TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA..

December, 1813.

I have received, fellow-citizens, your communication of the 18th of December. It is in a spirit which was to be expected from a public Body whose sensibility to the rights and honor of the nation produced a unanimous approbation of a war waged in defence of both.

You do no more than justice to the love of peace, patient forbearance, and the conciliatory efforts which preceded this last appeal of injured nations against the inflexibility of their aggressors. When finally and formally assured by the British Government that its hostile measures would not be revoked, no alternative was left to the United States but irretrievable degradation, or the lesser calamity of a resort to arms.

The reluctance of this resort has been sufficiently attested by the readiness shewn, and the steps taken on the part of the United States, first to suspend its effects, and then, by liberal arrangements, to terminate its causes. Until a correspondent disposition on the part of the enemy shall give success to the pacific views on our part, the course pointed at by your honorable patriotism is that alone which becomes a free people, devoted to their Independence, and awake to their high destinies.

Amidst the painful scenes of the war, it is consoling to us all that it has been conducted, on our part, in a spirit and manner which prove that the American character is as conspicuous for humanity as for bravery; and that, if a seeming departure from the former has taken place in any instance, it has been extorted by the cruel policy of the adversary, and has for its real object a controul or correction of that policy, dictated by humanity itself.

The approbation which you have been pleased to express of my public conduct during a trying period derives a particular value from my high respect for the source from which I receive it; and I pray you, fellow-citizens, to accept, with my acknowledgments, assurances of my best wishes for your prosperity and

that of a State whose example in the common cause so well merits it.

TO GOVERNOR TOMPKINS.

WASHINGTON, Jany 25th, 1814.

SIR, Your favor of the 3d instant came duly to hand. You will have learnt from the Secretary of War the measures which were thought, on the whole, best suited to the general posture of our military affairs.

The events on the Niagara frontier were as unexpected as they have been distressing. As there can be little comparative inducement to the enemy to prolong their barbarities in that neighbourhood, it is most to be apprehended that the attention of that part of their force will be turned to some other quarter; either to Presque Isle or Detroit. Precautions have been taken with respect to both; but such is the reduction of our regular force from sickness and other causes every where, and such the difficulties of supplying occasional force in distant and detached situations, that some anxiety necessarily remains for the security of those important points. As a controul on enterprises of the enemy upwards, as well as a barrier to the Country adjoining Niagara, a regular force of the amount you suggest would be the best provision for that station, could it be spared from the armies below and the objects to be elsewhere kept in view. Sackett's harbour and the stake on Lake Champlain have an essential and constant claim to attention. If, besides making the former safe, Kingston can be attacked, or even seriously threatened, the effect will be salutary every where.

In the Navy Department every possible exertion will be made to keep down the enemy on Lake Ontario. The task is arduous, but its importance is in full proportion.

Be assured, sir, that I do justice to your laudable solicitude for the safety of the State over which you preside, and estimate as I ought your readiness to co-operate with the measures of the General Government.

Be pleased to accept assurances of my great consideration and respect.

TO WILLIAM PINKNEY.

WASHINGTON, Jan 29, 1814.

DEAR SIR, I have received your letter conveying a resignation of the important office held by you. As the Bill to which you refer has not yet passed into a law, I hope you will be able to prolong your functions till a successor can be provided; and at any rate to afford aid in the business of the United States, particularly understood by you, at the approaching term of the Supreme Court.

On the first knowledge of the Bill, I was not unaware that the dilemma it imposes might deprive us of your associated services, and the United States of the advantage accruing from your professional care of their interests. I readily acknowledge that, in a general view, the object of the bill is not ineligible to the Executive. At the same time, there may be instances where talents and services of peculiar value outweigh the consideration of constant residence; and I have felt all the force of this truth since I have had the pleasure of numbering you among the partners of my public trust. In losing that pleasure, I pray you to be assured of my high and continued esteem, and of my sincere friendship and best wishes.

DEAR SIR,-I have before me your letter of yesterday. At the communication it makes, I cannot but feel the sincerest regret, which is much heightened by the considerations which produced it. The nature of these forbids any effort to divert you from your purpose, especially as it is qualified by the interval of carrying it into effect. All that I ought to hope is, that if a continuance of the war should call for services so difficult to be

found, some removal of the pressure of unfavorable circumstances may justify you in prolonging yours. Whatever may happen, I cannot let the present occasion pass without expressing the gratification I have experienced in the entire fulfillment of my expectations, large as they were, from your talents and exertions, and from all those personal qualities which harmonize official and sweeten social intercourse. To these assurances permit me to add my best wishes for your success in every thing that may conduce to your prosperity and happiness.

TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.

MONTPELIER, May 10, 1814.

DEAR SIR,-Having particular occasion, and the state of business at Washington not forbidding, I am on a short visit at my farm. Mrs. M., as well as myself, would gladly extend it to Monticello, but with a certainty that our return to Washington must be very soon. I am obliged, moreover, to hold myself in readiness to hasten it at any moment of notice. We must postpone, therefore, the pleasure of paying our respects there till the autumn, when I hope we shall be less restricted in time.

We have received no information from our Envoys to the Baltic for a very long time. From those last appointed, there has not been time to hear after their arrival at Gottenburg. Neither have we any accounts from England, other than the newspaper paragraphs which you have seen. The British Government cannot do less than send negotiators to meet ours; but whether in the spirit of ours, is the important question. The turn of recent events in Europe, if truly represented, must strengthen the motives to get rid of the war with us; and their hopes, by a continuance of it, to break down our Government, must be more and more damped by occurrences here as they become known there. The election in New York alone crushes the project of the Junto faction, so long fostered by and flattering the expectations of the British Cabinet. Still, it is possible that new fallacies may suffice for a willingness to be deceived.

Our difficulties in procuring money without heavy taxes, and the supposed odium of these, will probably be made the most of by our internal enemies to the experiment

of prolonged hostilities.

The idea of an armistice, so much bandied in the newspapers, rests on no very precise foundation. It is not doubted that it is wished for in Canada, and might coincide with the opinions of the naval commander; but it is presumable that the latter has no commensurate power, and it is taken for granted that the power in Canada is limited to operations of land forces.

TO GOVERNOR JAMES BARBOUR.

(Private.)

WASHINGTON, June 16, 1814.

DEAR SIR, I have duly received your letter of the 13th. That the late events in Europe will put it in the power of Great Britain to direct a much greater force against the United States, cannot be doubted. How far she may be restrained from so doing by an estimate of her interest in making peace, or by a respect for the sentiments of her allies, if these should urge it, cannot be yet known. It is incumbent on us to suppose that she may be restrained by neither, and to be prepared as well as we can to meet the augmented force which may invade

us.

Our means for this purpose consist essentially of regular troops, and of Militia. As far as the former go, they will be applied in the way deemed most conducive to the public safety. The deficiency must be supplied by a resort to the latter; and the questions arising are, first, whether they shall be immediately called into service in anticipation of attack; and, secondly, what measures, in case of no such immediate call, can be usefully adopted by the States liable to attack.

Under existing circumstances, which, whilst they suggest general apprehensions, afford no information either as to the amount or the particular destination of forces that may be sent against