From James Madison to James Monroe, 14 August 1815
To James Monroe
Aug. 14. 1815
Dear Sir
I recd. duly yours intimating your intended visit to the Sulphur Springs. I hope you will derive from it all the benefit wished. The mail from the N. this morning brings nothing more than you will find in the enclosed N. paper. The paper from N. York did not come to hand. The final act of the drama at Paris is not yet announced. It would seem that the allies can if they please, force Louis again on the French Throne; and on that question will turn the momentous one whether the World is to go forward or backward.
Mr. Rush in a letter recd. this morning1 says “It seems the attempt to form a Commercial Treaty originated with Ld. Castlereah. At Paris he stated to Mr. Bayard that it was not the wish of England to have such a Treaty with us. In London however after the war had broken out, he intimated an altered opinion, which led to the commencement of the work. May not the late events, if they end in peace, bring the British Cabinet to their first ground again?”—“Mr. Crawford still waits for his Baggage which was expected, I believe, yesterday.”
What is meant in Duane’s Paper, by the mysterious allusions to Concealment, Florida, &ce.2
Don’t fail to return me Cathcarts letter,3 & to say whether any thing has taken place inconsistent with His request that the appointment of his successor at Madiera may be delayed. If there be no adverse reason, it may be best, in itself, to let the appt. await the meeting of the Senate. Yrs. Affy.
James Madison
Mr. Jefferson is at present with me.
Give directions before you go, as to the Rider.
RC (DLC: Monroe Papers).
2. JM evidently referred to an item in the 9 Aug. 1815 issue of the Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser that lamented the death of James A. Bayard but noted that this circumstance freed an unnamed friend of his to reveal “certain transactions—which even to this day have been cautiously kept from the public notice. A reference is had more particularly to Florida—and the agency in which ⟨a⟩ gentleman now in the city, then had some concern, shall hereafter be developed.” JM likely found at least a partial answer to his question by reading a piece signed “Seventy-Six” in the 11 Aug. issue of the Aurora, which objected to secret proceedings in the Senate regarding Florida. “The confidential message made to the senate by the executive, and upon which that body acted, has never been revealed—and the people are left in darkness with respect to the conduct of their representatives upon that all important occasion,” the writer complained. He probably referred to James Monroe’s 14 Jan. 1813 report outlining U.S. policy on East Florida, which JM submitted to the Senate the same day ( 5:577–79). On 31 July 1813, that body cleared its proceedings on the matter for publication, but the 1817 second edition of Thomas B. Wait’s State Papers and Publick Documents omitted Monroe’s report with a note indicating that the Senate was not yet willing to publish it (, 12th Cong., 2d sess., 124; State Papers and Publick Documents [ 36007], 9:154).