To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 19 April 1804
From James Madison
Washington April 19. 1804.
Dear Sir
The Mail of last evening brought me your favor of the 15th. with the papers sent back with it. I shall forbear using your Blank for an exequatur till I can again confer with Mr. Pichon who is at Baltimore.
The sending on the intercepted presents to the Porte would certainly be a handsome & politic expression of respect for the Grand Seignor, who otherwise may be thrown by his displeasure into an unseasonable patronage of Tripoli. It is even to be wished that Preble may have thought1 of and undertaken the measure himself.
The impression made on our public agents abroad by the loss of the Philada. and the2 effect they give to it are both remarkable. So extravagant a solicitude tends not only to sink us in the eyes of the European Govts. but may excite calculations in the Bashaw which will in some measure balance the advantage of the friendly interpositions with him. The Communication from our Consul at St. Petersburg on this subject now inclosed, is more remarkable than any thing that has occurred, not so much for the proceeding of the Consul, as for the result of it; which is to be explained only by an uncommon character in the Emperor Alexander, and some particular interest he has been led to take in the career of the U. States. It reminds me of his education by la Harpe, and of some communications thro’ Dr. Priestly which you once shewed me, but which my memory does not distinctly retrace. It certainly will be proper to make the acknowledgment due thro’ some more respectful channel than instructions to the Consul. Whether any thing beyond a letter from the Dept. of State here to the Russian Minister be recommended by the occasion, will depend on circumstances which you can much better appreciate.
Barnes may receive the proper check by the oppy. which will be afforded by the Adams. Mr. Lincoln has recd a letter from Russel which he will forward to you.
The lengthy communications for Mr. L. Mr. P. and Mr. Monroe, with the resources required for them, & other business of the office have prevented me from taking up the case of Doctr. Stephens, and the intrusions west of the Mississippi. With respect to the latter, it does not at first view strike me that any doubt or objection can lie agst. a military expulsion, if authorized by law, as is presumed,3 and in cases sufficiently clear. The only question that occurs is how far the officer should be allowed to decide an antedate to be a forgery; unless indeed records in his possession should disclose it.
With respectful attachment Yrs.
James Madison
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “The President of the U. States”; endorsed by TJ as received from the State Department on 23 Apr. and “Consul of Kentucky.—Grand Seignr.—Tripoli.—Emperor Russia Barnes—Russell—Louisa. squatters” and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Levett Harris to Madison, St. Petersburg, Russia, 7 Feb., enclosing copies of his correspondence with the Russian foreign minister, Count Aleksandr Romanovich Vorontsov, regarding the American prisoners at Tripoli; when news of the loss of the Philadelphia had been authenticated, Harris immediately contacted Vorontsov to solicit Emperor Alexander’s assistance; in response, Vorontsov informed Harris that Alexander, guided by his friendly disposition toward the United States, directed the Russian minister at Constantinople to urge the Ottoman Porte to send a firman to the bey of Tripoli ordering the release of the American crew and the Philadelphia; Harris has acknowledged the emperor’s magnanimous action, which he is certain will arouse feelings of gratitude and obligation in America; Harris will send copies of one of Vorontsov’s letters to the American ministers in Europe, the commander of the American naval squadron, and the American consuls in the Mediterranean (DNA: RG 59, CD, St. Petersburg; , 6:453-4; Nina N. Bashkina and others, eds., The United States and Russia: The Beginning of Relations, 1765-1815 [Washington, D.C., 1980], 391-3).
confer with mr. pichon: writing on 23 June, Madison informed Louis André Pichon that the president would find it more agreeable to have Paul Marie Louis Martel’s exequatur fix his residence at New Orleans rather than Natchez. Pichon agreed to the substitution three days later, and Martel’s exequatur as the French commissary of commercial relations for Kentucky, to reside at New Orleans, went into effect on 27 June (, 7:355, 377; Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, 27 Oct. 1804).
For the influence of educator Frédéric César de la harpe on Alexander I of Russia, as described in communications sent to Joseph Priestley, see Vol. 38:550-64, 598-600.
the adams: the frigate John Adams was preparing for sea as a transport to carry supplies to the Mediterranean squadron (, 3:356-7; 4:54, 88).
1. MS: “though.”
2. Madison here canceled “stile in which they convey it.”
3. Madison here canceled “to be the case.”