To James Madison from John Armstrong, 7 June 1806
From John Armstrong
Paris June 7th. 1806.
Sir,
I have the honor of forwarding the enclosed copy of a Letter from the Minister of Exterior Relations on the subject of the Ship Hope, which you will be pleased to have communicated to Mess. T. Lewis & Son Merchants, Boston.1 I have directed Mr. Skipwith to obtain authenticated copies of His Majesty’s decree of the 10th. of April and of the orders Sent by the Minister of Marine to the administration of the Colony & forward them to the claimants.
For the intelligence of the day, I beg leave to refer you to the News-paper enclosed.2 I am, Sir, with the highest respect, Your most obedient & very humble Servant
J Armstrong.
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, DD, France, vol. 10). RC docketed by Wagner. Filed with the RC are copies of Armstrong’s letters to Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord of 6 and 26 May 1806 (2 pp. each) informing him that while the United States would not initiate a negotiation with Spain, they would willingly pursue one under France’s mediation; and Talleyrand to Armstrong, 4 June 1806 (1 p.; in French; docketed “7 June 1806” by Wagner), with an English translation by John Graham, stating that Napoleon would instruct the French minister in Madrid to facilitate such talks whenever the United States and Spain decided to begin them. For surviving enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosure was a copy of Talleyrand to Armstrong, 31 May 1806 (1 p.; in French), stating that Napoleon had issued a 10 Apr. 1806 decree invalidating a decision whereby authorities at Guadeloupe had allowed a deferment of restitution to the owners of the Hope until the end of the war between France and Great Britain, despite the fact that the Council of Prizes had ordered that the ship be returned; and that the minister of marine had informed the government at Guadeloupe that it must enforce the decree. For the case of the Hope, see Thomas Lewis & Son to JM, 8 May 1805, and JM to Armstrong, 23 May 1805, 9:336–37, 378–79. Jacob Wagner forwarded a copy of the enclosure to Lewis & Son on 2 Oct. 1806, stating that Fulwar Skipwith had been asked to send them “authenticated copies” of the decree and the minister of marine’s order (DNA: RG 59, DL, vol. 15).
2. Enclosure not found.