1. The letter to Pickering from John Quincy Adams, the acting U.S. minister to the Netherlands, written on 16 Oct. 1796 from The Hague, provided intelligence on the political and military situation in Europe. Adams reported the Austrian defeat of the French Army of the Sambre and Meuse, and the forced withdrawal from Germany of Jean-Victor Moreau’s forces, which formed part of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. Napoleon Bonaparte’s Italian campaign also received attention in Adams’s report: “The positive accounts from Italy reach only to the 13th of the last month: on that and the two preceeding days Buonaparte had suffered a check, from the remmants [remnants] of [Dagobert Sigismund von] Wurmsers army, which in the french relations is almost utterly destroyed, but which still exists in considerable force in and before Mantua. It has Suffered however so much that a reinforcement has been sent from Vienna.” Adams speculated that these events “probably produced an important alteration in the political system of almost all the Cabinets of Europe,” citing as one example the conclusion of a peace treaty between France and the Elector of Bavaria. Adams then broached the subject regarding French “policy of arming all the rest of Europe against the triple alliance of Austria Russia, and Britain, as well as that of closing all the ports of the world against the Commerce of the last.” The French, he argued, “have effected their design in Spain, and in Italy so long as they can maintain an armed possession of the Country.” Though Genoa and Florence were forced to submit their “neutral rights” to the French, the French met with ill success in Denmark, Sweden, and Turkey. In the remainder of the letter, Adams discussed Franco-American relations: “There is … in the present french Government a party whose opinions and dispositions are not unfavorable … to the interests of the United States.” He cited, however, the belief held by some in France that America “thrives too rapidly” and that U.S. ports “must at all events be shut against the British Commerce.” Adams reported France’s interest in “obtaining Louisiana, by cession from Spain, and Canada, by conquest from” Great Britain. As a result, the Directory pondered dispatching “a powerful armament to New-Orleans.” Adams mentioned Britain’s and Portugal’s efforts at peace negotiations with the French, and closed the letter by recommending Joseph Pitcairn as Fulwar Skipwith’s replacement as U.S. consul at Paris (DNA: RG 59, Despatches from U.S. Ministers to the Netherlands).

2. This extract, taken from the 26 Nov. 1796 letter to Pickering from Robert Were Fox, the U.S. consul at Falmouth, England, first appeared in U.S. newspapers in early February 1797 (see Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser [Philadelphia], 4 Feb. 1797). The full text of the letter has not been identified. The events described in the extract pertained to the widespread unrest in Madrid that followed Spain’s alliance with France in July 1796 and its declaration of war against Britain in October 1796. After Spain declared war on Britain, Lord Bute, the British ambassador to Spain, made efforts to begin his return to England. Also, the Spanish court’s alliance with the anti-monarchist, anti-Catholic French Directory conflicted with the views of traditional, promonarchy Catholic Spaniards, and therefore led to rioting (see Lloyd’s Evening Post [London], 31 Oct.–2 Nov. 1796).

The Morning Post and Fashionable World (London) for 23 Nov. 1796 reported the riot and anti-French sentiment in Madrid: “Lord Bute was preparing to quit Madrid, but the great numbers of the Spaniards (irritated at the thought of War against England) had assembled round His Excellency’s Palace, and expressed a wish to see him, making great presents to all his servants. When his Excellency appeared, they requested him not to depart from their Captial. … More than one attempt to leave Madrid is said to have been made by Lord Bute, but in vain; in consequence of which the King ordered troops to march and clear the roads, in order to expedite his departure, commanding the troops, if resistance was made, to fire upon those who interfered; but the troops replied, that on the French they would execute such orders, but not upon their own countrymen, and marched to their barracks. There are two Royal Portuguese Barges waiting … to take Lord Bute and his retinue to Lisbon, and the Emerald frigate … is waiting at Lisbon to receive him.” The Whitehall Evening Post (London) for 19–22 Nov. 1796 added: “The people … take every opportunity of insulting the Republican Ambassador Perignon, whenever he appears abroad. The whole country of Spain is extremely disgusted at the influence of French politics.” The same paper for 26–29 Nov. 1796 confirmed both Lord Bute’s popularity among the Spanish people and the Spaniards’ rough treatment of the secretary and servants of Dominique-Catherine, marquis de Perignon (1754–1818), the French ambassador to Spain. Lord Bute appears to have arrived in England by early December (see Lloyd’s Evening Post [London], 9–12 Dec. 1796). Manuel Godoy y Alvarez de Faria, Duque de Alcudia, was the Spanish minister for foreign affairs.

John Stuart, first marquess of Bute (1744–1814), served as lord lieutenant of Glamorgan from 1772 to 1793, and of Glamorgan and Bute from 1794 until his death. Named British ambassador to Spain in 1783, Lord Bute did not assume that post until 1795–96. Bute returned to Britain after the establishment of the Franco-Spanish alliance. Bute was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Society in London. He became a trustee of the British Museum in 1800.