University of Virginia Library

TO JOHN GRAHAM.

Dear Sir,—I return the papers sent with yours
of the 29th. except the letter from E. Lewis, which
goes to the Treasy. Dept. If Mr. B[agot][104] has no
more power than to receive proposals,[105] I sd. have
supposed his object in an interview wd. have been
simply to ask for them, with an assurance of the
general disposition of his Govt. to receive them
favorably, and that the uncertainty or misconception

occasioned by his remarks would have been prevented.
I have stated to Mr. M[onroe] the grounds
occurring to me, for a tacit or express arrangement
as to the Lake armaments; an essential one being
an immediate discontinuance of equipments &
preparations. As this already exists on our part,
it wd. be sufficient to give an order to that effect
on the other. If even this cannot be done by Mr.
B[agot] and must be reported across the Atlantic,
the B[ritish] augmentations going on in the mean
time, I see nothing in the transfer of the business
to Mr. B[agot] worth the taking it from Mr. A[dams]
the delay is certainly not diminished, and the
"general disposition" of the P[rince] R[egent] could
have been as promptly expressed, or rather repeated
to Mr. A. as conveyed through Mr. B. The
views of the B. govt. I am willing to believe are
candid, but the course it has taken, if it proceeds
with its equipments, would tempt a different construction.
I hope Mr. B. will yet be brought to
have them suspended.

I am reading some Spanish official documents
sent by Mr. Dallas. The date of the last is in
Decr. 1814. They sanction all the accounts from
other sources, of the extreme jealousy & hatred
of us prevailing in the Spanish Court, and prove
that after the fall of Napoleon, there was a project
entertained, for taking advantage of our war with
England, and the expected succour of the latter to
Spain, to settle all territorial matters with the U. S.
according to Spanish wishes.

We have had here as with you, fine rains with
somewhat of the other desideratum warm weather.
There is however a return of cold, after hurricanes,
& destructive showers of hail in spots. In some
instances the corn and tobacco have been totally
demolished by the latter.