Extract of a Letter from Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Smith. London, Nov. 7, 1810."

I ENCLOSE a duplicate of my letter of the 5th instant, in which was transmitted a copy of my note to lord Wellesley, of the third, concerning the orders in council.

I have little more to say in addition to what is contained in that letter, than that it is my intention, in case lord Wellesley gives me an unfavourable answer to it, to enter at large into the whole subject in my rejoinder; and, in case he delays improperly his reply, to take as strong notice of that impropriety as I can.

As soon as the king recovers, I mean to mention again the subject of a minister plenipotentiary to the United States, (which Lord Wellesley, notwithstanding his written and verbal pledges, seems to have quite forgotten) and if satisfactory assurances are not renewed and acted upon, to announce my determination to return to America, and to leave a chargé d'affaires; in the choice of whom, however, I shall have considerable difficulty, unless you should furnish me in season with the expected secretary of legation. I presume that in taking this course I shall fulfil the wishes of the President, and I can assure you, with great truth, that I shall consult by it my own inclinations.

Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Smith. London, Nov. 14, 1810.

SIR, I have finally determined not to mention again to Lord Wellesley (as I had thoughts of doing) the subject of a plenipotentiary successor to Mr. Jackson. I think, upon reflection, (and shall act accordingly) that I ought, after what has passed, to leave him, without further inquiry or notice, on my part, to shape his course upon it; and that, if an appointment should not be made as soon as the king's health (which would seem to be improving) will permit, I ought at once to send in an official note, announcing my resolution to return to America, and to leave some suitable person as a chargé d'affaires.

My letter of the 23d of July informed you that after lord Wellesley's written assurance of the 22d of that month (which was in conformity, as far as it went, with his assurances in conversation) "that it was his intention immediately to recommend the appointment of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the king

to the United States," I did not think myself authorized to take the step which the instructions contained in your letter of the 23d of May, in certain circumstances, prescribed.

My opinion was, that whether the prospect which then existed, of bringing to a conclusion the affair of the Chesapeake, were taken into the account or not, it was my obvious duty to remain at my post, most irksome as it was every day becoming, until it should incontestably appear, that those assurances were not to be relied upon.

Before a sufficient time had elapsed to warrant so harsh a conclusion, I received from lord Wellesley, on the 28th of August, a farther casual intimation (reported to you in my letter of the 29th of the same month) that his recommendation of a minister would, as he believed, be made in the course of that week or the next.

In the mean time the repeal, by the government of France, of the Berlin and Milan decrees, had produced a posture of affairs which, whatever might be lord Wellesley's forgetfulness of his own declarations, or the inattention of his government to what he might advise in conse quence of them, rendered my stay in England for two or three months longer, indispensable.

In fine, the effect of that consideration had not ceased when the illness of the king made it impossible that I should depart.

Upon the king's recovery, I shall have every motive for bringing this matter to an issue, and none for the least hesitation or reserve upon it. Several months will have been allowed for the performance of an act which might have been completed in as many weeks.

I shall have done every thing in my power on the subjects connected with the revocation of the French edicts. And the British government will be in a situation to admit of such proceedings on its own part and on mine as the occasion will require.

From lord Wellesley's intimation to me on the 28th of August, (mentioned above) it is perfectly clear, that he had not then executed the intention, so positively announced in his note of the 22d of July. Five or six weeks had passed, and that which he had both said and written he meant to do immediately, he was not yet sure that he meant to do within another fortnight. The presumption seems,

nevertheless, to be quite unnatural, that lord Wellesley continued, up to the commencement of the king's malady, to be negligent of a pledge, which he chose to rest not merely on his official but his personal character-a pledge, of which he knew I could neither question the sufficiency nor doubt the sincerity, and by which, as he also knew, my conduct on an extremely delicate point of duty was wholly determined.

On the other hand, if lord Wellesley has been mindful of his pledge, and has recommended a minister in compliance with it, how has it happened (how can it have happened) that this recommendation has not been followed by an appointment?

In the midst of all this doubt, which lord Wellesley might dissipate if he pleased by an explanation apparently necessary for his own sake, there is, as I believe, no uncertainty as to the course which, in the actual state of my instructions (or on the score of general propriety) I ought to pursue; especially as I must infer from your silence since the arrival of Mr. Morier at Washington, (if I had no other reason for that inference) that no such communication was made, either by or through that gentleman to you, as ought in the judgment of the President to have any influence upon my conduct on this occasion.

I have the honour to be, &c.

WM. PINKNEY.

Extract from the Postscript, dated the 15th, to Mr. Pinkney's Letter of the 14th November, 1810, to Mr. Smith.

P. S. Nov. 15th. I hear nothing from lord Wellesley, and not much from any other quarter, concerning the orders in council. I have not lately sought any interview with him on that or any other occasion. It is impossible for me to look back upon the past, and to place much value upon conferences.

I am particularly anxious to get from lord Wellesley, in case the British government persists in declining to repeal the orders, a distinct statement in writing of the motives of its conduct.

Thus far I have taken for granted the manifest and incontrovertible justice of our expectations; believing that

there could in the first instance be no sufficient inducement for anticipating difficulties and objections in so plain a case; that if any existed they ought to be, and would be, avowed, and that when avowed, I could meet them with more advantage than while they were only conjectured. Should, however, a studious ambiguity continue to be preserved on a subject which now touches more nearly than ever (in my opinion vitally) the character and rights of our country, I shall very soon think myself called upon to suppose for this government reasons which it will not declare, and to examine them with fulness and freedom in a letter to lord Wellesley. It is unnecessary in the mean time to trouble you with the view which that letter will contain. I have not lately received any thing from France which enables me to put the repeal of the French decrees in a stronger light than could otherwise be done. Mr. Russell has written me two letters, the first dated the 26th of September, and received on the 3d of October; the other dated the 10th of October, and received the 13th of November. This last enclosed a letter to me from general Armstrong, of the 29th of September. He had written me a short note from Paris, dated the 13th of September, (but not received till long afterwards) which enclosed a copy of the French minister's letter to him of the 12th of that month, already received from Mr. Russell in his letter of the 26th of September.

Such use as could be made of these different communications I have made. Of course it could be very little. A Moniteur of the 9th of September, containing the duke of Cadore's letter of the 5th of August to general Armstrong, (which I got through a private channel) is much more likely to be of service (if any thing can be of service) here, where that journal is considered as equivalent to the London gazette; and I have accordingly referred to it in my note to lord Wellesley of the 3d instant.

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Pinkney to the Secretary of State. London, Nov. 19, 1810.

"My third letter to lord Wellesley concerning the French decrees and the British orders in council, will be presented much sooner than I had at first intended. I

shall, I think, present it in a few days. Upon the other subject of my letter to you of the 14th instant, I need not add any thing to what is there said upon it."

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Pinkney to the Secretary of State. London, Nov. 21, 1810.

"AN American vessel (the Fox) has, within a few days past, been brought into Plymouth as prize to a king's ship (the Amethyst) for an imputed attempt to go to Cherbourg in France, in violation of the unrepealed British orders. I have requested that the case may be represented in proper form to me; and I mean to use it as the best ground for my intended letter to lord Wellesley."

Extract of a Letter from Wm. Pinkney, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, in London, to the Secretary of State. London, Dec. 14, 1810.

"On the 4th instant, I received from lord Wellesley a note, of which a copy marked No. 1, is enclosed, respecting the repeal of the French decrees. The conference to which it invited me took place on the 5th; and in the course of it I explained to him, at considerable length, my view of that subject, and of the points immediately connected with it. Lord Wellesley heard me in his usual manner; but confined himself to such general remarks and professions as I need not repeat to you. He proposed that our conference should be renewed on the 7th, and engaged in the mean time to report to his colleagues what I had said, and at our next interview to make me acquainted with the result.

"He introduced, of his own accord, the two subjects of a minister plenipotentiary, and the Chesapeake.

"On the first, he professed to entertain the same disposition and intention as heretofore, and declared that the delay which had taken place arose altogether from some obstacles, of a personal nature, to obtaining the services of the person whom he particularly wished to send to America; that he hoped these obstacles would soon be removed; that he had another person in view if it should be otherwise; that he had not supposed that delay could be