To James Madison from John Graham, 13 July 1816
From John Graham
Dept of State 13th July 1816.
Dear Sir
As Mr Monroe has not yet returned from Loudoun, and may not be here today as it is raining, I have thought that I should do right in sending you the enclosed Copy of a Letter received from Mr Bagot, since Mr Monroe left this, as he will doubtless wish to know your opinion upon the subject to which it relates before he answers it.1
I also send some Papers in spanish which have been given to us by Mr Murray who was the Secretary of Mr Morris in Madrid. Altho they are of old date I have thought that they might interest you, as they throw some light on the policy of Great Britain in relation to the dispute between Spain and her Colonies, particularly when taken into connection with Lord Castlereagh’s declarations to Mr Adams.2
Mr Hughes has been here, but as Mr Monroe was absent he returned immediately to Baltimore. He seems to be decidedly of opinion that the Patriots must submit, and that in fact they are entirely unfit to govern themselves.3 Of them and of that part of their Country which he saw, he has formed a very unfavorable opinion. Most Respectfully Your Obt Sert
John Graham
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Graham enclosed a copy of Charles Bagot to James Monroe, 9 July 1816, seeking compensation for losses incurred by British subjects, particularly the Michilimackinac Company, as a result of the seizure of their vessels on Lake Ontario in 1808 (DNA: RG 59, NFL, Great Britain; printed in Manning, Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States: Canadian Relations, 1:800–802).
2. Since Anthony Morris, starting in October 1813, sent a great many documents in Spanish to the State Department, including copies of the Gaceta de Madrid, it is difficult to ascertain precisely which papers Graham refers to. Some of these documents are filed in National Archives, Record Group 59, Communications from Special Agents, but many others can be found in Record Group 59, Diplomatic Despatches, Spain. Concerning Lord Castlereagh’s “declarations” to John Quincy Adams, Graham very probably had in mind the letters sent to Monroe under dates of 22 and 31 Jan. and 8 Feb. 1816, summarizing confidential conversations during which the British foreign secretary laid out the considerations underlying his government’s desire to pursue impartial policies toward Spain and its rebellious American colonies (DNA: RG 59, DD, Great Britain; printed in Ford, Writings of John Quincy Adams, 5:487–90, 496, 497–510). As Adams reminded Monroe on 30 Apr. 1816, however, on Spanish questions, the United States “must always take it for granted that the British feeling and policy will be against us” (ibid.; ibid., 6:20–23).
3. Between 14 Mar. and 16 June 1816 Christopher Hughes Jr. of Baltimore was engaged on a mission to New Granada to obtain the release of American prisoners and property seized in Cartagena during its occupation by Pablo Morilla. He obtained the release of the prisoners but not the property. Moreover, he failed to obtain the release of foreign nationals found on American vessels whom the Spanish authorities suspected of having participated in insurrectionary activities (Wriston, Executive Agents in American Foreign Relations, 539–41; see also the correspondence between Luis de Onís and the State Department, later printed in , Foreign Relations, 4:156–58). Copies of Hughes’s correspondence with Spanish officials on his mission (48 pp.) can be found in National Archives, Record Group 59, Communications from Special Agents.