To James Madison from Levett Harris, 10 August 1806 (Abstract)
From Levett Harris, 10 August 1806 (Abstract)
§ From Levett Harris. 10 August 1806, St. Petersburg. “Since my last letters of the 9/21. & 18/30. July Conveyed to you by direct1 opportunities, from this to the United States, I have been honored by receipt of a letter from the President,2 inclosing one for the Emperor, which the President informs me has some relation to a Subject which the Secretary of State will explain to me:3 those promised communications have not yet come to hand. I duly acquitted myself of the commission Submitted to me on the part of the President, as will be seen by my correspondence with the minister of Foreign Affairs, of which the inclosed, No. I, is copy.4
“The Emperor granted me a private audience at his Palace at Caminoy ostrow; which lasted near twenty minutes. On my presenting the letter, his majesty anxiously inquired if I knew its contents: I informed him that it had relation to a Subject on which I expected instructions from the Secretary of State; but which had not yet come to hand. The Emperor answered that I knew his sentiments, & that his desire was to cultivate an intimate connexion with the United States; his partiality to which, had been often manifested to me through his ministers.
“I did not fail to offer my acknowledgements in Suitable terms for the honor conferred on me by this audience, which is without example in a Subordinate agent. It may not perhaps be out of place to mention here, that the honors of the guard & Palace, Shewn exclusively to Ambassadors and officers of the Court, were extended on this occasion to the consul of the United states.
“My correspondence No. 2 will advise you of a late mission of mr. d’Oubril to Paris and the result of that mission.5
“It would indeed appear that there is great probability of a confirmation of what my letter of the 17/29. April last has apprehended.6 Your information from the more southern quarters of Europe is no doubt ample as to what is passing there: it cannot be disguised that here every thing bears the face of hostility; but as the dispositions and movements of France, & her powerful enemy, essen[t]ially weigh with the measures of this court, it may thereby be inferred that this great Prince will act as circumstances indicate.
“I herewith inclose a letter from the Emperor to the President.”7
RC, two copies, and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, St. Petersburg, vol. 1). First RC 3 pp.; docketed by Wagner. Second RC marked “duplicate” and bears Harris’s note: “Original via new York pr. orion given to the charge & to be presented by mr. Alexr. J. Smith.” For enclosures, see nn. 3–4 and 6.
1. Second RC has “different.”
2. Thomas Jefferson to Harris, 18 Apr. 1806 (DLC: Jefferson Papers).
4. The enclosure (3 pp.; in French; docketed by Wagner) comprised copies of Harris to Russian foreign minister Andrei Budberg, 27 July 1806, requesting to be informed how he should deliver the letter from Jefferson to Alexander I; Budberg to Harris, 28 July 1806, stating that he would ask Alexander how he wished to receive the letter and report to Harris as soon as possible; and Budberg to Harris, 31 July 1806, informing Harris that Alexander would see him the day after next at 3 p.m.
5. Harris enclosed a copy of Budberg’s 2 Aug. 1806 letter to him (3 pp.; in French; docketed by Wagner), stating that Alexander I would not ratify the treaty that Pierre d’Oubril had concluded with France because, although d’Oubril had believed it his duty to sign, the treaty was not in conformity with his instructions; and that d’Oubril had received new orders to restate the bases upon which Russia would agree to peace, which it would then be up to France to accept or reject. The enclosed copy of Harris’s 3 Aug. 1806 reply (2 pp.; in French) acknowledged receipt of Budberg’s letter and thanked him for the notice.
7. The enclosure was Alexander I to Jefferson, 10 Aug. 1806 (DLC: Jefferson Papers; 4 pp.; in French; docketed by Jefferson as received 19 Nov.), acknowledging receipt of Jefferson’s 18 Apr. 1806 letter and the several works on the U.S. Constitution that accompanied it; and thanking him for supporting Alexander’s efforts.