To James Madison from William Willis, 15 December 1802
From William Willis, 15 December 1802
Barcelona Decr. 15th. 180⟨2⟩.
Respected Sir,
The principle object of thi⟨s⟩ letter is to transmit you the within Coppy of a Circular letter Rec’d from Tunis by way of Italy and also to Enclose you the Coppy of an aff⟨i⟩davit of Mumford & Bowen befor⟨e⟩ Mr. Cathalan the Object of which is expressed at the bottom of it.
I have no late information of the Cruising Ground of the Pyrates of Tripo⟨ly⟩ but Some time in October they wer⟨e⟩ off Malta with four sail. There has howe⟨ver⟩ been no late Captures and it is hoped th⟨at⟩ the Vigilance of the United States Squadron will effectually prevent the Capture of any of our Vessells. I am Sir With Respectful Esteem Your Hbl Serv
Willm. Willis
Enclosure
The note below is written on the bottom of O’Brien’s circular dated 15 Oct. 1802.
Barcelona Decr. 11th. 1802
The above letter I suppose to be wrong dated as it is probable it was wrote on the 15th. of Novr.
Willm. Willis
The preceding is the full transcription of a document that was previously abstracted in The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State series. The original abstract contains additional annotation and source information.