From Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 6 August 1802
To James Madison
Monticello Aug. 6. 1802.
Dear Sir
I now return you the letters of mr Pichon, and of Jones; also those of Van Polanen & Thos. Sumter. the letter to be written to Van Polanen should be so friendly as to remove all doubt from the Batavian government that our suppression of that mission proceeds from any other motive than of domestic arrangement & economy.1—I inclose you a draught of a letter to the emperor of Marocco, which make what it should be and send to your office to be written over the blank I have signed. a letter from mr Short, dated Norfolk July 29. gives me reason to expect him here hourly. present my respects to the ladies, & accept assurances of my constant & affectionate esteem & respect.
Th: Jefferson
RC (DNA: RG 59, MLR); at foot of text: “The Secretary of State.” PrC (DLC). Enclosures: see enclosures listed at Madison to TJ, 30 July, and see below.
Roger Gerard VAN POLANEN, minister to the United States from the Batavian Republic, had written to Madison from Philadelphia on 30 July to announce that his government had recalled him. Noting that his removal was the result of the decision by the United States to close its diplomatic mission to the Dutch republic, Van Polanen expressed hope that “the cordial sentiments of mutual good-will between the two Nations” would remain strong. Madison wrote to Van Polanen on 13 Aug., conveying the president’s assurance of the “cordial dispositions” of the United States (, 1:481n; 3:445–6, 475–6; Vol. 34:130–1n, 208–9).
Thomas SUMTER, Jr., had written a brief letter to Madison from Paris on 18 May, requesting permission to resign his position as secretary to Robert R. Livingston. In September, Daniel Brent sent TJ a copy of Sumter’s letter (Tr in DLC; ., 3:228, 555).
LETTER TO THE EMPEROR: Jefferson to Mawlay Sulayman, Sultan of Morocco, 5 Aug.
The letter from William SHORT was actually dated 28 July; see TJ to Short, 12 Aug.
1. MS: “eonomy.”