- Fendall Philip R
- Hellen Walter
I have taken a very severe cold, and awoke this morning about 2. O’Clock—
At three I rose—wrote till five, and then went again to bed for an hour
and a half— I was occupied upwards of two hours in searching among my
papers for the copy of Mr Crawford’s cypher, but
without success.— I found however a number of Letters and despatches,
belonging to the Department of State—which have been packed up with my
papers, since I have been out of office— I took them to the Department
of State where I saw first Asbury
Dickins the Chief Clerk and afterwards the Secretary Forsyth— I enquired if there
was upon the Records of the Department a copy of the Report of Thomas Jefferson of 24. April 1790
to President Washington upon
the constructive power of the Senate in the case of Appointments of
Ministers to Foreign Countries— I examined the Volume of Reports made by
Mr Jefferson to both Houses of Congress,
but it was not among them— Mr Forsyth said
there was no doubt a copy of it, among Mr
Jefferson’s papers in the possession of Thomas Jefferson Randolph his Grandson— Mr Forsyth’s anxiety to procure a copy of
Mr Crawford’s cypher is to obtain
evidence in support of a Statement that the Emperor Alexander, through General La Fayette did offer to include the claims of the
United States against France, with those of the allied Powers; but that
Mr Crawford declined assenting to it—
Forsyth spoke also of a claim by the Belgian Government for reciprocity
of duties, founded upon a questionable allowance by us of the same to
the Hollanders— It was left a standing controversy with the Dutch when
my administration terminated— Forsyth said the President would mention it in his
Message, and that his opinion concurred with mine, in this case— After
this visit I spent the rest of the day at home— Walter Hellen was here this
afternoon