My letter of the 25th of April last, by Mr Toscan, informed Congress, that on the 30th day of January preceding, I had the honor of receiving their letters of the 6th and 17th of October, 1780, the latter of which states particularly and ably the right of the United States to the free navigation of the river Mississippi, and enumerates the various reasons which induce them to decline relinquishing it.[30]
Among these reasons is the guarantee contained in the treaty with France. I hinted to Congress, that it was more than probable, that the contents of this interesting letter were well known to the French Court before it came to my hands. I am well persuaded, that this was the case. Shortly after receiving it, I took occasion to converse generally with the Ambassador on the subject of the Spanish pretensions to that navigation, and remarked, as it were inadvertently, how unreasonable it was for them to expect, that we should relinquish a territorial right, which both justice and the guarantee of France enabled us to retain. The thought did not appear new to him, but he strongly combated this construction of the treaty, and endeavored to explain it away by observing, that the guarantee could not comprehend claims, whose objects we had never possessed, &c. &c. I mention this only to show how improper it would have been for me to have communicated this part of your Excellency's letter to the Spanish Minister. It could have answered no good purpose, because, as France would have disputed this construction, Spain could with propriety have refused to admit the force of any argument drawn from it, and it might have done much mischief, not only by bringing on an unseasonable explanation between France and us, but also between Spain and France.
If I had given the Spanish Minister a copy of every other part of this letter, except those paragraphs which contain the reasoning in question, the omission might in future have been urged by France, who I verily believe has a copy of that whole letter, as an argument for my having yielded that point as not tenable; and though my opinion might not be of much consequence, it appeared to me most prudent to avoid doubts about it. For my own part I really did, and do think, that this guarantee does comprehend the navigation in question, though I also think, that no question should be raised about it at present. So circumstanced, I thought it most advisable to make no written communications of any parts or part of this letter, but from time to time to press every argument contained in it in the course of conversations with the Spanish Minister, except those drawn from the guarantee.
The Minister, however, did not at any time enter into the merits of these arguments, nor appear in the least affected by them. His answer to them all was, that the King of Spain must have the Gulf of Mexico to himself, that the maxims of policy adopted in the management of their colonies required it; and that he had hoped the friendly disposition shown by this Court towards us would have induced a compliance on the part of Congress.
As to a free port below the northern limits of West Florida, or anywhere else in the vicinity, the Minister sometimes wished certain regulations, some middle line might be devised, to reconcile the views of both parties, but he did not see how it could be done. The King had always been accustomed to consider the exclusive navigation of the Gulf of Mexico as a very important object to Spain, more so indeed than even Gibraltar, and he was persuaded, that his Majesty would never be prevailed upon to change his ideas on that subject. At other times he spoke clearly, and decidedly against it, saying, that it was their desire to exclude all nations from the Gulf, and that it made little or no difference, whether they admitted all nations or only one.
In my letter of the 25th of April last, I informed your Excellency, that on the 25th of March preceding, the Minister sent me word, that the money necessary to pay the bills due in April could not be advanced to me. The constant inconsistency I experienced between the Minister's promises and conduct often surprised, as well as embarrassed me. This last instance appeared to me to be really cruel; for if he had intended to withhold the necessary supplies, he ought to have given me notice of it, and not by keeping up my expectations to within a few days before the holders of the bills were to call upon me for their money, (and the bills of April amounted to eightynine thousand and eightythree dollars,) reduce me to such imminent danger of being obliged to protest them. Speaking on this subject with the French Ambassador, he intimated, that the Court expected I should have made them some further overtures respecting the Mississippi. I told him I had no authority to make any others than what I had already made. He replied, that the Minister believed I had. At that time I had received no letters, public or private, which gave me the least reason to suspect, that Congress had passed the resolution of the 15th of February last,[31] and it was not before the 18th of May, that a letter, I then received from Mr Lovell, enabled me to understand the reason of the Minister's belief. I then recalled to mind his frequent assurances of frankness, and of his speaking without reserve, often adding, that he was well informed of our affairs, and had minute information of what was passing at Philadelphia. There can be no doubt but that some copies of the President's letters to me have fallen into his hands, and that he supposed I had received others, though this was not in fact the case. Hence it appears, that the double miscarriage, if I may so call it, of these letters, had an unfavorable influence on our hopes of pecuniary aids, for it is highly probable, that in this instance they were so critically withheld on purpose to extort overtures from me, which the Minister, though mistaken, had reason to believe I was in a capacity to make.
Your Excellency will perceive from this, how important it is, that your letters, to and from your Ministers, be transmitted in a manner not subject to these inconveniences.
It was not, as I said before, until the 18th of May, that Mr Lovell's letter, enclosing a copy of the resolution of Congress of the 15th of February, reached me. It was brought to Cadiz by the Virginia, and it is remarkable, that none of the journals, or gazettes, nor the letter from Congress, which Mr Lovell gave me reason to expect, ever came to my hands. But as all the papers brought by the Virginia passed through the hands of the Governor of Cadiz, and afterwards through the Post Office, the suppression of some of them may be easily accounted for.
As Mr Lovell's letter did not appear to be official, nor the copy of the instruction of the 15th of February authenticated, I was much at a loss to determine how far it was to be considered as a measure finally concluded upon, and this difficulty was increased by another, viz. whether my having no letter on the subject from the President was to be imputed to the miscarriage of it, or to a reconsideration of the instruction in question; for I recollected, that resolutions had in some former instances been reconsidered, and either altered or repealed a few days after their date; for these reasons it appeared to me imprudent immediately to hazard overtures on the ground of this instruction.
The next day, the 19th of May, I thought it expedient to wait upon the Minister, and again renew the subject of our proposed treaty, expecting that if he was acquainted with the contents of my letter, something might drop from him in the course of conversation, which would lead me to judge of what he might, or might not know on that subject, and others connected with it.