1. The letters to Pickering from Silas Talbot, the U.S. agent in the West Indies to aid American seamen, have not been identified. However, they may include Talbot’s letters to Pickering of 13, 15, and 27 Sept.; 17 and 20 Oct.; 14 and 19 Nov.; and 22 Dec. 1796, all of which Pickering acknowledged when he wrote Talbot on 10 March 1797 (MHi: Pickering Papers). Talbot’s letter of 20 Oct. 1796, written from Saint-Pierre, Martinique, reported that he “had received good information, that … a number of Americans were released from the ships of war lying at Fort Royal Bay” (ASP description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , Foreign Relations, 2:141). In his letter to Pickering of 19 Nov. 1796, written at Basseterre, St. Kitts, Talbot provided ship news at St. Kitts and described his conversations with naval officers. He wrote: “Previous to my leaving Antigua, I had an interview with Captain Metford, who is the commanding officer of the four ships that are now lying at English Harbor, at Antigua. The Commodore (as he is generally styled) told me that he had … received Admiral [Henry] Harvey’s orders to discharge every American, if any were on board his ship, and that similar orders from the Admiral had been received by the several captains under his immediate command.” Talbot added: “I have good reason to believe, sir, that the business relative to our seamen among the Windward Islands is now on a good footing; as I find that Admiral Harvey has sent forth his orders to the captains and commanders of His Majesty’s ships and vessels of war … to release all Americans … and not to impress any of them in future. … I am confident that there has not been one American impressed since my arrival at Martinique” (ASP description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , Foreign Relations, 2:141–42). A summary of the 22 Dec. 1796 letter indicates that Talbot provided Pickering with additional accounts of his successful negotiations with British officers to release impressed Americans. For a full summary of Talbot’s letters and an abstract of his communications pertaining to impressed seamen, see ASP description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , Foreign Relations, 2:141–45. For Talbot’s appointment as agent under “An Act for the relief and protection of American Seamen,” see GW to the U.S. Senate, 30 May 1796; see also Pickering to GW, 10 June 1796, and n.1; and 4 July 1796 (second letter), and n.2.