upon the point to which it relates, I do not suppose that I can properly undertake to question its sufficiency, either by pressing for a more formal communication, or by taking the step which your instructions, of the 23d of May, in certain circumstances prescribe to me.

I still believe that the affair of the Chesapeake will very soon be brought to a conclusion.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt (on the 21st instant, by Mr. Henry Izard) of your letters of the 13th and 16th of last month, and I take this opportunity to thank you for the private letter of the 5th ultimo, received at the same time.

I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

WM. PINKNEY.

Mr. Pinkney to Lord Wellesley. Great Cumberland Place, July 7, 1810.

MY LORD,-In pursuance of the conversation which I had the honour to hold with your lordship on the 6th inst. I take the liberty to request information, which I am sure will be readily given, concerning the intention of his majesty's government to send a minister plenipotentiary to the United States, as the successor of Mr. Jackson.

I have no doubt that it is intended to send such a successor without delay, as one of the means of restoring and maintaining the friendly relations of the two countries; but I shall, nevertheless, be glad to be authorized by your lordship to make a communication to that effect to my go

PRIVATE.

Lord Wellesley's Reply to the foregoing. Apsley House,
July 22, 1810.

SIR, I think it may be difficult to enter upon the subject of your last note, (respecting the diplomatic rank of our minister in America) in any official form.

But I have no difficulty in assuring you that it is my intention immediately to recommend the appointment of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the king to the United States.

I have the honour to be, &c.

Wm. Pinkney, Esq. &c. &c. &c.

Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Smith.

WELLESLEY.

London, Aug. 14, 1810.

SIR, AS lord Wellesley still withheld his long expected answer to my note of the 30th of April, respecting the British blockades anterior to the Berlin decree, and his written overture in the case of the Chesapeake, I sent him on the 8th instant a letter, of which a copy is enclosed. No importunity had before been spared which it became

me to use.

I need not trouble you with comments on the obvious unwillingness of this government to touch the first mentioned subject, or any thing connected with its principles and practice respecting blockades, or with the system of the orders in council. Justice and policy both invite it to give the declaration which I have required; and certainly nothing has been omitted on my part to induce it to take that course. I fear, however, that the declaration will be declined, unless indeed lord Wellesley should continue to evade my application by returning no answer to it; a new practice, I think, which, little to be commended as it is, must, I presume, if persisted in here, be reciprocated in America.

It is truly surprising that in the case of the Chesapeake there should be the same backwardness. I can conjecture no motive for this hesitation to propose, in writing, terms arranged in conference between lord Wellesley and my

self in an affair which it is the manifest interest of England to settle as soon as possible. It is now almost six weeks since lord Wellesley last assured me (as he had before more than once assured me) that he would put me in possession of his formal overture in this case immediately. He knows that you have been made officially acquainted with that assurance; for I thought it advisable to submit to his perusal, before it was transmitted (for the purpose principally of avoiding misunderstandings) my short letter to you of the 6th of last month, which states that "in the business of the Chesapeake he will write to me in a few days," and further, that in that business "I do not expect any difficulty."

There can be no misconception as to the terms to be offered; for, besides that they were stated with great precision in the conference alluded to in my letter to you of the 6th ultimo, as well as in several antecedent interviews, I wrote lord Wellesley the day after that conference a private note of which a copy is now transmitted, enclosing a memorandum in pencil of the terms which (exclusive of any further mark of displeasure to admiral Berkeley, very decidedly discouraged by lord Wellesley) had been spoken of in our different conversations as fit to be proposed. I do not find that I retained any copy of the memorandum in pencil; but the terms (agreeing in substance with those to which I informed you in my letter of the 13th of June last, lord Wellesley had no objection) were to this effect.

1. The overture to contain such a recital or statement, as is found in Mr. Erskine's letter to you of the 17th of April, 1809, of the prompt disavowal by his Britannick majesty of the unauthorized act of his naval officer, whose recall, as a mark of the king's displeasure, from a highly important and honourable command, immediately ensued.

2. To offer, without any reservation, the restoration of the men to the ship from which they were forcibly taken.

3. To offer, without any reservation, and as a part of the terms of the international adjustment, a suitable pecuniary provision for the families of the persons slain in the attack, and for the wounded survivors.

It was moreover understood, that the paper proffering these terms would not contain the allusions which have heretofore occasioned embarrassment; that the whole

affair would be made to take the most friendly character, and that I should be at liberty to express in my reply to the overture, if I thought fit, the expectation of my government as to the further punishment of admiral Berkeley.

I ought to add that, in all my conversations with lord Wellesley on the case of the Chesapeake, he has shown not only a disposition but a wish to accommodate it, and that I am therefore the more astonished at the delay which has taken place.

In a few days I intend to renew my efforts to bring this matter to a conclusion, and to obtain an answer of some sort to my letter of the 30th of April. I am sufficiently inclined to present a strong paper upon both subjects, but in the actual posture of affairs, and in the absence of such instructions from you as would countenance such a step, I think it my duty to forbear a little longer.

It is not impossible that lord Wellesley's backwardness to close the case of the Chesapeake with me, may arise from a desire that it should be adjusted in America through the new minister. If this were so, however, he could have no inducement to conceal it from me, since he is aware that I have always entertained the same desire. When I see him I will advert to this.

I am not yet able to say positively who the new minister will be. Lord and some others are spoken. of. Lord Wellesley has given me no other written information on the subject than is contained in his letter of the 22d ultimo, already communicated to you. His verbal information has been to the same effect, with this addition, that he retained his opinion (mentioned in my unofficial letter to you of the 4th of January last) that the minister to America ought to be a man of rank. As far as may be prudent I shall not fail to do all in my power to expedite the appointment.

The letter from general Armstrong, to which my letter of the 8th instant to lord Wellesley alludes, is dated the 24th of July; and expresses his wish that the declaration of the British government concerning the blockades may be obtained and forwarded without delay.

I have the honour to be, &c.

The Hon. Robert Smith, &c. &c. &c.

WM. PINKNEY.

Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Smith.

London, August 18, 1810, SIR, I enclose the Times newspaper of this morning, containing a copy of a French decree of the 5th instant, and of a letter of the same date, from the French minister for foreign affairs to general Armstrong. The last is a most important paper, of which I hope to receive without delay an official communication.

I have the honour to be, &c.

WM. PINKNEY.

Mr. Pinkney to Mr. Smith. London, Aug. 21, 1810.

SIR, I have just received a communication from general Armstrong, dated the 6th instant, announcing the absolute revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and have, in consequence, sent a note to lord Wellesley, requesting to see him. Lord Wellesley is out of town, but will, it is said, return to-night or to-morrow morning.

General Armstrong has not transmitted any copy of the official notice mentioned in his letter; but I presume it is the same with that published in the Moniteur of the 9th, of which I am in possession, and with which the quotation in general Armstrong's letter agrees.

I do not know whether his construction of that document will be thought here to be liable to any objections. I think it impossible, however, that upon any interpretation of it this government can hesitate to repeal its orders in council.

A copy of general Armstrong's letter to me is enclosed. I have the honour to be, &c.

WM. PINKNEY.

Copy of General Armstrong's Letter to Mr. Pinkney. Paris, August 6, 1810.

SIR, I have the honour to inform you that his majesty the emperor and king, has been pleased to revoke his decrees of Berlin and Milan. Of this interesting fact, I had this morning a written and official notice, in the following words, viz.