From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 15 February 1817
To Thomas Jefferson
Washington Feby. 15. 1817
Dear Sir
I recd. yesterday yours covering the letter of Mr. Spafford,1 which was forwarded to him as you suggested: His object in communicating it I collect only from its contents. He probably exhibited it as a proof of the spirit and views of the Eastern States during the late war.
As with you the weather here has of late been remarkable both for the degree & continuance of Cold, and the winter throughout for its dryness. The Earth has however had the advantage of a cover of snow during the period most needing it. The Wheat fields still have a slight protection from it. This morning is the coldest we have yet had. The Thermometer, on the N. side of the House under an open shed, was at 8 OC. 4°. above 0. At this moment half after 9OC. it stands at 6° ½. Yesterday morning about the same hour it was at 8°. and at 3 OC. between 10° & 11°.
Our information from abroad has been very scanty for a long time, and we are without any of late date. From St. Petersburg nothing has been recd. shewing the effect of Mr. Coles’ communications on the Emperor. Mr. Pinkney left Naples re infecta.2 He had to contend with pride, poverty and want of principle.3 Mr. Gallatins demands of indemnity are not recd. with the same insensibility, but will have a very diminutive success, if any at all.4 The Govt. of Spain, with its habitual mean cunning, after drawing the negotiations to Madrid, has now sent them back to Onis, with powers, without instructions.5 They foolishly forget that, with respect to the territorial questions at least, we are in possession of that portion of our claims, which is immediately wanted, and that delay is our Ally, and even Guarantee for every thing. The British Cabinet seems as well disposed as is consistent with its jealousies, and the prejudices it has worked up in the nation agst. us. We are anxious to learn the result of our answer to the Dey of Algiers. It is nearly 3 months since a line was recd. from Chauncy or Shaler; nor has even a rumor reached us since their return to Algiers.
All the latest accts. from Europe turn principally on the failure of the harvests, and the prospects of scarcity. If they are not greatly exaggerated the distress must be severe in many districts, and considerable every where. When the failure in this Country comes to be known, which was not the case at the latest dates, the prospect will doubtless be more gloomy.
You will see that Congs. have spent their time chiefly on the Compensation law, which has finally taken the most exceptionable of all turns; and on the Claims-law as it is called relating to horses & houses destroyed by the Enemy, which is still undecided in the Senate. They shrink from a struggle for reciprocity in the W.I. trade; but the H. of R. have sent to the Senate a navigation Act, reciprocating the great principle of the British Act, which if passed by the Senate, will be felt deeply in G.B. in its example, if not in its operation.6 Another Bill has gone to the Senate which I have not seen; and of a very extraordinary character, if it has been rightly stated to me. The object of it is, to compass by law only an authority over roads & Canals. It is said the Senate are not likely to concur in the project; whether from an objection to the principle or the expediency of it, is uncertain.7 I shall hasten my departure from this place, as much as possible; but I fear I shall be detained longer after the 4th. of March, than I wish. The severe weather, unites with the winding up of my public business, in retarding the preparations during the Session of Congress, and they will from their mul[t]iplicity be a little tedious after we can devote ourselves exclusively thereto. On my reachg home, I shall recollect your notice of the call which will afford me the pleasure of assuring you in person of my sincere & constant Affection
James Madison
RC (DLC). Docketed by Jefferson as “recd Feb. 19.”
2. s.v. “re infectâ”: “With the matter unfinished.”
3. The correspondence relating to William Pinkney’s mission to Naples between 24 Aug. and 9 Oct. 1816 is located in the National Archives, Record Group 59, DD, Russia. Its purpose was to obtain compensation for American vessels seized in Naples during the rule of Joachim Murat between 1808 and 1815. Pinkney reported that he had been well received in Naples and that the foreign minister, the marquis di Circello, did not deny that injustices had been committed. However, the Kingdom of Sicily would not commit to paying compensation, with Circello pleading the poverty of the treasury, an inability to locate the records relating to the dispute, and an unwillingness to be held liable for the actions of Murat whom he denounced as an illegitimate usurper. Pinkney left Naples on 10 Oct. 1816 to ensure that he could continue his journey to Russia before winter weather made travel too difficult. Extracts from this correspondence were sent to the House of Representatives in March 1818 (, Foreign Relations, 4:160–171).
4. In July 1816, Albert Gallatin commenced his correspondence with the French foreign minister, the duc de Richelieu, on American claims for compensation for French spoliations during the rule of Napoleon. On 14 Oct. 1816 he reported that the duke had stated he was “not authorised to enter into a negotiation for the purpose of providing an indemnity to the citizens of the United States for the captures & confiscations made by virtue of the Berlin and Milan decrees; that it was absolutely impossible for the present government of France to make compensation for the whole mass of injustice and injuries done by the former governments”; and that it had “been necessary to limit the measure of indemnity to the most flagrant cases, and that such had been the course adopted in the late treaties between France and the European powers.” This was unacceptable to Gallatin, who laid out the American case in detail on 9 Nov. 1816. In his 20 Jan. 1817 dispatch to Monroe, Gallatin mentioned that the duc de Richelieu had stated that his likely response to Gallatin’s 9 Nov. 1816 note “would fall very short of our demands; that he would not go beyond an indemnity for vessels burnt at sea, […] and that it would even be difficult to obtain from the Chambers [of Deputies] the authority to pay to that extent” (DNA: RG 59, DD, France, partially in code; extracts printed in Adams, Writings of Albert Gallatin [repr. 1960], 2:1–23).
5. George W. Erving reported his inability to agree with Spanish foreign minister Pedro Cevallos on negotiating the issues in dispute with the United States in his dispatches of 31 Aug. and 22 and 27 Sept. 1816. Cevallos accordingly suggested that the discussions be referred back to Washington under the charge of Luis de Onís (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, with extracts from the correspondence printed in , Foreign Relations, 4:433–37).
6. On 1 Mar. 1817 JM signed “An Act concerning the navigation of the United States” (, 3:351–52). For the congressional debate, see , 14th Cong., 2d sess., 100, 101, 107, 136, 139–40, 357, 770, 771, 840, 841–42, 843, 1019, 1022).
7. This was “An act to set apart and pledge certain funds for internal improvements,” which JM would veto on 3 Mar. 1817 (, 14th Cong., 2d sess., 109, 112, 191, 211–13, 361, 871, 933–34, 1051–52, 1060–63).