a fifth counsellor out of the 10 before nominated. This being against law cannot be done; I hope therefore they will have nominated two as the law requires.

Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of esteem & respect.

DRAFT OF PROCLAMATION CONCERNING LEANDER.

J. MSS.

[May 3, 1806.]

Whereas satisfactory information has been received that Henry Whitby, commanding a British armed vessel called the Leander, did, on the 25th day of the month of April last past, within the waters & jurisdiction of the U. S. and near to the entrance of the harbor of New York by a cannon shot fired from the sd. vessel Leander, commit a murder on the body of John Pearce a citizen of the U. S. then pursuing his lawful vocations within the same waters & jurisdiction of the U. S. and near to their shores, & that the sd. Henry Whitby cannot be brought to justice by the ordinary process of law:

And whereas it does further appear that both before & after the said day sundry trespasses, wrongs, & unlawful interruptions & vexations on trading vessels coming to the U. S. and within their waters & vicinity were committed by the sd. armed vessel the Leander her officers, & people, by one other armed vessel called the Cambrian, commanded by her officers and people, and by one other armed vessel called the Driver commanded by her officers & people, which vessels being all of the same nation were aiding & assisting to each other in the trespasses, interruptions & vexations aforesaid :

Now therefore to the end that the sd Henry Whitby may be brought to justice & due punishment inflicted for the sd murder, I do hereby especially enjoin & require all officers having authority civil or military, and all other persons within the limits or jurisdiction of the U. S. wheresoever the said Henry Whitby may be found now or hereafter, to apprehend & secure the said Henry Whitby, & him safely & diligently to deliver to the civil authority of the place to be proceeded against according to law.

And I do hereby further require that the sd armed vessel the Leander with her other officers & people, & the sd armed vessels the Cambrian & Driver their officers & people, immediately & without any delay, depart from the harbours & waters of the U. S. And I do forever interdict the entrance of all the harbours & waters of the U. S. to the sd armed vessels, & to all other vessels which shall be commanded by the sd and either of them.

or

And if the said vessels or any of them shall fail to depart as aforesaid, or shall reenter the harbours or waters aforesaid, I do in that case forbid all intercourse with the sd armed vessels the Leander the Cambrian & the Driver or with any of them, & the officers & crews thereof, and do prohibit all supplies & aid from being furnished them or any of them. And I do declare and make known that if any person from, or within, the jurisdictional limits of the U. S. shall afford any aid to either of the sd armed vessels contrary to the prohibition contained in this proclamation, either in repairing such vessel, or in furnishing her officers or crew with supplies of any kind, or in any manner whatsoever or if any pilot shall assist in navigating any of the sd armed vessels, unless it be for the purpose of carrying them in the first instance beyond the limits & jurisdiction of the U. S. such person or persons shall on conviction, suffer all the pains & penalties by the laws provided for such offences. And I do hereby enjoin & require all persons bearing office civil or military within the U. S. & all other citizens or inhabitants thereof or being within the same with vigilance & promptitude to exert their respective authorities, & to be aiding & assisting to the carrying this proclamation & every part thereof into full effect.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the U. S. to be affixed to these presents and signed the same with my hand, Given at the city of Washington the 3d day of May, in the year of our lord 1806 & of the sovereignty & independence of the U. S. the 30th.

1

TO THE U. S. MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN.

(JAMES MONROE.)

J.MSS..

WASHINGTON, May 4, 06.

DEAR SIR,—I wrote you on the 16th of March by a common vessel, & then expected to have had, on the rising of Congress, an opportunity of peculiar confidence to you. Mr. Beckley then supposed he should take a flying trip to London, on private business. But I believe he does not find it convenient. He could have let you into the arcana rerum, which you have interests in knowing. Mr. Pinckney's pursuits having been confined to his peculiar line, he has only that general knowledge of what has passed here which the public possess. He has a just view of things so far as known to him. Our old friend, Mercer, broke off from us some time ago; at first professing to disdain joining the federalists, yet, from the habit of voting together, becoming soon identified with them. Without carrying over with him one single person, he is now in a state of as perfect obscurity as if his name had never been known. Mr. J. Randolph is in the same track, and will end in the same way. His course has excited considerable alarm. Timid men consider it as a proof of the weakness of our government, & that it is to be rent into pieces by demagogues, & to end in anarchy. I survey the scene with a different eye, and draw a different augury from it. In a house of Representatives of a great mass of good sense, Mr. R's popular eloquence gave him such advantages as to place him unrivalled as the leader of the house; and, altho' not conciliatory to those whom he led, principles of duty & patriotism induced many of them to swallow the humiliations he subjected them to, and to vote as was right, as long as he kept the path of right himself. The sudden defection of such a man could not but produce a momentary astonishment, & even dismay; but for a moment only. The good sense of the house rallied around it's principles, & without any leader pursued steadily the business of the session, did it well, & by a strength of vote which has never before been seen. Upon all trying questions, exclusive of the federalists, the minority of republicans voting with him has been from 4. to 6. or 8., against from 90, to 100.; and altho' he yet treats the federal

ists with ineffable contempt, yet, having declared eternal opposition to this administration, & consequently associated with them, in his votes, he will, like Mercer, end with them. The augury I draw from this is, that there is a steady, good sense in the Legislature, and in the body of the nation, joined with good intentions, which will lead them to discern & to pursue the public good under all circumstances which can arise, and that no ignis fatuus will be able to lead them long astray. In the present case, the public sentiment, as far as declarations of it have yet come in, is, without a single exception, in firm adherence to the administration. One popular paper is endeavoring to maintain equivocal ground; approving the administration in all it's proceedings, & Mr. R in all those which have heretofore merited approbation, carefully avoiding to mention his late aberrations. The ultimate view of this paper is friendly to you; & the editor, with more judgement than him who assumes to be at the head of your friends, sees that the ground of opposition to the administration is not that on which it would be advantageous to you to be planted. great body of your friends are among the firmest adherents to the administration; and in their support of you, will suffer Mr. R to have no communications with them. My former letter told you the line which both duty & inclination would lead me sacredly to pursue. But it is unfortunate for you to be embarrassed with such a soi-disant friend. You must not commit yourself to him. These views may assist you to understand such details as Mr. Pinckney will give you. If you are here at any time before the fall, it will be in time for any object you may have, and by that time the public sentiment will be more decisively declared. I wish you were here at present, to take your choice of the two governments of Orleans & Louisiana, in either of which I could now place you; and I verily believe it would be to your advantage to be just that much withdrawn from the focus of the ensuing contest, until it's event should be known. The one has a salary of 5000 D., the other of 2000 D.; both with excellent hotels for the Governor. The latter at St. Louis, where there is good society, both French & American; a healthy climate, & the finest field in the US for acquiring property. The former not unhealthy, if you begin a residence there in the month of November.

The Mrs. Trists & their connections are established there. As I think you can within 4. months inform me what you say to this, I will keep things in their present state till the last day of August, for your answer.

The late change in the ministry I consider as insuring us a just settlement of our differences, and we ask no more. In Mr. Fox, personally, I have more confidence than in any man in England, & it is founded in what, through unquestionable channels, I have had opportunities of knowing of his honesty & his good sense. While he shall be in the administration, my reliance on that government will be solid. We had committed ourselves in a line of proceedings adapted to meet Mr. Pitt's policy & hostility, before we heard of his death, which self-respect did not permit us to abandon afterwards; and the late unparalleled outrage on us at New York excited such sentiments in the public at large, as did not permit us to do less than has been done. It ought not to be viewed by the ministry as looking towards them at all, but merely as the consequences of the measures of their predecessors, which their nation has called on them to correct. I hope, therefore, they will come to just arrangements. No two countries upon earth have so many points of common interest & friendship; & their rulers must be great bunglers indeed, if, with such dispositions, they break them asunder. The only rivality that can arise is on the

England may, by petty larceny, thwartings, check us on that element a little, but nothing she can do will retard us there one year's growth. We shall be supported there by other nations, & thrown into their scale to make a part of the great counterpoise to her navy. If, on the other hand, she is just to us, conciliatory, and encourages the sentiment of family feelings & conduct, it cannot fail to befriend the security of both. We have the seamen & materials for 50. ships of the line, & half that number of frigates; and were France to give us the money & England the dispositions to equip them, they would give to England serious proofs of the stock from which they are sprung, & the school in which they have been taught; and added to the efforts of the immensity of sea coast lately united under one power, would leave the state of the ocean no longer problematical. Were,

VOL. VIII.-29.