Beschreibung:

JEFFERSON, THOMAS President . Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson") as Secretary of State, to GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, New York, 12 August 1790. 1 1/2 pages, 4to, 250 x 205mm. (9 3/4 x 8 in.), neatly separated at center fold (not affecting text), each leaf laid in to a larger sheet, discreetly silked . DIPLOMATIC PROBLEMS WITH BRITAIN: "WE WISH TO BE NEUTRAL...IF THEY WILL EXECUTE THE TREATY FAIRLY" A long and revealing letter to Morris, special commissioner to Great Britain, detailing the difficulties of America's policy towards Britain in the wake of the Revolution and Jefferson's fear that England might attempt to take control of Spanish Louisiana: "...You have placed [Greatr Britain's] proposition of exchanging a Minister on proper ground. It must certainly come from them & come in unequivocal form. With those who respect their own dignity so much, one must not be counted at nought. On their own proposal formerly to exchange a minister, we sent them one. They have taken no notice of that and talk of agreeing to exchange one now; as if the idea were new. Besides what they are saying to you, they are talking to us thro Quebec; but so informally that they may disavow it when they please. It would only oblige them to make the fortune of the poor Major whom they would pretend to sacrifice. Thro him they talk of a minister, a treaty of commerce and alliance . If the object of the latter be honorable, it is useless; if dishonorable, inadmissable. These tamperings prove they view a war as very possible; & some symptoms indicate designs against the Spanish possessions adjoining us. The consequences of their acquiring all the country on our frontier from the St. Croix to the St. Mary's are too obvious to you to need development. You will readily see the dangers which would then environ us. We wish you therefore to intimate to them that we cannot be indifferent to enterprises of this kind. That we should contemplate a change of neighbors with extreme uneasiness; & that a due balance on our borders is not less desirable us, than a balance of power in Europe has always appeared to them. We wish to be neutral, and we will be so, if they will execute the treaty fairly and attempt no conquests adjoining us . The first condition is just: the 2d imposes no hardship on them. They cannot complain that the other dominions of Spain would be so narrow as not to leave them room enough for conquest. If the war takes place, we would really wish to be quieted on these two points, offering in return an honorable neutrality. More than this they are not to expect. It will be proper that these ideas be conveyed in delicate and friendly terms; but that they be conveyed if the war takes place; for it is in that case alone, & not till it begun, that we would wish our dispositions to be known. But in no case need they think of our accepting any equivalent for the posts..." In 1792, President Washington appointed Morris Minister to France, but the appointment was fiercely challenged by the Senate "...partly because of the disappointing results of his special mission to London in 1790-91, when he attempted to settle the controversies over debts, trading-posts, impressments and commercial privileges left over from the peace treaty of 1783..." (DAB, VII:212). Morris's appointment, however, was eventually approved by a narrow margin.