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officers and crew of the said French brig (whose names, together with the name of their said vessel is unknown to these appearers or to their belief to any of their crew) and every other person and cause occasioning the said vessel's damage and loss of, and for all losses, costs, charges, damages, and expenses already and hereafter to be suffered and sustained, to be allowed and recovered in time and place convenient. Thus done and protested in Dover aforesaid, in the presence of Robert Steriker and Thomas Pain, witnesses thereto called and requested. In testimony of the truth whereof, the said appearers and witnesses subscribed their names in the registry of me, the said Notary. And I the said Notary have hereunto set my hand, and affixed my notarial seal, dated the day and year second above written. JAMES GRAVENER, [L.S.]

And I, James Gravener, a master extraordinary in his majesty's high court of chancery, do hereby certify, that the said William Martin, Eugene Sweeney, and Robert Jackson, were duly sworn on the holy evangelists to the truth of the aforegoing protest, at Dover aforesaid, the said third day of April, 1797, before me, JAMES GRAVENER.

MESSAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO CONGRESS. JULY 3, 1797.

THE whole of the intelligence which has for some time past been received from abroad, the correspondences between this government and the ministers of the belligerent powers residing here, and the advices from the officers of the United States, civil and military, upon the frontiers, all conspire to show in a very strong light the critical situation of our country. That Congress might be enabled to form a more perfect judgment of it, and of the measures necessary to be taken, I have directed the proper officers to prepare such collections of extracts from the publick correspondences as might afford the clearest information. The reports made to me, from the Secretary of State, and the Secretary at War, with a collection of documents from each of them, are now communicated to both houses of Congress; I have desired that the message, reports and documents may be considered as confidential, merely that the members of both houses of Congress may be apprized of their contents before they should be made publick. As soon as the houses shall have heard them, I shall submit to their discretion, the publication of the whole, or any such parts of them, as they shall judge necessary or expedient for the publick good.

JOHN ADAMS.

Additional report of Secretary of State, to the President of the United States, of the proceedings of the officers of his Catholick Majesty, in relation to the posts occupied by his troops within the limits of the United States, the boundary line, and other matters therewith connected.

ON Thursday last, the twenty-ninth of June, I received farther despatches from Andrew Ellicott, Esq. the commissioner of the United States at the Natchez, dated the tenth of May last, of which an extract and copies, numbered 1, 2 and 3, are subjoined. By these it appears that a new motive has been assigned by the commander in chief, the Baron de Carondelet, and governour Gayoso, for still retaining the possession of the posts of the Natchez and the Walnut Hills, and for strengthening the fortifications; viz. to guard against an attack by the British from Canada. This motive being derived from information communicated to the Baron de Carondelet by the chevalier de Yrujo, the minister of his Catholick majesty to the United States, it appears necessary again to bring before the President my correspondence with the Spanish and British ministers on that subject. These papers are numbered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Although the minister declared he had just reasons for sus pecting an expedition from Canada, was preparing by the British against the upper posts of Louisiana, yet he never mentioned a single fact or reason on which his suspicion was founded. From all the existing circumstances I ever believed the suspicion to be groundless. And the note of Mr. Liston, the British minister, of the nineteenth of the last month, declares that no such expedition has been or is intended, by the British govern

ment.

On the sixteenth of March last, by the President's direction, I inquired of the minister of his Catholick majesty whether the Spanish troops had been withdrawn, agreeably to the treaty, from the territory of the United States; and if not, what orders or measures for withdrawing them had been taken. To this the minister answered, on the 17th of April, that not having for some months heard from the Baron de Carondelet, he was "deprived of any information touching the steps taken for the execution of the treaty." Nevertheless he had previously informed the Baron de Carondelet of his suspicions of a projected expedition from Canada; for on the 1st of May it is offered by governour Gayoso, as a new reason for continuing to hold the posts. These two letters are numbered 10, 11.

On the 24th of June last, the minister of his Catholick Majesty wrote me the letter number 12, in which he undertakes to give the substance of two letters from the Baron de Carondelet, and which about a week before he had orally translated to me from the Spanish originals. These letters (as

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appears by the detail of them now given by the minister) exhibited divers complaints against Mr. Ellicott, whose conduct is assigned as the cause of an alleged misunderstanding between him and Governour Gayoso; and of the delay in commencing the running of the boundary line.

One article, however, the minister has omitted in his recital. The Baron de Carondelet complained, among other things, that Mr. Ellicott had not given him notice of his arrival at the Natchez, as the commissioner on the part of the United States, for running the boundary line between their territories and those of Spain. I was astonished at this complaint, as I had then lying on my table a copy of Mr. Ellicott's letter to the Baron, dated the 27th of February, only three days after Mr. Ellicott's arrival at the Natchez, announcing his arrival as the commissioner of the United States for the object above expressed, and two copies of the Baron's answer, dated at NewOrleans the first of March; one of the original Spanish, and the other a translation in English, acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Ellicott's letter, and "congratulating him on his arrival in that country in the character of commissioner on the part of the United States, to run the dividing line between the territories of his most Catholick Majesty and the United States." I immediately presented these copies to the minister, in whom the repugnance of fact to assertion excited the natural sensation : but soon recollecting himself, he made this apology for the Baron, that he supposed he did not consider Mr. Ellicott's letter as official! This letter and the translation of the Baron's answer, have been already laid before Congress and published: I now subjoin the copy of the Baron's answer in Spanish. No. 13.

The facts I have here stated, relative to the complaint of the Baron de Carondelet, which the Spanish minister has omitted in his detail, appeared to me important to be laid before you, to be considered together with the other complaints which the minister has recited. As to the complaint that Mr. Ellicott "attempted to get possession of the Natchez fort by surprie, and that the Governour Gayoso has in his power documents which evidently prove the intention of that attempt," I have examined the two gentlemen who have brought Mr. Ellicott's despatches, and they declare that they never heard of such an attempt being made or intended by Mr. Ellicott; and that far from exciting dissatisfaction to the Spanish government, in the minds of the inhabitants at the Natchez, he uniformly recommended patience and submission, until the Spanish jurisdiction should be withdrawn.

Upon a view of the whole correspondence now and before submitted to the President, it appears that the governours of his Catholick Majesty, on the Mississippi, have, on various pre

tences, postponed the running of the boundary line, and the withdrawing of his troops from the posts they occupied within the territory of the United States: That after repeated overtures, promises and appearances of commencing the execution of the treaty between the two nations, in both those respects, their conduct demonstrates, that for an indefinite period they mean to avoid doing either: That there is but too much reason to believe Mr. Ellicott's suspicions well founded, that an undue influence has been exercised over the Indians by the officers of his Catholick Majesty, to prepare them for a rupture with the United States; those suspicions corresponding with other intelligence recently received by the Secretary of War and by me. Mine is by a private letter from Colonel Sargent, the Secretary of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, of which an extract, No. 14, is annexed.

Whether this plan of exciting the Indians to direct hostilities against the United States, has been contemplated and promoted by any of our own citizens, it may be difficult to say; but that one or more of those citizens have proposed and taken measures to detach the southern Indians from the interests of the United States, and to destroy the influence of the publick agents over those nations, and thus to defeat the great objects of their appointment, the chief of which is to preserve peace, is certain. The evidence of this important fact will be laid before you by the Secretary of War. That evidence having a réference to the British Minister, and his government, I took the liberty of addressing to him a letter, dated the 1st instant, No. 15, to which I received the answer, No. 16.

As closely connected with this business, I lay before you the copy of my letter, No. 17, dated the 27th of April last, to Charles Jackson, Esquire, the District Attorney of Georgia, reciting a passage in a letter from the Spanish Minister, dated the 21st of April, declaring his positive knowledge that the English had made propositions to General Clarke, of Georgia, to obtain his influence in that state, in conjunction with some persons who might make a diversion or serious attack against Florida. By Mr Jackson's answer, from which an extract, No. 18, is herewith presented, it appears that after diligent inquiry, he could not find any person that knew any thing of the business, or that entertained a belief of the kind; and that from General Clarke's known violent antipathies to the English, and other circumstances, he doubted the truth of the report altogether.

On the 30th ult. I received a letter from General Pinckney, dated the 9th of May, which contains the latest intelligence from him, and seems proper to accompany the other papers now laid before you. His letter, No. 15, therein referred to, has not yet come to hand. All which is respectfully submitted. TIMOTHY PICKERING.

Department of State, July 3, 1797. 17

VOL. III.

DOCUMENTS.

No. 1.

Extract of a letter from Andrew Ellicott, Esq. Commissioner of the United States, to the Secretary of State, dated Natchez, May 10, 1797.

SIR, Since my despatches by Mr. Knox, the whole of the Spanish commission for the purpose of running the boundary lines between the territory of his Catholick majesty, and that of the United States has arrived; but notwithstanding this circumstance, I see no appearance of getting to business in any reasonable time: various pretences are resorted to by the baron de Carondelet, and governour Gayoso, to justify the delay; but the true reason, I am well persuaded, has never yet been made known to myself, or to the inhabitants of the district of Natchez, who are generally very uneasy, and many of them consider their situations as desperate if not supported in a few months by the United States.

As the arrival of the whole Spanish commission produced no effect favourable to our business, I expected that of lieutenant Pope with a detachment of about forty troops, which happened on the 24th of last month, would make some change for the better in this I have been disappointed. Additional labourers were set to work in the fort, and several more pieces of artillery mounted.

On the first of this month I received a letter from governour Gayoso, a copy of which, with the answer, you will find enclosed.

On Sunday last, the fort at this place was reinforced by about forty men, and a company of grenadiers are on their way, and hourly expected to join them. Yesterday Mr. Gillimard, the Spanish surveyor, an engineer, and several other military officers, with a boat load of intrenching tools, left this place for the Walnut Hills, where the works are to be immediately put into a complete state of defence. The labourers who were employed by the direction of governour Gayoso to go on the line, are now ordered to the Walnut Hills to assist in repairing the fortifications.

If the court of Madrid has any design of carrying the late treaty with the United States into effect, the conduct of the baron de Carondelet and governour Gayoso is to me altogether inexplicable all their measures have the appearance of approaching hostility; and from some information which I have lately received from a source to which I cannot avoid giving a degree of credit, but a short period will elapse before we shall be ordered to leave this place, if not the country. I have in a former communication mentioned my suspicions, that an undue influence has been exercised over the Indians to prepare