From George Washington to Timothy Pickering, 21 October 1796
To Timothy Pickering
Mount Vernon 21st Oct. 96
Dear Sir,
Your letter of the 15th came duly to hand.
Fortune seems to have declared for us, hitherto, in the Election, or more properly Selection & ballotting, for the odd Commissioner, under the Treaty with G.B.—But something must be done, & I presume immediately, to supply Mr Trumbull’s place as Agent in the other business, to which he was appointed.1
I wish most ardently that the flames of war were extinguished instead of kindling anew, as is too probable between Great Britain & Spain; in which it is not unlikely Portugal may be involved.2
The fates, some how or another, seems to have been adverse to our unfortunate captives by the Algerines, in all our attempts to relieve them, hitherto, and the probability is, it will continue to be so as the chances of renewed Quarantine by the death of one of them in 60 days is much against them.3 I am Your affectionate
Go: Washington
ALS, MHi: Pickering Papers.
1. GW refers to the selection of John Trumbull as the fifth member of the five-man commission required under Article VII of the Jay Treaty to adjust claims of American and British merchants (see Pickering to GW, 15 Oct., and n.2 to that document). Trumbull’s appointment to the commission led him in late August to decline to serve as an agent to aid American seamen, a post to which GW had nominated him in May 1796. In 1797, GW nominated David Lenox as the agent to assist seamen (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 30 May, and n.1; Pickering to GW, 1 March 1797, and n.7; and GW to the U.S. Senate, 2 March [first letter], and n.4).
2. Spain and France had signed a treaty of alliance (Treaty of San Ildefonso) on 19 Aug., which was followed by Spain’s declaration of war againt Great Britain on 5 Oct. (see Pickering to GW, 20 Oct., n.5). A secret article in the Treaty of San Ildefonso called for the Spanish king Charles IV to use his influence, or “sa force,” to coerce Portugal into closing its ports to the British upon Spain’s declaration of war. The French Directory also promised Spain the troops necessary for that purpose should Portugal resist the will of Charles IV (, 53:263).
The Albany Register for 30 Sept. 1796 reported the Spanish king’s intention “to permit a French army of 70,000 men to march through his dominions into Portugal, unless the latter court without delay shut all her ports against and forbid the future entry of British vessels.”
3. For the death of one of the released American prisoners during his passage from Algiers to France, and for the forced quarantine of the liberated captives, see Pickering to GW, 15 Oct., and n.8. For the initial agreement under which the American captives at Algiers were ransomed, see Pickering to GW, 27 July.