To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 15 April 1804
From James Madison
Washington Apl. 15. 1804.
Dear Sir
Your favor of the 9th. with its inclosures has been duly recd. and will be duly attended to
The inclosed communications from Mr. Merry are as satisfactory as they are important. On the return of them, it will be proper I presume to acknowledge the impression made by the promptitude of the interposition, and the evidence it affords of a disposition to cherish the amicable relations &c. of the two Countries. From Sr. E. Nepeans letter it seems that the decisions of the British Courts on the law of Nations are prescribed even by the Board of Admiralty.
The letter from Skipwith shews as we always supposed that the French Govt. took no particular interest in the application of the fund of 20 Mils: farther than it might affect the sum chargeable on themselves. It shews also that Mr. L. had not disclosed at that date the instruction sent him, to suspend & prepare the way for remodifying the payments under the Convention. It appears by his correspondence with the Comissrs. heretofore recd. that he had notified your sanction to his choice as early as the 23 of Decr. and this sanction was conveyed in the same letter with that instruction.
The letter from Moses Young is inclosed at his request. He has not yet decided whether he will return to Madrid. Perhaps it may depend on the event of the settlement he makes with the public. Like all other claimants, tho’ represented as a moderate, as well as an honest man, he is for getting all he can within the limits at least of what he thinks not unfair.
Nothing has occurred, beyond the information of the newspapers, that deserves to be mentioned. The next mail will probably give the result of the Election in N.H. In Massts, the progress becomes less unfavorable to Sullivan, who will not be left so far behind as his predecessor in the competition with Strong. From N.Y. nothing is heard but general reports on which no dependence can be placed. You will see the indelicate introduction of your name into the contest.
Yrs. with respectful attachment
James Madison
RC (DLC); at head of text: “To the President of the U States”; endorsed by TJ as received from the State Department on 20 Apr. and “Merry—Livingston—Young” and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Anthony Merry to Madison, Washington, 12 Apr., enclosing a copy of a letter from Evan Nepean, secretary of the Admiralty, to George Hammond, 5 Jan., specifying the relaxation of British blockades of Martinique and Guadeloupe and a more selective blockade policy moving forward; Merry trusts that the swift action of the British government in redressing the grievance expressed by the United States will offer evidence of the king’s desire to allay any misunderstandings between the two countries (, 7:37-8). (2) Merry to Madison, 12 Apr., conveying information that the British navy has converted the siege of Curaçao into a blockade of the island; Merry assures Madison that the blockade will be conducted along the more limited basis discussed in his earlier communication (same, 7:38). (3) Fulwar Skipwith to Madison, Paris, 1 Jan., transmitting a statement of claims made under the 1803 convention with France; Skipwith has classified the claims under two “heads, by separating the doubtful from the clear”; he has sent to the commission reports on 107 cases, but can render only speculative assessments of 115 remaining cases; he advises that the convention has made appeals difficult for prize claims that otherwise would have had the benefit of the Convention of 1800 and that should have the “particular Solicitude of our Government”; he calls into question the approval by Robert R. Livingston of the “Conjectural Note” that has thus far guided negotiations and excludes many claims from immediate adjudication; Skipwith encloses letters he sent to Livingston, as well as a statement alerting the minister to claims excluded from the approved list; he trusts that the president and “every impartial man” will regret that the money allocated for settling claims will not “be equally divided among” claimants; he adds that he received personal assurance from François Barbé de Marbois that the French government is willing to make modifications to the convention (same, 6:271-3). Other enclosure not found, but see below.
Nepean’s letter to Hammond indicated that policies developed for previously blockaded Caribbean islands had been conveyed to judges of the vice-admiralty courts in the West Indies (, Foreign Relations, 3:266).
In a letter of 9 Nov. 1803, Madison sent Livingston a specific instruction to delay any determinations on claims and also indicated TJ’s sanction of the American commissioners. Livingston conveyed information to the commissioners on the president’s approval in a letter of 23 Dec., but did not inform them of any other instructions. The commissioners enclosed correspondence between them and Livingston in a letter to Madison of 26 Dec. (William Maclure, To the People of the United States [Philadelphia, 1807], 26; , 6:24-6, 227-8; Livingston to TJ, 11 Jan.).
moses young had recently been awarded $2,000 per annum for his past service as secretary to David Humphreys, then the American minister in madrid, where Young also served as consul. He was making a second claim for service performed in Holland during the American Revolution. That claim was not settled until 1810. Young returned to his consular post in 1805 (, Claims, 1:307-8; , 6:55, 89-90; National Intelligencer, 24 Apr. 1805).
less unfavorable to sullivan: early returns from 47 towns in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election reported Caleb Strong, the Federalist incumbent, with a majority of 1,692 votes over his Republican opponent, James Sullivan. In the previous year’s election, the same towns gave Strong a majority of 3,247 votes over Elbridge Gerry. A subsequent statement of returns from 80 towns reported 10,040 votes for Strong and 7,503 for Sullivan (New-England Palladium, 6 Apr. 1804; National Intelligencer, 16 Apr. 1804).