swer to it will find you as soon as this. I am sure if time allows, he will be happy to receive Mr. Pinkney and yourself, and present you in form to the king.

My uncle begged me to express his regret at having disappointed Mr. Pinkney and yourself, and feeling his health uncertain, was almost afraid of again fixing an hour; but as you will be in that part of the town, and his best hour is from four to five or thereabouts, perhaps Mr. Pinkney and you will be so good as to call about that time at Stable Yard. Believe me, dear sir, ever your obliged,

(Signed)

HOLLAND.

P. S. If you settle to go to court with lord Spencer, have the goodness to inform lord Howick by a line, as he will otherwise wait for your commands, till past 12 o'clock.

JAMES MONROE, Esq. &c. &c. &c.

From Lord Spencer.

ST. JAMES'S PLACE, JULY 21, 1806.

LORD SPENCER presents his compliments Mr. Monroe, and has the honour to inform him, by desire of Mr. Fox, who is too much indisposed to have it in his power to receive him and Mr. Pinkney this morning, that the king will be at the queen's house to-day, at two o'clock, when, if it will be convenient for Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney to attend, lord Spencer will be very happy to have the honour of introducing Mr. Pinkney to his majesty, for the purpose of delivering his credentials from the United States; and if Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney are desirous of seeing lord Spencer before they go to the queen's house, he will be at his office at Whitehall, at one o'clock, where, if they would have the goodness to call, he will have the honour of receiving them.

To Lord Spencer.

PORTLAND PLACE, JULY 21, 1806. MR. MONROE presents his compliments to lord Spencer, and begs to inform his lordship, that Mr. Pinkney and

himself will have the honour to wait on him at Whitehall, at one o'clock, at which hour his lordship has been so good as to intimate, that he will be prepared to receive them. Mr. Monroe very much regrets the indisposition of Mr. Fox, but Mr. Pinkney and himself will avail themselves with pleasure of his lordship's obliging offer, to do them the honour of presenting them to his majesty to-day at two o'clock. Although Mr. Monroe is already an accredited minister at this court, yet as he is invested with a new character, being included in the special mission from the United States, he presumes that it will be proper, that he should also have the honour of being presented to his majesty as a party to it. Mr. Pinkney and Mr. Monroe will have the honour of delivering to lord Spencer, a copy of their joint letter of credence at one o'clock.

To Lord Howick.

PORTLAND PLACE, JULY 21, 1806.

MR. MONROE presents his compliments to lord Howick, and begs to assure his lordship, that he is very sensible of his obliging attention in offering, as he is just informed by lord Holland, his good offices to procure Mr. Pinkney and himself the honour of being presented to his majesty to-day, which has been hitherto delayed by the much lamented indisposition of Mr. Fox. Mr. Monroe has the honour to inform lord Howick, that he has just received a letter from lord Spencer, intimating that his lordship will do Mr. Pinkney and himself the honour of presenting them to his majesty to-day. He hastens to give lord Howick this information, in consequence of a suggestion from lord Holland, that lord Howick would be so good as to remain at home till twelve o'clock, for the purpose of receiving them.

MY DEAR SIR,

From Sir Francis Vincent.

STABLE YARD, JULY 21, 1806.

I AM very sorry to be under the necessity of asking you and Mr. Pinkney, whether you should consider it as of

great inconvenience to postpone your presentation to the king till his next coming to town, which will be early next week, as it has not yet been in Mr. Fox's power to announce it officially to his majesty. In the mean time every communication from you and Mr. Pinkney will meet with the same attention as if this ceremony had been gone through; an attention which it will always be the pride of the foreign office to shew to the ministers of the United States, our half countrymen.

And from this delay no detriment will arise to the great cause, as I fear some days must yet elapse before Mr. Fox will be well enough to discuss business; he is, however, better. Pray write me a line in answer to this. I have not written to Mr. Pinkney: will you make my excuse to him, as I am auxious for your getting this soon. Believe me, dear sir, most truly yours,

(Signed)

JAMES MONROE, Esq. &c. &c. &c.

F. VINCENT.

NOTE. On Friday the 11th, Sir Francis Vincent promised us an interview with Mr. Fox on the 15th, which Mr. Fox invited by his note of that date. We attended at Mr. Fox's house according to appointment, but did not see him, his health not permitting it. On the evening of the same day, sir Francis Vincent wrote the note which bears his name of that date. The arrangement with lord Holland was made on the 20th, for which the circumstance of our dining with him furnished a favourable opportunity. Sir Francis Vincent's note of the 21st was written before he was acquainted with that arrangement.

(Owing to the haste in despatching the original, the copy of the correspondence annexed to it was not so full as that accompanying the duplicate.)

No. 2.

SIR,

LONDON, AUGUST 11, 1806.

It was intimated to us, by sir Francis Vincent, soon after the date of our last, that, as the state of Mr. Fox's health was not likely soon to permit him to attend to us, or

the subjects of our mission, lord Grenville would be asked to communicate with us in his stead; and sir Francis proanised that he would endeavour, without loss of time, to arrange with lord Grenville to that effect.

On the first instant sir Francis informed us, by a note to Mr. Monroe, that lord Grenville had been applied to, and that he would fix an early day for our reception. Believing that we should not make the most profitable use of the opportunity, if we waited for a note from lord Grenville, we determined to write him immediately, and request him to appoint a time for receiving us. He accordingly appointed Monday the 4th, which, on account of an interfering engagement, not at first adverted to, was changed to the day following.

His lordship received us with great cordiality; but, as we had expected, was not prepared to enter into any formal consideration of the subjects embraced by our commission, which, as the letter of credence had been delivered to the king, and had not been seen by lord Grenville, we thought it advisable to submit to his perusal. He told us that he was at present able to say little more than that his majesty's government was earnestly desirous of giving the most prompt and effectual attention to what we had to propose, and of adjusting satisfactorily whatever was in any degree calculated to disturb the good understanding which ought to subsist between us; that he had always entertained and acted upon a sincere disposition to cultivate the most friendly connection and intercourse with the United States; and that he could say for his colleagues, that such was their disposition also: that we were aware that the delay we had hitherto experienced arose entirely from the illness of Mr. Fox, to whose department subjects of this description particularly belonged; that he himself, having only recently returned to a situation of confidence in his majesty's councils, was, of course, but very imperfeetly acquainted with those immediate transactions and discussions, which had a bearing upon the relations of the two countries; that he could not, therefore, at this mo* VOL. III,

3.

ment, undertake even to converse with us upon them, otherwise than very loosely and informally; but that he should, notwithstanding, be glad to hear from us a statement of the principal points, which it was supposed our negotiation would involve. His lordship added, that, if Mr. Fox should unfortunately continue to be disqualified by indisposition, from attending personally to the affairs of our mission, it would be necessary to receive his majesty's pleasure, whether this important duty should be committed to some other of the secretaries of state, or to commissioners to be specially appointed to treat with us; and that this would not be delayed beyond the actual necessity of the occasion.

The statement which his lordship invited was of course given with as much minuteness as was thought to be prudent; and it drew from him several remarks, some of which, although not very interesting, it may be proper to

state.

On the subject of the impressment of our seamen, he suggested doubts (which we endeavoured to remove by suitable explanations) of the practicability of devising the means of discrimination between the seamen of the two countries, within (as we understood him) their respective jurisdictions; and he spoke of the importanee, to the safety of Great Britain, in the present state of the power of her enemy, of preserving, in their utmost strength, the right and the capacity of government to avail itself in war of the services of its seamen. These observations were connected with frequent professions of an earnest wish, that some liberal and equitable plan should be adopted. for reconciling the exercise of this essential right with the just claims of the United States, and for removing from it all cause of complaint and irritation.

To a very brief sketch of the views of our government, relative to belligerent proceedings in the vicinity of our coasts and harbours, he replied, that there could be no objection on their part to a suitable provision on that head. And as this topick recalled the recollection of cap