To James Madison from John Armstrong, 24 December 1806
From John Armstrong
Paris 24 December 1806.
Sir,
I had the honor of receiving your letter of the 15 August1 this morning and that of Mr. Wagner of the 1st. of October a few days past. Finding in the latter no Acknowledgment of my letter of the 4th. of May I now send a third copy of it.2
It is probable that the three claims in which Mess. Stoddert & Mason are interested, will soon be decided; When they are, I shall assemble the results of the several documents & transmit them to you. Some of them will not be very favorable to the pretensions of these Gentlemen.3
The claim of this Govt. on Taney’s Estate to the amt. of 227000 fs. has been substantiated and paid. To it I made a long resistance on the principles stated in a former letter, but to my arguments they answered, that “if the debts due by Individuals to the Government were thrown into the account, France, instead of paying 20 Millions, would actually pay over and above that sum, whatever should be the amount of these personal debts, and that this (as it made no part of her promise) she would not consent to do.” The reply was at last followed by a voucher & the Voucher by a payment.
I enclose a copy of my letter of the 10th December to the Minister of Marine, to which I have yet received no answer.4 Much is said here of “qualifications” which are to be given to the Arretè of the 21 of Nov. and which would indeed make it very harmless—but these, are rather to be hoped for, than beleived in.
I expect within a fortnight to be able to give you some important information in relation to our business with Spain and am Sir, With the highest respect Your Most Obedt. humble Servant
John Armstrong
P. S. enclosed is a copy of my half yearly Acct. & Vouchers.5
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, DD, France, vol. 10). RC docketed by Wagner: “Recd. 18t. Feby.” For surviving enclosures, see nn. 2 and 4.
1. Letter not found (calendared in PJM-SS, 12:221, where it is described as having to do with the case of Benjamin Stoddert and John Mason; see Jacob Wagner to JM, 15 Aug. 1806, ibid., 218 and 219 n. 3).
3. Stoddert and Mason acted as trustees for Francis Lewis Taney, who claimed unpaid sums from France dating back to 1794 (ASP, Finance, 2:286).
4. The enclosure is a copy of Armstrong to Denis Decrès, 10 Dec. 1806 (2 pp.; docketed by Wagner). Armstrong asked for clarification about language in the 21 November 1806 French decree and sought to learn the manner of enforcement of several articles, specifically: 1) the interpretation of “British islands” in article 1; 2) the status of vessels seized under the decree before receiving notice of it; 3) whether U.S. vessels would be seized merely for going to or returning from British ports; and 4) whether articles 2 and 5 pertained to foreign and independent nations or acted solely as domestic regulations.
5. Enclosures not found.