ly forwarded, but
not a single one was ever received of later date than May the 6th, 1789;
and this of January the 24th is all we possess from you since that date.
I enclose you a list of letters addressed to you on various subjects,
and to which answers were, and are, naturally expected; and send you
again copies of the papers in the case of the Dover Cutter, which has
been the subject of so many of those letters, and is the subject of
the constant solicitation of the parties here. A final decision on that
application, therefore, is earnestly desired. When you consider
the repeated references of matters to you from hence, and the total
suppression of whatever you have written in answer, you will not
be surprised if it had excited a great degree of uneasiness. We had
inquired whether private conveyances did not occur, from time to time,
from Madrid to Cadiz, where we have vessels almost constantly, and we
were assured that such conveyances were frequent. On the whole, Sir,
you will be sensible, that under the jealous government with which you
reside, the conveyance of intelligence requires as much management as
the obtaining it; and I am in hopes, that in future you will be on your
guard against those infidelities in that line, under which you and we
have so much suffered.

The President is absent on a journey through the southern States, from
which he will not return till the end of June; consequently, I could not
sooner notify him of your desire to return; but even then, I will take
the liberty of saying nothing to him on the subject till I hear further
from you. The suppression of your correspondence has, in a considerable
degree, withdrawn you from the public sight. I sincerely wish that
before your return, you could do something to attract their attention
and favor, and render your return pleasing to yourself and profitable to
them, by introducing you to new proofs of their confidence. My two last
letters to you furnish occasions; that of a co-operation against the
British navigation act, and the arrangement of our affairs on the
Mississippi. The former, if it can be effected, will form a remarkable
and memorable epoch in the history and freedom of the ocean. Mr. Short
will press it at Paris, and Colonel Humphreys at Lisbon. The latter will
show most at first; and as to it, be so good as to observe always, that
the right of navigating the Mississippi is considered as so palpable,
that the recovery of it will produc