From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 29 June 1792
To Thomas Jefferson
[Philadelphia, 29 June 1792]1
I am grieved to find that Mr Short was, on the 22d of April, without his Comn & Instructions2—and that Mr Morris was not then in Paris.3
AL, DLC: Jefferson Papers.
1. Jefferson’s docket on the cover of this letter and his Summary Journal of Public Letters (DLC: Jefferson Papers) record that GW’s note was received on 29 June.
2. For the appointment of William Short and William Carmichael to negotiate outstanding differences between the United States and Spain, see GW to the U.S. Senate, 11 Jan., Jefferson to GW, 18, 22 Mar., and GW to Jefferson, 25 Mar., 28 April 1792. Jefferson wrote at the bottom of the manuscript page: “it proved afterwds that the ship carrying the instructions was wrecked.” Duplicate papers were prepared and sent, but they did not reach The Hague until mid-November 1792. Short left The Hague in mid-December 1792 and arrived at Madrid in early 1793.
3. Gouverneur Morris left Paris on his trip to London on 22 Jan. and did not return to the French capital until 6 May 1792.