded of the Governor to have a principal a6lor immediately brought to punifhment, or fent out of the country. He has been fent for, and is now on board of one of the gallies which is 'now about defcending the river." And, Sir, if you enquire, you will find that this " principal a6lor" (Rapelje by name) was one of Governor Gayofo's agents. Thefe, Sir, are the grounds on which I exprefTed the opi- nion, That there was but too much reafon to believe Mr. Ellicott's fufpicions well founded, that the officers of Spain had exercifed an undue influence over the Indians to prepare them- for a rupture with the United States. This detail, Sir, ftrikingly (hews how little you have under- flood, and how entirely you have mifreprefented my reafoning on this fubjecl:. I leave you to reconcile your reflections on the Britifh Minifler and his nation for their inhumanity in employ- ing the Indians in the American war, with your j unification of the Spanifh officers at this time, in fecuring the' aid of the In- dians in your war with the Britifh. " The Spaniards (you fay) have fortified St. Louis and availed themf elves of EVERY MEANS OF DEFENCE which the country afforded ;" meaning by the in- genious expreffion every means of defence which the country afford- ed, the employing of the Indians. You are pleafed next to charge me, in your cuflomary flile, with " falling into the mod glaring mconfiftency" becaufe I re- mark that although, " it may be difficult to fay whether this plan of exciting the Indians to direc~l hoflilities againft the United States, has been contemplated and promoted by any of our own citizens ; yet it is certain that one or more of thofe citizens have propofed and taken meafures to detach the fouth- ern Indians from the interefts of the United States, and to de- {Iroy the influence of the public agents over thofe nations, and thus to defeat the great objects of their appointment ; the chief of which is to preferve peace." Having quoted this paflage from my report, you a(k " How is it poffible to reconcile ftich evident contradictions' 1 On the one hand the Spanifh officers are thofe who excite the fouthern Indians againft the United States, and on the other you quickly follow prefuming, with fufficient foundation in my opinion, that it may be fome citizens of the United States." Allow me, Sir, to afk in my turn, How it was poffible for you not to fee that here there is no contradiction? Is it not very poffi- ble that the Spanifh officers might be courting the Chickafaws, who live above the. Natchez, with large prefents, and be pre- paring the Choctaws, who dwell along the Natchez diftrict, and the Delawares, Shawanefe, Miamis, and other tribes dwelling in the territory north-wed of the Ohio, for waragainfl the United States, while Mr. Blount and his agents were detach- ing the fouthern tribes of Chcrokees and Creeks from the in- terefls of the United States, and eventually to aid the Britifli in an enterprize againft the Floridas ? The Cherokees and Creeks, you might have feen, were the only Indian nations mentioned in governor Blount's letter. And is it not very poffible, if thefe two nations ihould thus be led to war againft the Spanifh pofleiiions, that they might not be excited to direEt hoftilities againft the United States ? And, therefore, that although Mr. Blount might contemplate the former, he might abftain from the latter ? And is not then my cautious manner of fpeaking of this latter, perfectly correct ? I am happy to arrive at your laft obfervation. And I wifli it was not, like the reft, exceptionable and incorrect. Thefe- are your words " Reflecting the laft article of your report, I have only to obferve, that although you have conftantly allured me that government had not the leaft information re- fpecting the fubject of my reprefentations, and although the letter of Mr. Jackfon, of Georgia, appears to coincide with your ideas, nevertheless time has fhewn that I have complied with my duty by not repofing on fuch afiurances. The plot is difcovered, and nobody any longer doubts the expedition was to have taken place." The expreffion that " you complied with your duty in not repofing on fuch a durances" may mean that you thought the aiTurances deceitful^ and, therefore, not meriting belief. Per- haps you did not intend this. Perhaps you meant no more than that the government had been " remifs" in its duty, in not purfuing with eagernefs the trains of your various fufpici- xons. But I muft fhow you that here (as in all other inftances, your criminations are void of foundation, in either point of view. 62. The laft article of the report refpects general Clarke of Georgia, to -whom you faid " you knew of a certainty that the Engliih had made proportions,, in order to avail themfelves of his influence in that iiate, with fome other perfons, for mak- ing a diverfion or ferious attack againll Florida:" and you add that " you do not doubt that in confeqtience of your informa- tion, the executive government will take the proper fteps that Georgia alfo mould not infringe the laws of neutrality." Here you confine your requefts to Georgia, that me might not in- fringe the laws of neutrality : and my letter to Charles Jack- fon, efquire, the diflrict attorney of that (late, mows that the government took prompt meafures to defeat the project of general Clarke and his aflbciates, if fuch a project exifted. _ I fuppofe none did exift : You acknowledge that the letter from Mr. Jack fon coincides with my ideas. Your " certain know- ledge" of an intended expedition in favour of the Englifh from Georgia againft Florida, under general Clarke, you have ne- ver fupported by a madow of evidence. If you pofleifed any evidence of the fact, it would be eafy to produce it. What you call your " certain knowledge" could reft only on infor- mation, or the teftimony of others, which might be as falfe or as vague and inconclufive, as the information about the Canada expedition ; which I hope I have proved, to your con- viction, never to have exilted, even in idea. Yet you declared tome that you had " jitft reafzns for fufpecting that expedition was preparing on the lakes:" and hence how can I avoid con- cluding, that your " certain knowledge" in one cafe, like your " juft reafons" in the other, were without a fufficient foun- dation. But you fay " The plot is difcovered, and nobody any lon- ger doubts that the expedition was to have taken place." Strange remark ! Juft the reverfe of it mould have been made. For although there is a difcovery of Mr. Blount's plot, its ex- tent is by no means afcertained ; and far from nobody doubting, probably every body doubts whether the projected expedition was to have. taken place. It was not to be undertaken but in conjunction with a Britim force and on the propofal of the expedition to the Britim government it was totally rejected. Even Mr. Blount, who, if the project was adopted, expefted io be\at the head of it, ventures no farther than to fay he believed that the plan would be attempted, but if attempted, that it would not be till the " fall :" and confequently your zeal in March and April, for which at the expence of decency towards the American government, you take to yourfelf fo much cre- dit, had then no juft object. This zeal of yours is difplayed in the information you gave to the Baron de Carondelet, in 63- March or April, of the expedition fuppofed to be preparing in Canada againft Upper Louifiana: yet you would now at- tempt to juftify this zeal by the plot of Mr. Blount ; although this plot and the Canada expedition were wholly diftincl and unconnected. I fhall conclude this long letter with your eleven pofitions, which you ftate with as much ferious formality as if they were all of them important, and all of them fupported by fa6ts or juft reafoning : But the details I have given demonftrate that thefe pofitions are either unfounded, or fimple propofiti- ons of not the fmalleft confequence. Thefe are your pofitions addrefled to me in your own words. " i ft. That on the ayth of February I gave you fufficient particulars refpecling the intended expedition, to have at- tracted the attention of this government." Anfwer. I have offered reafons to prove that you gave me no particulars, but only mentioned your fufp>cions y and that you promifed to give me your reprefentations in writing; for which, of courfe, it was proper for me to wait. " 2. That altho' to this verbal communication, I added another in writing on the 2d of March, the Prefident had not the leaft knowledge of it on the 9th of the fame month ; and that without doubt you muft have had very powerful motives to prevent you from communicating it to him." Anfwer. I have accounted for the delay in a fatisfaftory manner. I have fhewn that I had abundant reafon to conclude your fufpicions to be wholly unfounded, and for attaching no fort of confequence to them. The event demonftrates that I was right ; and that inftead of very powerful motives-, none were needed for a delay of only four or five days, or for a much longer period ; and that to notice your naked fufpicions at all, was not an acl: of necedity, but of complaifance. I might with juftice complain of your delay to anfwer my letter of the 1 6th of March, on a fubjecl: of very high importance to the United States, I mean the evacuation of the ports. I will not fay that you were negligent or " remifs" but I will fay that for a whole month you omitted to give me your (hort and unfatisfaclory anfwer. The indifpofition which you aflign as the caufe of the delay, did not prevent you from writing on other fubje&s nor long from going abroad. " 3. That it does not appear by the documents prefented by the Secretary of War, that government had given orders to the military commanders to caufe the territory and neutrality of the United States to be refpecled." N Anfwer. I have ihewn that none were neceffary to be given. 6 4 - " 4. That you made to the Englifh Miniiter a communi- cation which in my opinion you ought not, and that even if you thought it necefTary, you delayed doing it for two months, that is from the 27th of February to the 2$th of April, altho' it reflected a mod urgent and important object." Anfwer. On the 28th of April, I informed you by letter that I had communicated to the Britilh Minifter your fufpici- ons of an expedition preparing by the Englifh againft Upper Louifiana ; and as for upwards of two months you expretfed no diflTatisfaction on account of this communication, I might well conclude you did not think it improper. Nay in your let- ter of July nth, which I am now anfwering, you refer with apparent approbation to this very communication, connected with the declaration which accompanied it to the Britilh Mi- nifter, that the Prefident could not confent to the march of any troops, either Britifh or Spanifh, through the territory of the United States ; and you confider it as a " determinate dif- pofition" of the American government on this point. I have alfo ihewn, that admitting this communication to Mr. Lifton to be proper, I did not delay doing it for two months nor two weeks; altho' it refpected at beft but an imaginary project. " 5. That the Baron de Carondelet could very well have received my letters, without its neceiTarily following that his had come to hand." Anfwer. I have ihewn that you did not underftand my rea- foning on this point ; which went to prove that your anfwer of the 1 7th of April to my letter of the i6th of March, about the evacuation of the pofts, was wanting in candour. (< 6. That the Baron did not reprefent Mr. Ellieott's not writing to him officially as a complaint, but as an obfervation, aud that in fact he never has done it in thofe terms." Anfwer. I have fhewn that whether the Baron's afTertion fhould have been called a complaint or an obfervation was per- fectly immaterial ; I meant to fhew it was unfounded, and this you yourfelf admit. " 7. That the proofs you alledge to exculpate Mr. Ellicott refpecting his intentions of taking the fort of Natchez by furprize are purely negative." Anfwer. I offered them only as negative proofs. Yet when one complaint or aflertion a^ainfl Mr. Ellicott was known and acknowledged not to be true, the negative teftimony of gentle- men likely to be well informed, would be deemed fufficient to bring another, and in its nature very improbable, complaint or a'Hertion of the fame perfon, into difcredit. " 8. That it is not merely pretences, but very powerful re?- fons which have impeded the evacuation of the Pofts, and the running of the boundary line.'* 65- Anfwer. The point of view in which I have now exhibited the conduit of the Spanifh governors relative to the evacuation of the pofts, and the running of the boundary line, I fhould fup- pofe might convince you that the caufes which they have offered for the delay, are mere pretences: the American citizens, to whom you have appealed, have been convinced only by read- ing the printed documents, without any comments. " 9. That the infmuations with which you are willing to perfuade the American people that our arming is directed it them, are unjult as well as unfounded, as by Mr. Blount's letter it is clearly demonftrated to be a precaution for the mere purpofe of defence." Anfwer. The grounds of my fuggeftions, which you call " infmuai ions" are detailed in this letter, and embrace too ma- ny facts and circumitances to be abridged : permit me to defirc you to review them. I (hall only repeat, that nothing is more certain than that Mr. Blount's letter has not the remotelt refe- rence to the fufpected Canada expedition ; which is your only pretence for reinforcing the ports in Upper Louiliana for calling the Indians to your aid for holding the poits at the Natchez, and Walnut Hills and for delaying to run the boundary line. " ro. That you evidently contradict yourfelf, when on one hand you are pleafed to attribute to us the movements of the Indians, and in the very next paragraph you mew it might proceed from American Citizens, as it actually does, accord- ing to Mr. Blount's letter; and that he acted with the know- ledge and intelligence of the very fame Britifh Minifter, in whofe private notes, without fignafure, and perhaps not of his own hand writing, you place fuch implicit confidence. Anfwer. I have ("hewn that there is not a ihadow of contra- dict! ->n. in my obfervations on this fubject ; and your aflertions to the contrary muft proceed only from your not understanding them. You fay that Mr. Blount acted in this matter with the knowledge and intelligence of the Britifh Minifter. This is not likely lo be true. It is in proof, by other evidence than the Britifh Minifter's notes, that he did not and could not au- thorize the projected expedition againft the Floridas and par- ticularly that one of his itrong objections againit it was, that it contemplated the employing of the Indians \ although he thought it proper to fubmit the projed to the confideration and decifion of his government. Nobody therefore will believe that he au- thorized Mr. Blount, or was even privy to his meafures, for preparing the Indians for war. Befides, doclor Romayne, who may be prefumed to be well acquainted with Mr. Blount 's 66. plot, fuggefts thaj it is not the project oi'Fered to Mr. Lifton by Chilholm. Thefe are his words : " Mr. Blount is totally unknown to Mr. Liflon, and Jo are all hi 's viczvs." And there 5s a paffage in Mr. Blount's letter which countenances the doc- tor's affertion, and indicates, that although Chifholm and Blount had fome communications with each other, yet that their. views were not precifely the fame. Mr. Blount, in his letter to Carey, fays, " Where captain Chifholm is, I do not know. I left him in Philadelphia, in March, and he fre- quently vifited the Miniiler and fpoke upon the fubjecl: ; but I believe he will go into the Creek nation by way of South- Carolina or Georgia. He gave out he was going to England ; but I did not believe him." Thefe lait words afford a pretty ftrong proof that they were nota&ing wholly in concert. Pro- bably Mr. Blount endeavoured to perfuade Chiiholm that he would co-operate in the profecution of his fcheme ; while at the fame time he might have another of his own or in concert with doctor Rornayne, and ftand ready in the event of things, to make his advantage of either ; whichever mould offer the bed profp'e& of fuccefs: Do6tor Romayne, you fee, fays that Mr. Blount is totally unknown to Mr. Lifton : But it is well known that Mr. Blount was your frequent gueft, and intimate companion ; and that he was on this intimate footing with you during the whole time -that you were reprefenting to the government, your fufpicions of Britiih expeditions. Yet after the difcovery of the confpiracy was made public, you formally requefted the American government to puniih him for fo fcan- dalous a crime. -But feeing that Mr. Blount was a citizen of the United States, and not a fubjecl of Spain, it would have been decent in you to have left him with his own government \vithout iiiterpofmg your advice. But efpecially w r hen you knew that the Prelldent had laid his letter before Congrefs ; and the two Houfes were deliberating on the modes of pu-nifhing him ; when the mveftigation had proceeded fo far that a com- mittee of the Senate had reported a refolution to expel Mr. Blount from the Senate ; and a committee of the Houfe had reported a refolution that he mould be impeached for high crimes and mifdemeanors : For you then to interfere was fingularly improper ; and it was fuch an oftentatious difplay of zeal, as under all the known eircumftances, fuggefts more than one interpretation. "n. That although in all your official communications, you have always manifested to me that the American govern- ment knew of nothing which indicated any foundation for my fufpicions, Mr. Blount's letter clearly proves that I was per- fectly in the right." Anfwer. This remark is perfectly in-confequential ; for your communications exhibited your fufpicions of projected expedi- tions only from Canada and Georgia : and I have mown that Mr. Blount's letter has no relation to either. I thought I had reached the end of your criminations : but in your concluding paragraph you accufe me of an " unjufi: partiality," meaning, no doubt, towards the Britjfh minifter and his nation. The details I have given in this letter, I fruit vvHl abundantly prove that this charge is as unfounded as it is indecent. Thofe details verify the representations of the con- duel of certain Spanifh officers which are given in my report of the 3d of July to the. Prefident. If the truth has excited any unpleafant fenfationts, thofe only are to blame whofe inju- rious acl:s obliged me plainly to declare it. Inftead of this talk, I mould have been happy to execute the grateful of nee of dat- ing to the Prefident the good faith and amicable manner in which the officers of his Catholic Majefty- had executed i ](, treaty of friendfliip, limits and navigation between our n\ 4 . nations. You thiirk alfo that my report to the Prefident is not caJcu-ii- ted to ftrengthen the bonds of ffieridjhip which un:te Spurn and Ame- rica. Friendship, Sir, cannot fublift without mi'.: '^nce : and confidence fprings from Jincerity. But the proceedings ot the Spanifh officers, which are the fubjecl ot this corjefpcn- dence, have fhaken the confidence of the government and of the citizens of rhe United States ; and my report to ilvj Preli - dent only exhibits a fummary of thofe proceedings ; or rather the plain and obvious conclufions from the authentic i and cira.'inftances detailed in the documents, then and hefoir prefented to his view. And I dare venture to fay, that every independent American has from the fame premrfes drawn the fame conclufions. Nothing, Sir, will give truer fatisfaSicn to the government and citizens of the United States than to fee fucli a change in the proceedings of the Spanifh officers as will reftore confi- dence. The change would be eafy, and the effect certain. Let them withdraw their troops and garrifms from the territories of the United States. Let them commence and projecute the running of the boundary line. Let them ceafe to fiop, contrml or regulate the pajjage of our citizens on the Mijfftfippi, feeing f.hefs have a right to navigate it with perfect freedom And let them ceafe to fend Agents cr F.miffaries among the Indians refiding within the territories of the United States. When they mall do thefe things (and the good faith of his Catholic Majefty pledged in the treaty renders their doing them an indifpenfable duty) then we ih all forget what is pall ; our confidence will return ; and with it that beneficial 68. intercourfe and thofe friendly a6ls by which neighbours may promote each others interefts, welfare and happinefs. And for fuch a ftate of things, whatever you may have imagined to the contrary, no one more ardently wifhes, and on its arrival, no one will more fmcerely rejoice, than Your obedient fervant, TIMOTHY PICKERING. (No. 14.) (TRANSLATION.) S I R. THE day before yefterday, the I7th, your letter of the 8th inftant was received at my houfe at Philadelphia, and yefter- day, the iSth, it came to my hands at this city. I avail my- felf of the firft opportunity to acknowledge the receipt of this your anfwer to my letter of the nth of July laft, and as the ex- amination of its contents would lead us to an endlefs difcufTion, I confine myfelf to mention to you that v> hen I had the honor of giving you the firft notice relative to the projected expedition againft Louifiana, with all the particulars referred to in my faid letter, you were alone in your Cabinet : That two days after I went to fpeak to you on another fubjecl:, and having there met the Secretary of War, Mr. M'Henry, I embraced the oppor- tunity of fpeaking anew concerning it ; and if then I fpoke in general terms, it was doubtlefs to avoid the repetition of what I had communicated fo fhortly before. As it appears that you have forgotten thiscircumftance, it is not extraordinary that it mould have efcaped your memory in like manner with all the particulars of my firft conference, mentioned in my above cited letter. J offer myfelf to your difpofition, and hope that God will preferve you many years. Your moft obedient fervant, CARLOS MARTINEZ de YRUJO. New-York > igth Auguft, 1797. Timothy Pickering, Efquire, \ Secretary of State. f 69- (No. 15.) (TRANSLATION.) S I R, -. WHEN the Kincr my mafler appointed me his Envoy Ex- traordinary to th'/ United States of America, immediately after having made with them a treaty the moft liberal and generous,* I flattered myfelf, that the principal exercife of my functions would be to give and receive repeated proofs of the union and friendlnip fo intimate by the bands ot that Treaty. Inftead of thofe flattering expectations judge of m.y feelings on fee- ing them entirely vanilTied, and rinding in that convention, which I trufted would forever have united us, the origin of difagreement and contention unfortunately too well founded on our part. I have before made known to you the juft motives which had determined the Spanilh Commandants of Louisiana, to fufpend in part the entire execution of the treaty, as no injury to the United States would flow from a Ibort delay ; and it might occafion great injury to the fecurity of the pofTefiions of the King to abandon certain ports, which under prefent circum- ftances would leave Louisiana open to the attacks of the Eng- lifli, and expofed to the effects of the evil intention of fome Citizens of the United States. I have alfo heretofore (hewn to you, that the American Agents at the Natchez, far from contributing to preferve that union and harmony which is fp [uitable to the two nations, conducted themfelves in a manner highly imprudent ; and even that I had rcafon to believe that they intended to obtain pofTeflion of the fort by furprize. The lad advices which I have received from thoie parts, and the documents I herewith tranfmit to you, appear to me to prove it in fuch manner that I cannot but confider thofe fufpicions as being very well founded. For fome time paft the conduct in this refpect of the Com- mandant of the American troops, Mr. Piercy Smith Pope, arid at firlt of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, has been irregular, provoking, and in fome degree hoftile. The Commandant Don Manuel Gayofo had pofitive advice that in the camp of faid Pope a great number of ladders were making, and that arms (armas * Altho' you only characterize as jufl, the ftipulations of the treaty with Spain, I will take the liberty of obferving, that, abftraftedly from all the points which I touched in my letter of the 6th May, the Spanifh fovereignty over the Natchez being in right of conqueft at the period of the peace of 1783, if the United States obtained this pcffef- Commandant of the troops PIERCY SMITH POPE, I of the United States on. J the Miflifippi. Natchez, i^th June, 1/97. (No. 16.) (TRANSLATION.) From the Chevalier de Trujo, to the Secretary of Stale. S I R, ALTHO' the anfwer which you gave to the letter I had the honor of writing to you on the 6th of May lad, excited in me all the obfervations which I fhall now prefent to you in this, wiming upon the whole, that the interefts of America would induce its Adminiftration to adopt the conciliatory mode which I propofed to you, that of giving to the American Ple- nipotentiaries going to Paris, the neceflary inftru&ions for ad- jufting the differences with Spain, I at that time abftained from entering into a reply ; which although well founded, might not perhaps contribute fo much to the good intelligence be- tween Spain and the United States, as the idea which I then fuggefted to you, and have juft now mentioned. The lively jdefire which I have had and ftill have, not to fee interrupted the harmony between thefe two nations, has caufed me to view with regret after feveral weeks filence your difappointment in fuppofing that the reafons upon which your anfwer is founded were fufficient to convince his Catholic Majefty of the impar- tiality and good faith of the United States on this point. My fufpicions have been verified, and your expectations are en- tirely fruftrated by the late orders which I have juft received from the King my Mafter. His Catholic Majefty has not obferved in the faid anfwer from you, any reafon to induce him to change his opinion concerning the injuries refulting to his fubje6t.s from the fti- pulatipns of the Englifh Treaty, compared with thofe of the Treaty with Spain, as well on the fubjecT: of the Articles of contraband, as on the principle adopted in ours " That frre mips ihould make free goods, &c." 75- But what has moil aftoniihcd his Majefly and confirmed him in the juftice of his pretenfions, is what you have faid in your anfwer with regard to the navigation of the Miflifippi. I am ordered, therefore, on a review of the whole, to make to this government, thro' you, the following obfervations. When the Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferfon, on the I ^th of May 1793, wrote to Mr. Ternant, then the Minifter Ple- nipotentiary of France, reclaiming the Englifh fhip Grange, captured at the mouth of the River Delaware, by the Frigate L' Ambufcade, belonging to the Republic, he accompanied his letter with the opinion of Mr. Randolph, Attorney Gene- ral of the United States, in which the right of reclamation v, as among other reafons founded on the following. " That the whole of its defcent to the Atlantic Ocean is covered on each fide by the territory of the United States : That from tide-water to the diftance of about fixty miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it is called the river Delaware. " That its mouth is formed by the Capes Henlopen and May ; the former belonging to the State of Delaware in proper- ty and jurifdicHbn ; the latter to the State of New-Jerfcy. " That the Delaware does not lead from the fea to the domi- nions of any foreign nation. " The corner-ftone of our claim h, that the United States are proprietors of the lands on both fides of the Delaware, from its head to its entrance into the fea. " A River confide red merely as fuch, is ike property of the peopl through whofe lands it flows, or of him under luboje jurljditiim that people is" Grot. b. 2. c. 2. . 12. " Rivers might be held in property, though ;/. ;//vr whtft they rift; nor where they dif charge themfehes be within our territory, but they join both, or the fea.. It isfufficient for us that the larger part of zvater, that is, the fides, isflmt up In our banks, and that the river in refpecJ of our land, is iff elf f mall and infignifcant. Grot. b. 2. c. 3. . 7. And Barbegroe* in his note fubjoins that neither of thofe is necefiary. " Rivers may be the property of whole States. Puff. b. 2. c. 3. . 4. To render a thing capable of being appropriated, it is not JlriElly neceffary that we fhould enclofe, or be able to enckfe it within artificial bounds, or fuch as are different from its own jubjlance ; itisfuffi- cient if the compafs and extent of it can be any way determined. And therefore Grotius bath given hlmfelf a needlefs trouble, when, to prove rivers capable of property, he ufeth this argument , that although they are bounded by the land at neither end, but united to the other rivers or the fea, yet it is enough, that the greater part of them, that /V, their fides, are enclofed. Puff. b. 4. c. 5. . 3. [* Meaning Barbeyrac. 3 <{ When a nation takes pffiffion