George Washington Papers
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From George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 3 November 1796

To Alexander Hamilton

(Private)

Philadelphia 3d Novr 1796

My dear Sir,

After my letter of yesterday was despatched to you, the draught of the answer to Mr Adet was presented for my approbation, with the opinions of the Gentlemen about me, that it would be expedient to publish it, and without delay.1

It appeared also, by information from the Secretary of State, that as far as public opinion had been expressed on the occasion, that this measure was looked to, & expected.

These considerations, and a conviction if the publication was to take place o⟨ther⟩wise than through the medium of Congress, th⟨e⟩ sooner it happened the more likely it would be to obviate the bad impressions it was calculated to make on the public mind; induced an acquiescence on my part. I do not, nevertheless, think it free from those objection⟨s⟩ which I mentioned in my last;2 as it is not probable that the correspondence will end wi⟨th⟩ the Secretarys letter.3

I give you the trouble of this note ⟨& a⟩ccount for the Publication which you will find in the Gazettes of this Morning; and to rescue my conduct from the imputation of inco⟨n⟩sistency.

There are other parts of my letter not involved in this determination, which await the opinions I have asked, and on which I should be glad to hear from you (and in the manner which has been required in preceeding letters) as soon as it is convenie⟨nt.⟩4 I am—Your Affectionate frien⟨d⟩

Go: Washington

ALS, DLC: Hamilton Papers.

1The opinions of the cabinet members may have been verbal. The “draught” has not been found, but presumably it was a draft of Secretary of State Timothy Pickering’s letter of 1 Nov. to Pierre-Auguste Adet, the French minister to the United States, written in response to Adet’s letter to him of 27 October. In his 1 Nov. letter to Adet, Pickering contended that the French Directory’s decree of 2 July 1796 made no distinction between neutral powers, whose conduct was governed by the law of nations, and the United States, whose treaties with France “imposed special obligations.” Pickering confirmed the provision in the Franco-American commercial treaty of 1778 “that free ships should make free goods,” which he interpreted to mean that France had no justification to seize U.S. vessels trading with the British. Since the United States had not made a compact to defend the freedom of the seas against Britain, Pickering argued, British “captures” of U.S. vessels carrying French goods were therefore “warranted by the law of nations.” On the alleged British assault on American navigation, Pickering added: “we are officially informed that the British Government have issued no new orders for capturing the vessels of the United States.” On his failure to reply to Adet’s previous dispatches pertaining to impressment and ship seizures (i.e., Adet’s letter to Pickering of 29 Sept. 1795), Pickering wrote: “The subject … had been already officially and publicly discussed, and the principles and ultimate measures of the United States … were as publicly fixed.” Pickering concluded by rebuking Adet’s decision to publicize his 27 Oct. letter: “As it concerned the United States, it was properly addressed to its Government, to which alone pertained the right of communicating it, in such time and manner as it should think fit, to the citizens of the United States.” Adet received Pickering’s letter on the evening of 2 Nov. (ASP description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , Foreign Relations, 1:578–79; see also DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters). Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) and Gazette of the United States, & Philadelphia Daily Advertiser published Pickering’s response in their issues of 3 November. In a letter of 5 Nov. to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the U.S. minister to France, Pickering enclosed both Adet’s 27 Oct. letter and his 1 Nov. reply (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions, 1791–1801).For Adet’s letter to Pickering of 27 Oct. and for the decree on neutral shipping, see GW to Hamilton, 2 Nov., and n.2 to that document.

Pickering’s 1 Nov. reply to Adet received praise in various newspapers. The Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser for 21 Nov. 1796 printed the following item, dated at Boston on 12 Nov.: “The Letter of Mr. Pickering, to Mr. Adet, demands the attention of every true American. They will rally round the standard of national honor and independence, and will not fail to support with their lives & fortunes, a government whose first objects are Peace with all Mankind … and the obligations of public engagements.” In a private letter to Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott, Jr., written from Providence on 10 Nov., Jabez Bowen commented on Pickering’s 1 Nov. reply to Adet: “Mr Pickerings Answer is firm, Manly, and sensable, and is much approved of by every Independent American” (CtHi: Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Papers). In an undated letter to Charles Delacroix, the French foreign minister, Adet suggested that Pickering’s reply to him created a divided reaction among the American public. Some, he claimed, admired it with “un saint respect” and anticipated an apology from Adet, while others impatiently awaited a rebuttal from the Frenchman that would expose Pickering’s “stupidité” (Turner, Correspondence of the French Ministers description begins Frederick J. Turner, ed. Correspondence of the French Ministers to the United States, 1791–1797. Washington, D.C., 1904. In Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1903, vol. 2. description ends , 968–72).

3GW conjectured correctly; Adet wrote another inflammatory letter to Pickering on 15 Nov., to which the latter responded by sending Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the newly appointed U.S. minister to France, a lengthy and detailed defense of U.S. policy toward France (see Hamilton to GW, 19 Nov., and n.6; and GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 19 Jan. 1797, and n.4 to that document).

4Hamilton replied to GW on 5 November.

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