To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 14 March 1803
From James Madison
Washington. Mar. 14. 1803
Dear Sir
You will find in the gazette of this morning the letter from d’Yrujo, which he wished to be printed, and which will I hope do good. Pichon has also written a strong letter to the Govr. of Louisiana, summoning him on his responsibility, to see that the cession of that province to France be not effected, nor the amicable relations of the Republic to the U. States, be endangered by a perseverance of the Intendant in his breach of the Treaty. Both these Ministers are deeply alarmed at the apparent tendency of things, and seem willing to risk themselves for the purpose of checking it.
I have just recd. & decyphered the inclosed letters from Mr. Livingston. In general they wear a better aspect than heretofore; but it is remarkable, unless some intermediate letter has not been recd. that nothing is said of the written assurance which was to be given on the return of the chief Consul, that the Spanish Treaty would be faithfully observed by France. It is still more remarkable that he should undertake to prescribe measures, without hinting even the reasons for them. The whole of his postscript of Decr. 23. is an enigma; suggesting a fear of some hazardous finesse or some unwarrantable project,1 rather than a hope of successful negociation. What inconsistency also in waiting for safe opportunities, and at the same putting his letter which contains confidential things not even in Cypher, into the hands of a British Minister. Surely a letter in Cypher might as well be trusted to a French post office; and then he might write as frequently & fully as he pleased, thro’ England, and with a much better chance of despatch, than by direct conveyances from Paris.
OBrien says that the Dey of Algiers threatens war if the Stores be not sent, and allows three months only for their arrival. He demands, over & above the stores, 1000 barrels of Gun powder. The answer to this request he says must be in a separate letter from the President. But the importance of the subject requires that you should see the letter, and I therefore inclose it.
With respectful attachment I remain Yours
James Madison
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “The President of the U. States”; endorsed by TJ as received from the State Department on 18 Mch. and “Livingston & Obrien’s lres, Yrujo & Pichon” and so recorded in SJL with notation “N. Orleans.” Enclosures: (1) Robert R. Livingston to Madison, 20 Dec. 1802, and perhaps letters from Livingston to Madison of 11 and 14 Nov.; Madison deciphered the coded passages in all three letters (, Sec. of State Ser., 4:115–16, 121, 203–5). (2) Richard O’Brien to Madison, 23 Nov. 1802, from Algiers, stating that on the previous day he informed the Algerian government of the arrival of $30,000 in the place of timber and stores for the annuity from the United States, but Mustafa Baba has refused to accept the cash payment; the dey insists that unless the U.S. wants war, he must receive the items required by the annuity arrangement, plus 1,000 barrels of gunpowder, within three months’ time; O’Brien estimates that the gunpowder now demanded by the dey would cost $40,000 with freight and insurance if sent from the U.S.; he believes that the dey wants to use the timber and stores in the construction of a frigate; he also discusses debts owed by the U.S. to financial houses in Algiers that play a role in relations between the countries; the amounts owed include $6,500 to repay the ransoming from Tripoli of men from the brig Franklin (same, 135–7).
gazette of this morning: under the heading “OFFICIAL,” the National Intelligencer printed Carlos Martínez de Irujo’s letter to Madison of the 10th. According to editorial comments in the newspaper, the Spanish minister’s letter made clear that the stoppage at New Orleans was not the act of his government, but rather the result of a misunderstanding by the intendant of the terms of the right of deposit. Therefore, the editors declared, “it will appear that the arguments, made use of in the late debates in the Senate, for involving the country in war, were entirely without foundation.” Louis André pichon saw Irujo on 11 Mch. and wrote to Manuel de Salcedo to point out that Spanish authorities should do nothing to alter Louisiana’s relationship with the United States before France took control of the colony. Pichon’s message to Salcedo was included with the dispatches from Irujo to the Spanish officials at New Orleans that Madison forwarded on the 11th (National Intelligencer, 14 Mch.; , Sec. of State Ser., 4:413; Madison to TJ, 10 Mch.).
written assurance: Livingston reported to Madison in November that he had been frustrated in attempts to get a guarantee from the French government that the provisions of the existing treaty between the United States and Spain would remain in force after the transfer of Louisiana to French control. When pressed, Talleyrand told Livingston that a formal declaration would have to wait until Bonaparte returned to Paris from an inspection tour in the north of France (, Sec. of State Ser., 4:110–11, 115; Vol. 38:589n).
undertake to prescribe measures: in coded passages in his letter of 20 Dec. and a postscript dated the 23d, Livingston stated that he had circumvented Talleyrand to bring his proposals directly to Bonaparte’s attention (see also Livingston to TJ, 12 Mch.). Livingston gave no details of those memorials to the first consul, indicating that he would write more fully when he had a reliable means of conveying sensitive information. He stated cryptically, however, that his propositions were having an effect because they had “alarmed” Bonaparte (here and below, text that Livingston put in code is in italics). rather than a hope of successful negociation: in the postscript of 23 Dec., Livingston advised Madison to “Set on foot a negotiation for fixing our bounds with Britain but by no means conclude til you hear from me that all hope here is lost.” Writing partly in the clear and partly in code, he declared: “Do not absolutely despair tho you may have no great reason to hope should New Orleans be possessed by a small force” (, Sec. of State Ser., 4:204).
Among the confidential things that Livingston did not encode in the letter of 20 Dec. and its postscript were comments relating to the ownership of Florida, which were in proximity to a remark about favorable “prospects of attaining the object.” “I have made so many Converts,” he wrote in clear text, “that I would wish, in case favorable circumstances should arise, to know how to act. If left to myself I may go beyond the mark.” He also opined “that the storm in England will blow over for the present” and the peace in Europe “will not be lasting.” Livingston began the 20 Dec. letter with the supposition that he would send it to Rouen “without being certain of finding the ship there by which I hope to send it.” By the time he added the postscript on 23 Dec., he found he could send the letter “by the way of England” with Anthony Merry, who had been serving as the interim british minister to France (same, 203–4; Vol. 38:588n).
In his dispatch of 23 Nov., O’Brien recommended that TJ send a separate letter to Mustafa Baba rather than answering through the U.S. consul. O’Brien sent a triplicate of his dispatch to Paris, asking Livingston “to note The Contents” and send the document on to Washington. Livingston forwarded it to Madison with his letter of 20 Dec. (, Sec. of State Ser., 4:136, 418n).
Earlier in 1802, O’Brien had prepared a “Correct list of the Terrible marine of the Potent Algerines,” which provided American navy commanders a detailed description of the size and composition of the naval forces of Algiers. The list included a main force of 15 warships consisting of frigates, xebecs, polacres, schooners, and a brig, as well as about 50 gunboats and 200 coasting vessels. A militia force of 50,000 could also be raised “with difficulty” (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 232:41547, undated, in an unidentified hand, endorsed by TJ: “Algiers. force of in 1802. by Capt. McNiel to which add a fine 44. gun frigate take from the Portuguese”; , 2:71–3; , 3:452n).
1. Preceding four words interlined.