To James Madison from Cipriano Ribeiro Freire (Abstract), 20 April 1805
§ From Cipriano Ribeiro Freire
20 April 1805, Aranjuez. Obtained permission from his court to leave the United States in 1799 but was unable to communicate this personally to the president as the enclosed letters from Secretary of State Pickering will attest.1 Freire’s successor, [João Paulo, chevalier de] Bezerra, was supposed to deliver Freire’s letter of recall, but he did not come to the United States after the U.S. government decided not to have a minister in Lisbon. Freire was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Madrid for the peace negotiations between France and Portugal and left his letter of recall at Lisbon. Has now received it and profits from Monroe and Pinckney’s gracious offer to send it to JM so that it may be placed before the president.
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, NFL, Portugal, vol. 1). RC 2 pp.; in French; docketed by Wagner.
1. The enclosures (2 pp.; docketed by Wagner) are a copy of Timothy Pickering to Freire, 29 Apr. 1799, stating that he had written to President John Adams informing him of Freire’s recall, and a copy of Adams’s 7 Apr. 1799 reply, which enclosed three letters for the queen of Portugal and expressed his friendship for Freire as well as his regret at Freire’s departure and his wish that Freire be extended all courtesies due to departing ministers.