To George Washington from Edmund Randolph, 9 November 1794
From Edmund Randolph
Monday 2 o’clock Novr 9. 17941
The Secretary of state has the honor of submitting to the President the translation of a letter, of this date from Mr Fauchet, and a proposed answer to him and a letter to Govr Clinton.2 If the President approves, it is wished to send Mr Fauchet’s letter immediately—The Messenger will accordingly wait.
AL, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; LB, DNA: RG 59, GW’s Correspondence with His Secretaries of State.
1. Monday actually was 10 Nov., but Randolph’s correspondence with Jean-Antoine-Joseph Fauchet and George Clinton (see n.2) confirms that 9 Nov. is the correct date. Fauchet’s letter to Randolph has not been identified.
2. Fauchet evidently had complained about a failure to return the salute of a French ship. Randolph responded on this date with an expression of GW’s “dissatisfaction” with the “omission” to return the salute. Randolph would send Fauchet’s complaint to Governor Clinton the next day to request an explanation (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters). The letter to Clinton of 10 Nov. stated that GW would suspend judgment “until facts shall be ascertained” but noted that the complaint produced “some uneasy sensations.” Randolph requested “as soon as may be convenient the fullest information, relative to the supposed outrage” (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters).