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To remove the firft difficulty, I have determined to leave it to the difcretion of the officers of his Catholic Majefty, when they with draw his troops from the forts within the territory of the United States, either to leave the works ftanding, or to demolish them; and to remove the second, I fhall caufe an affurance to be published, and to be particularly communicated to the minifter of his Catholic Majefty, and to the Governor of Louisiana, that the fettlers or occupants of the lands in queftion, fhall not be difturbed in their poffeffions by the troops of the United States, but, on the contrary, that they fhall be protected in all their lawful claims: and to prevent or remove every doubt on this point, it merits the confideration of Congrefs, whether it will not be expedient immediately to pass a law, giving pofitive affurance to thofe inhabitants, who by fair and regular grants, or by occupancy, have obtained legal titles, or equitable claims to lands in that country, prior to the final ratification of the treaty between the United States and Spain on the 25th of April,

1796.

This country is rendered peculiarly valuable by its inhabitants, who are reprefented to amount to nearly four thoufand, generally well affected, and much attached to the United States, and zealous for the establishment of a government under their authority.

I therefore recommend to your confideration, the expediency of creating a government in the diftrict of the Natches, fimilar to that established for the territory northweft of the river Ohio, but with certain modifications, relative to

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Meffage from the Prefident of the United
States to Congress.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of
Representatives,

THE whole of the intelligence which has for fome time been re ceived from abroad, the correfpondence between this government and the minifters of the belligerent powers refiding here, and the advices from the officers of the United States, civil and military, upon the frontiers, all confpire to fhew, in a very ftrong light, the critical fitu ation of our country. That Con grefs might be enabled to form a more perfect judgment of it, and of the measures neceffary to be taken, I have directed the proper officers to prepare fuch collections of extracts from the public correfpondence, as might afford the cleareft information. The reports made to me from the secretary of state, and the secretary at war, with a collection of documents from each of them, are now communicated to both houfes of Congrefs. I have defired that the meffage, reports, and documents, may be confidered as confidential, merely that the members of both houfes of Congrefs may be apprised of their contents before they fhould be made public. As foon as the Houses fhall have heard them, I shall fubmit to their difcretion the publication of the whole, or any fuch parts

of

of them as they fhall judge necef-
fary or expedient for the public
good.
JOHN ADAMS.

United States, July 3, 1797.

Report of the Committee of the Senate (to the Senate, on the 6th of July, 1797) to whom was referred a Letter from W. Blount, Efq. one of the Senators from the State of Tenneffee.

THAT Mr. Blount having declined an acknowledgment or denial of the letter imputed to him, and having failed to appear to give any

Dear Carey,

fatisfactory explanation refpecting it, your committee fent for the original letter, which accompanies this report.

Two fenators, now present in the fenate, have declared to the committee, that they are well acquainted with the hand-writing of Mr. letter was written by him. Your Blount, and have no doubt that this committee have examined many letters from Mr. Blount to the fe cretary of war, a number of which are herewith fubmitted, as well as the letter addreffed by Mr. Blount to Mr. Cocke, his colleague in the fenate,

*The following is a Copy of the Letter.

Col. King's Iron-works, April 21:

I wished to have feen you before I returned to Philadelphia; but I am obliged to return to the feffion of Congrefs, which commences on the 15th of May. Among other things that I wifhed to have feen you about, was the bufinefs of Captain Chisholm, mentioned to the British minifter, laft winter, at Philadelphia.

I believe, but I am not quite fure, that the plan then talked of will be attempted this fall; and if it is attempted, it will be in a much larger way than then talked of: and if the Indians act their part, I have no doubt but it will fucceed. A man of confequence has gone to England about the bufinefs; and, if he makes arrangements as he expects, I fhall myself have a hand in the business, and probably shall be at the head of the bufinefs on the part of the British.

You are, however, to understand, that it is not yet quite certain that the plan will be attempted; yet you will do well to keep things in a train for action in case it fhould be attempted; and to do fo will require all your management. I fay, will require all your management, because you must take care, in whatever you fay to Rogers, or any body elfe, not to let the plan be difcovered by Hawkins, Dinfmoor, Dyers, or any other perfon in the intereft of the United States or Spain.

If I attempt this plan, I fhall endeavour to have you and all my Indian country and Indian friends with me; but you are now in good bufinefs I hope, and you are not to risk the lofs of it by faying any thing that will hurt you, until you again hear from me. Where Captain Chisholm is I do not know; I left him in Philadelphia in March, and he frequently visited the minifter, and spoke upon the subject; but I believe he will go into the Creek nation, by way of South Carolina or Georgia. He gave out that he was going to England, but I did not believe him. Among other things that you may fafely do, will be to keep up my confequence with Watts, and the Creeks and Cherokees generally; and you muft by no means fay any thing in favour of Hawkins; but, as often as you can with fafety to yourfelf, you may teach the Creeks to believe that he is no better than he fhould be. Any power or confequence he gets will be against our plan.

Perhaps Rogers, who has no office to lofe, is the best man to give out talks against Hawkins. Read the letter to Rogers, and, if you think it beft to fend it to him, put a wafer in it, and forward it to him by a fafe hand; or, perhaps, you had

fenate, and to this committee, refpecting the bufinefs now under confideration; and find them all to be of the fame hand-writing with the letter in queftion. Mr. Blount has never denied this letter, but, on the other hand, when the copy tranfmitted to the fenate was read in his prefence on the 3d inftant, he acknowledged, in his place, that he had written a letter to Carey, of which he had preferved a copy; but could not then decide whether the copy read was a true one. Your committee are, therefore, fully perfuaded that the original letter, now produced, was written and fent to Carey by Mr. Blount. They alfo find that this man, Carey, to whom it was addreffed, is, to the knowledge of Mr. Blount, in the pay and employment of the United States, as their interpreter to the

Cherokee nation of Indians, and an affiftant in the public factory at Tellico Block-houfe: that Hawkins, who is fo often mentioned in this letter as a person who must be brought into fufpicion among the Creeks, and if poffible driven from his ftation, is the fuperintendent of Indian affairs for the United States among the fouthern Indians; Dinfmore is agent for the United States in the Cherokee nation; and Byers, one of the agents in the public factory at Tellico Block-house.

The plan hinted at in this extraordinary letter, to be executed under the aufpices of the British, is fo capable of different constructions and conjectures, that your committee at present forbear giving any decided opinion refpecting it; except that to Mr. Blount's own mind it appeared to be inconfiftent with

the

better fend for him to come to you, and speak to him yourself respecting the state and profpect of things.

I have advifed you, in whatever you do, to take care of yourself. I have now to tell you to take care of me; for a discovery of the plan would prevent the fuccefs, and much injure all the parties concerned. It may be that the commiffioners may not run the line as the Indians expect or with; and in that case, it is probable that the Indians may be taught to blame me for making the treaty.

To fuch complaints against me, if fuch there are, it may be faid by my friends, at proper times and places, that Doublehead confirmed the treaty with the Prefident at Philadelphia, and received as much as 5000 dollars a year, to be paid to the nation, over and above the first price. Indeed it may with truth be faid, that though I made the treaty, I made it by the inftructions of the Prefident; and in fact it may with truth be faid, that I was by the Prefident inftructed to purchase much more land than the Indians would agree to fell.

This fort of talk will be throwing all the blame off me upon the late Prefident; and as he is now out of office, it will be of no confequence how much the Indians blame him. And among other things that may be faid for me is, that I was not at the running of the line, and that if I had been, it would have been run more to their fatisfaction. In fhort, you understand the fubject, and must take care to give out the proper talks to keep up my confequence with the Creeks and Cherokees. Can't Rogers continue to get the Creeks to defire the Prefident to take Hawkins out of the nation? For if he ftays in the Creek nation, and gets the good-will of the nation, he can and will do great injury to our plan.

When you have read this letter over three times, then burn it. I fhall be at Knoxville in July or Auguft, when I will fend for Watts, and give him the whif key I promised.

I am, &c.

WILLIAM BLOUNT.

the interefts of the United States and of Spain; and he was therefore anxious to conceal it from both. But when they confidered his attempt to feduce Carey from his duty as a faithful interpreter, and to employ him as an engine to alienate the affection and confidence of the Indians from the public offi.cers of the United States refiding among them; the measures he has propofed to excite a temper which muft produce the recall or expulfion of our fuperintendent from the Creek nation; his infidious advice tending to the advancement of his own popularity and confequence at the expence and hazard of the good opinion which the Indians entertain of this government, and of the treaties fubfifting between us and them, - your committee have no doubt that Mr. Blount's conduct has been inconfiftent with his public duty, renders him unworthy of a further continuance of his prefent public truft in this body, and amounts to a high mifdemeanor. -They therefore unanimoufly recommend to the fenate an adoption of the following refolution:

Refolved, That William Blount, Efq. one of the fenators of the United States, hath been guilty of a high mifdemeanor, entirely inconfiftent with his public truft and duty as a fenator of the United States.

On Friday July 7, the following Meffage was received by the Senate from the Houfe of Reprefentatives.

Mr. Prefident,

I AM commanded by the Houfe of Reprefentatives, in their name, and in the name of the people of

your houfe, to impeach William Blount, a member of the fenate, and to inform you, that they will exhibit, in due time, articles of impeachment against him, and make good the fame. I am alfo commanded to demand that the faid William Blount be fequeftered from his feat in the fenate, and that or ders be taken for his appearance to anfwer the charges which they fhall bring against him.

On Saturday, July 8, a motion: was put and carried for the expulfion of Mr. Blount.

Authentic Documents, laid before Congrefs by the Prefident of the United States.

Note from the British Minifter. R. LISTON prefents his refpects to Colonel Pickering, fecretary of ftate.

When you first mentioned to me the fufpicions expreffed by the Spanish minifter refpecting an expedition fuppofed to be preparing on the Lakes, with a view to attack the Spanish pofts in Louisiana, I took the liberty of obferving to you, that I had no knowledge of any fuch preparations, and did not believe they exifted.

I have fince requested informa tion on the fubject from the governor-general of Canada, and his Ma jefty's fecretary of state; and I have authority to affure you, that no expedition of the nature of that alluded to, has been or is intended by the British government. Indeed, the impropriety of violating the neutral territory of the United States, is an objection of fufficient magnitude to induce the King's minifters to reject any fuch plan, were it fuggefted to them.

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Note from the Secretary of State to Mr. that the means propofed for carry ing it into execution could not but be highly detrimental to the United States.

Lifton. Department of State, Philadelphia, July 1, 1797.

Sir,

YOUR note of the 19th of the laft month, alluding to the fufpicions expreffed by the Spanish minifter, refpecting an expedition fuggefted to be preparing at the Lakes against the Spanish pofts in Louifiana, I laid before the Prefident of the United States, who received great fatisfaction from your affurance that no fuch expedition has been or is intended by the British govern

ment.

Will you permit me to inquire whether you can give any informatión concerning any other project of an expedition against any part of the dominions of Spain, adjacent to the territory of the United States, where or from whence any co-operation was contemplated? I am aware of the delicacy of this inquiry; but the franknefs of our verbal anfwer, formerly relating to the alleged expedition from Canada, and the affurances in your note above mentioned, lead me to hope that you will not deem the prefent inquiry improper; and the proofs you have uniformly given of refpect to the rights and interefts of the United States, authorize the further hope, that you will feel yourself at liberty to communicate any information you poffefs, which on this occafion may concern their tranquillity and welfare; and I beg you to be affured that it is on this ground only that I would make the inquiry. I will add, however, that it is not the refult of fufpicion, but of information (in which your name is introduced) that fome project of the kind has been contemplated, and

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Reply of Mr. Lifton.

R. LISTON prefents his refpects to Colonel Pickering, fecretary of ftate.

I have had the honour of receiving your letter of yesterday.

In the course of laft winter, fome perfons did actually propofe to me a plan for an attack on the Floridas, and the other poffeffions of his Catholic Majefty adjoining to the territories of the United States.

The general outline of the project was, that the expedition fhould be undertaken by a British force fent by fea, and feconded by a number of men refident within the limits of the United States, who, I was affured, would be willing to join the King's ftandard, if it were erected on the Spanish territory.

I informed the projectors that I could not give any encouragement to a plan of this nature; and I particularly ftated two objections to it; the impropriety of any measure that tended to a violation of the neutrality of the United States,-and the inhumanity of calling in the aid of the Indians: a circumstance hinted at in the converfation that had taken place on the subject.

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I conceived it to be my duty, however, to mention the bufinefs

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