measure within the limits of the Ex. authority. Will it not be advisable to apprize Gov! H. confidentially, of the course adopted as to W. F. and to have his co-operation in diffusing the impressions we wish to be made there?

The anecdote related by M L.' is interesting in several respects. I take it for granted that the papers to be sent him from the Dept of State will be adapted to the unsettled state of things in Caracas; yet I do not recollect to have rec for signature any commission varied from the ordinary consular form. Accept my respects & friendly wishes,

TO ROBERT SMITH.

D. OF S. MSS. MISCL. LETS.

MONTPELIER July 26th, 1810.

DEAR SIR

I return herewith the letters from Vanderhorst,

1 Robert K. Lowry, of Maryland, left for La Guayra, Caracas, towards the end of July, but no regular commission was issued to him until Feb. 3, 1812, when he was appointed Consul at that place. From Baltimore, July 10, 1810, he wrote Secretary Smith: "In the course of conversation two days since, Mr. Bolivar informed me that a considerable order for muskets has been received by him for the Govt. of Caraccas.

"Mr. De Orca, the other deputy, who sailed for Laguayra this morning, has related to me an interview which took place between him & Mr. Jackson last week in Philad Don Onis, the Span. Consul, & Ex Governor of Caraccas being present. The impression left on his mind is that the British govt. will not be so friendly to them as was expected, especially if, as they appeared to anticipate, the revolution ends in the total rejection of the authority of Ferdinand the 7th.”— Dept. of State MSS., Consular Letters.

& Bernaben. It would have been better if Lowrey had more carefully concealed his destination. The case of the Spanish Goods landed from the French privateer, must be decided by the result of the judicial inquiry into the character of the latter. If equipped from our jurisdiction, the capture gives claim to restitution. If not so equipped, the law as it stands in relation to prize goods brought into the U. S. must decide on the course to be pursued. It would seem proper to transmit the representation of Bernaben, to the collector & the District Attorney, with a request to the latter to do what may be right in the cases.

I find by a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, that another insult to our national Flag, has been offered by a British Commander. I have desired him to communicate to you the circumstances of the case; on which you will please to found whatever instructions to M Pinkney, they may render proper. Accept my respects & best wishes.

TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

MAD. MSS.

WASHINGTON Oct! 16th 1810

DEAR SIR Previous to my return to his City, I received a letter from Mrs. Adams, your highly respectable mother, communicating your anxiety to leave a situation1 rendered insupportable by the ruinous expences found to be inseparable from it, and

He was then Minister to Russia, having been appointed the year before.

taking it for granted that you had written or would write to the Secretary of State to the same effect. The answer to her was, that as it was not the intention. of the Executive to expose you to unreasonable sacrifices, it could not withhold a permission to retire from them, and that you would be so informed from the Department of State. You will accordingly receive a letter of leave, and a blank Commission, providing for the care of our affairs, till a successor may be appointed. As no communication of your wishes, however, has yet been received from yourself, I cannot but hope, that the peculiar urgency manifested in the letter of Mrs. Adams was rather hers, than yours; or that you have found the means of reconciling yourself to a continuance in your station. Besides that confidence in the value of your services which led to the call upon them, there are considerations which you will readily appreciate, bearing against a sudden return, from a short mission; the occasion for which has been made the subject of so much lucubration. Among them, is the difficulty of shielding the step against unfavorable conjectures as to its cause in the mind of the Emperor; and the evil might become the greater, from the possibility of a protracted intermission, if not entire discontinuance, of a representation of the U. S. at St Petersburg, corresponding with the grade of the Russian Minister here. It will for this reason, be particularly expedient, in case you should make immediate use of the document sent you, to spare no pains, in guarding against a misconstruction of your departure,

and in preparing the Russian Government for a delay in filling the vacancy; which may be unavoidable, notwithstanding the purpose of preventing it. As far as assurances of unabated friendship here, can be of aid to you, they may be given with every emphasis which the sincerity of these sentiments can

warrant.

I will add that whilst I do not disguise my wish that the continuance of your valuable services, may be found not inconsistent with your other and undeniable duties; I cannot, on the other hand, wish that the latter should be sacrificed, beyond a reasonable measure; and within that measure, I am entirely persuaded that your patriotism will cheerfully make the sacrifice.

Accept my sincere respects and friendly wishes

TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.

MAD. MSS.

WASHINGTON Oct 19, 1810.

DEAR SIR I have rec your favor of the 15th. All we know of the step taken by France towards a reconciliation with us, is thro the English papers sent by Mr. Pinkney, who had not himself rec any information on the subject from Gen' A. nor held any conversation with the B. Ministry on it, at the date of his last letters. We hope from the step, the advantage at least of having but one contest on our hands at a time. If G. B. repeals her orders, without discontinuing her mock-blockades, we shall be at issue with her on ground strong in law, in the opinion

of the world, and even in her own concessions. And I do not believe that Congs will be disposed, or permitted by the Nation, to a tame submission; the less so as it would be not only perfidious to the other belligerent, but irreconcilable with an honorable neutrality. The Crisis in W. Florida, as you will see, has come home to our feelings and our interests. It presents at the same time serious questions, as to the Authority of the Executive, and the adequacy of the existing laws of the U. S. for territorial administration. And the near approach of Congs might subject any intermediate interposition of the Ex. to the charge of being premature & disrespectful, if not of being illegal. Still there is great weight in the considerations, that the Country to the Perdido, being our own, may be fairly taken possession of, if it can be done without violence, above all if there be danger of its passing into the hands of a third & dangerous party. The successful party at Baton Rouge have not yet made any communication or invitation to this Gov! They certainly will call in either our Aid or that of G. B., whose conduct at the Caraccas gives notice of her propensity to fish in troubled waters. From present appearances, our occupancy of W. F. would be resented by Spain, by England, & by France, and bring on not a triangular, but quadrangular contest. The Vacancy in the Judiciary is not without a puzzle in supplying it. Lincoln, obviously, is the first presented to our

1 Gideon Granger was Postmaster-General at the time. Levi Lincoln was appointed January 7, 1811, but he declined on account of failing