1. The brief cover letter from Thomas Pinckney to the secretary of state of 26 Dec. 1793 enclosed the British order of 6 Nov. 1793, which instructed the commanders of British ships of war and privateers “That they shall stop and detain all ships laden with goods the product of any colony belonging to France, or carrying provisions or other supplies for the use of any such colony, and shall bring the same with their cargoes, to legal adjudication in our courts of admiralty.” His letter of 2 Jan. 1794 reported on his inability to meet with Lord Grenville, the British foreign secretary, in order to obtain an “explanation” of these instructions.

Pinckney’s letter to Randolph of 9 Jan. contained a report on his recent conversation with Grenville and enclosed another set of orders, dated 8 Jan., which announced the revocation of the orders of 6 Nov. and substituted new restrictions on trade with the French West Indies. Pinckney expressed the U.S. position “that we did not admit the right of the belligerent powers to interfere farther in the commerce between neutral nations & their adversaries, than to prevent their carrying to them articles which by common usage were ⟨de⟩emed contraband & any articles to a place fairly blockaded.” Grenville assured Pinckney that it “was the sincere desire of the Administration ⟨to⟩ maintain the best understanding & harmony with the United States.” All three letters and the enclosed copies of the British instructions are in DNA: RG 59, Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Great Britain; see also DNA: RG 46, Third Congress, 1793–95, Senate Records of Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages and ASP, Foreign Relations description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 1:430–31. GW submitted these letters and their enclosures with his letter to Congress of 4 April.

2. A letter from William Carmichael and William Short, U.S. commissioners to Spain, to Randolph of 7 Jan. and two letters from Short to Randolph of 9 and 17 Jan. were given to GW at some time before 7 April, when GW returned them to Randolph (JPP description begins Dorothy Twohig, ed. The Journal of the Proceedings of the President, 1793–1797. Charlottesville, Va., 1981. description ends , 297–98). The letter of 7 Jan. discussed their problems in pursuing negotiations with Spain, particularly on the subject of the American right to free navigation of the Mississippi River (ASP, Foreign Relations description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 1:440–42). The letter of 9 Jan. reviewed the effects of the current European war on diplomacy, while the letter of 17 Jan. contained a chart showing ships that entered the Bay of Cadiz in 1793 and the value of the gold and silver brought in them, and another chart showing the prices of wheat in Spain during January 1793 and January 1794. For the two letters from Short, and the enclosed charts, see DNA: RG 59, Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Spain; see also ASP, Foreign Relations description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 1:442–45. GW submitted these letters and their enclosures with his letter to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 15 April.