Orleans produciria un mal efecto entre las personas adictadas á nuestro Gobierno, y á él se le habia comisionado como diputado para venir a suplicarme accedise á los deseos de los Luisianeses y que por haberse sentido indispuesto al momento de embarcarse, comisionava en su lugar á D Luis Declouet.

El solo punto que yo habia consultado para no ir á la Nva Orleans, era la economia á que me fuerza la cortedad de mi sueldo, pues habiendo ya gastado el correspondiente á un año durante el tiempo de la Expedicion, era preciso gastar el sueldo del otro año para concluir el presente, sin contar con los gastos extraordinarios que debia ocasionarme mi visita á la Nueva Orleans: Sin embargo al ver el empeño, en los terminos que llevo expuestos, no pude ni crei prudente resistirme.

Al llegar á la vista del Puente de S Juan salio una Falúa con un Teniente de Navio de la Marina de los Estados Unidos á suplicarme baxase á tierra en ella, y para no cansar á V. S. con la prolixidad que exigiria este detall [e], solo dire que si el mismo Presidente hubiese venido á la Nueva Orleans no hubieran podido hacerle mejor recivimiento q el q yo experimente.

Lo que ocupó algo mi imaginacion fue el buscar la causa del empeño q manifestaron el General y Gobernador en que yo entrase en Nva Orleans, sabiendo ambos que los obsequios que me haria el Pueblo eclipsaria sus dignidades, motivo, en el caracter de ambos, mas propio para alejarme, que para aproximarme de su residencia. Crei desde luego habria orden del Presidente para q efectuasen una reconsilacion conmigo á fin de disipar el resentimiento que podia haber producido la inesperada negativa que dieron á mi solicitud de pasar por Nueva Orleans al subir á Baton Rouge.

No me engañe en esa inferencia, segun me informo D Daniel Clark, diputado de la Luisiana en el Congreso, quien me aseguró haberle dicho el Presidente, quando se le participó que se me habia negado el paso por la Nvă Orleans, que sentia esta determinacion del Gobernador Claiborne, que la habia reprehendido, y encargado procurasen repararla. Sin embargo no fueron en mi concepto los deseos del Presidente los que motibaron el fervoroso convite que se me hizo de entrar en dicha Capital, sino la conveniencia propia del General y Gobernador segun manifestará lo que boy a exponer.

Pocos dias despues de mi arribo á la Nueva Orleans, recibí á las siete de la mañana una espuela del General Wilkinson, pidiendo una audiencia reservada para la hora que me acomodase, y habiendole contextado dexandola á su arbitrio, vino á verme á las nueve del mismo dia trayendo consigo un lio de papeles. La conversacion que paso entre los dos en esta dilatada visita, seria muy larga de referir, y en obsequio de la brevedad solo diré lo que considero digno del conocimiento de V. S.

Es preciso antes de continuar entere á V. S. que durante los disturbios de Burr dho General ha mantenido constantemente una correspondencia conmigo por medio de una persona de su confianza, en que

me ha manifestado no solo las noticias que adquiria, sino tambien sus intenciones en los varios apuros en que podia verse.

Despues de los cumplimientos de estilo me dixo: V. es un verdadero Español para el secreto. No obstante haberle yo puesto á V. muy buenas centinelas no se pudo descubrir la intencion de V. hasta que no se embarcó en el Rio Iberville; pero veinte y cuatro horas despues lo supe yo aqui é inmediatamente hice salir á su encuentro nuestro amigo comun Declouet, dando á V. muy sinceras gracias por el favor de haber adherido á mis ardientes deseos.

V. sabe en resumen lo que ha mediado entre Burr y yo, y V. sabe tambien que mis Enemigos quieren representarme uno de los conspiradores del partido de ese caudillo Rebelde. Estos papeles que traigo para presentar á la inspeccion de V. le convenceran, si he sido ó no fiel á la causa de mi Patria, y á los verdaderos intereses de la España. El examen fue largo por estar los mas en cifra; pero de todo lo que vi quede plenamente persuadido habia obrado conforme á los intereses de la España, y asi se lo asegure para su satisfaccion.

Si V. esta convencido de mi recto proceder, espero no tenga reparo en auxiliarme contra los ataques q me preparan mis Enemigos. Sin duda tendra V. noticia de la representacion que se esta tramando en el Consejo Legislativo contra mi y el Gobernador Claiborne, promovida por el Cuerpo de Abogados de esta Ciudad para dirigirla al Congreso. Esta produccion se compone de lo mas negro y artificioso que la esencia de la malicia del hombre puede producir, y sabiendo yo que los que dirigen el Consejo Legislativo son todos Amigos de V. le suplico emplear sus esfuerzos para disipar esta obra que esta ya muy adelantada. Le conteste q haria cuanto estuviera de mi parte, y que en el termino de tres dias creia poder darle repuesta positiva. No sin bastante trabajo logre apoderarme de la pluralidad de votos; consiguiendo al fin se rechasase la representacion que tanto temian el General y Gobernador, cuya noticia recibieron ambos con mucha satisfaccion.

A los pocos dias de haber obtenido la q° llevo referida, solicitó de mi el expresado General me interesase, para q una representacion, que por medio de algunas personas que le eran adictas se promovia á su favor y del Gobernador en el Consejo Legislativo, pasase con aprobacion, lo que logré igualmente y crei deber prestarme á ello para manifestarles que la España podia serles util hasta en sus propios paises.

Esta es la causa principal del anhelo q manifestaron dhos Jefes para q visitase la Nueva Orleans: dexando concluido cuanto creo digno de la noticia de V. S. sobre este particular.

Dios que á V. S. muchos años.

PANZACOLA 25 de Junio de 1807.

VIZ FOLCH.

Sör Marq" de Someruelos.

[Indorsement:] R en 16 de Ag Cont en 22 de id.

[Translation.]

Mr. President Governor and Captain General.

In consequence of a slight indisposition which I suffered at Baton Rouge, so slight that even there many persons did not know of it, I received a letter from the governor of New Orleans, of which the enclosed is a copy. Its unexpected receipt, its contents, and what was communicated to me in various letters from that capital, convinced me that the aforesaid governor and General Wilkinson desired that I should make my return by way of New Orleans, in order that, by means of the reception which they had prepared for me, I should be made to forget the impolitic refusal which they gave me when in my journey to Baton Rouge I asked permission to pass through that territory.

Besides the letter of which I send Your Excellency a copy, the aforesaid gentlemen urged the citizens [of Baton Rouge], to whom they know I owe little friendship, to induce me to pass through New Orleans; but my reply to these was in doubtful terms, hiding from them my decided determination to return to Pensacola without touching at New Orleans.

Toward the last days of my residence at Baton Rouge, I discovered a desire on the part of some persons to know the route which I intended to take in my coming journey, and, although they asked me directly and indirectly, my ambiguous and mysterious replies kept them always in doubt. My baggage left Baton Rouge without any one's knowing whether it was sent to be shipped at the Mississippi to sail down this river to New Orleans, or to the river Iberville to take this route to Pensacola; but these doubts ceased when they saw me embark on the latter to go by way of the lakes.

When I reached the mouth of the lower Manchac, the contrary wind prevented my entry into Lake Pontchartrain, and while thus detained I was visited by a schooner from New Orleans with various persons sent by General Wilkinson, Governor Claiborne, and other persons of

1 This communication is not among Claiborne's Correspondence preserved in the Department of State; but, looking through the six volumes of this Correspondence, we have found that a great many letters to which references are made, and especially inclosures, are missing. Cf., however, the following, April 24, 1807: "Governor Folch, accompanied by two or three Spanish officers arrived in this City last evening. I shall have a conference with him on this day, and will endeavor to make some arrangements as to the difficulties referred to in my letter of the 21st inst.", i. e., the opposition which Folch had made to the passage of American troops by the way of Mobile to Fort Stoddert.

2 Folch was marching with three hundred men to the defense of Baton Rouge, which he believed would be the point of Burr's attack. See McCaleb, The Aaron Burr Conspiracy, 264. In a letter to the Secretary of State, April 21, 1807, Claiborne explained that "The refusal of a passage by the route of N O to Baton Rouge, alluded to, happened in January last. At a period when this City was in a state of alarm by the movements of Burr, Governor Folch notified to me his arrival at the mouth of the Bayou St John, and requested permission to pass by NO on his way to B R.-he was answered in terms the most respectful, that it would be agreeable to me that he should continue his route by water; at the same time renewing to him the assurances of the friendly disposition of the Government of the US towards that of Spain." MS., Bureau of Rolls and Library, Department of State. The answer to Folch was exactly in these terms. See Gayarré, History of Louisiana, IV, 176.

position and distinction in that capital, not only to greet me, but to induce me to enter New Orleans. The former sent to tell me that on account of a mere punctilio I should not prejudice the interests of my country, which required that I should show myself in the aforesaid capital; and Colonel Bellechase, one of the latter, that if I passed without entering New Orleans it would produce a bad effect among the persons inclined to (adictadas á) our government, and that he had been commissioned as deputy to come to request me to accede to the desires of the Louisianians, but that, having felt indisposed at the moment of embarking, he commissioned in his stead Don Louis Declouet.

The only reason that I took into account for not going to New Orleans was the economy to which I was constrained by the limitedness of my salary, since having already spent a whole year's salary during the time of the expedition, it was necessary to spend the next year's to finish the present, without counting the extraordinary expenses which a visit to New Orleans would occasion me: in spite of this, seeing the eagerness which I have already described, I could not resist nor did I think it prudent to do so.

On coming in sight of the bridge of St. John there approached a yacht with a naval lieutenant of the United States to request me to go ashore in her; and, in order not to tire Your Excellency with the prolixity which this matter would require, I will only say that if the President himself had come to New Orleans they could not have given him a better reception than the one I experienced.

What occupied my thoughts somewhat was the cause of the eagerness manifested by the general and the governor that I should enter New Orleans, both knowing that the reception which the people would give me would eclipse their dignities, a motive in the character of both more calculated to keep me from their residence than to entice me to it. I of course believed that there was an order from the President that they should effect a reconciliation with me, so as to dispel the resentment which the unexpected refusal that they gave to my request to pass through New Orleans on the way to Baton Rouge might have produced.

I was not mistaken in this inference, as I learned from Mr. Daniel Clark, deputy from Louisiana in Congress, who assured me that the President had told him, when he knew that passage through New Orleans had been denied me, that he regretted this decision of Governor Claiborne, that he had reprehended it, and had requested that they should try to make reparation for it. Nevertheless, to my mind the desires of the President were not the reason for the fervent invitation made to me to enter that capital, but the personal convenience of the general and the governor, as will appear from what I shall relate.

A few days after my arrival in New Orleans, I received at seven o'clock in the morning a request from General Wilkinson for a private audience at any hour which suited me, and having replied, leaving it to his choice, he came to see me at nine o'clock the same day, bringing with him a bundle of papers. The conversation which took place between us in this extended visit would be too long to relate, and, for the sake of brevity, I will say only what I consider worthy the knowledge of Your Excellency.

1 This is not confirmed by any allusion in Claiborne's Correspondence in the Department of State.

It is necessary before continuing to inform Your Excellency that during the disturbances of Burr the aforesaid general has, by means of a person in his confidence, constantly maintained a correspondence with me, in which he has laid before me not only the information which he acquired, but also his intentions for the various exigencies in which he might find himself.

After the formal greetings he said to me: "You are a true Spaniard for secrecy. In spite of my having set very good spies over you, your intention could not be discovered until you had embarked on the river Iberville; but twenty-four hours afterward I knew it here, and immediately I sent out to meet you our mutual friend Declouet, thanking you very sincerely for the favor of having adhered to my ardent desires. You know in brief what has occurred between Burr and myself, and you also know that my enemies wish to represent me as one of the conspirators of the party of that chief rebel. These papers which I bring to present to your inspection will convince you whether I have or have not been faithful to the cause of my country, and to the true interests of Spain." The examination was long on account of most of them being in cipher; but from all that I saw I was fully persuaded that he had acted conformably as suited the true interests of Spain, and so I assured him for his satisfaction.

"If you are convinced of the rectitude of my proceeding, I hope that you will not hesitate to help me against the attacks which my enemies prepare for me. Doubtless you are aware of the memorial against myself and Governor Claiborne which is being drawn up in the legislative council, promoted by the association of lawyers. of this city, to be sent to Congress. This production is made up of the blackest and most fraudulent [lies] that the essence of the malice of man can produce, and knowing that those who control the legislative council are all friends of yours, I beg you to use your efforts to destroy this work, which is already very far advanced." I replied that I would do all in my power, and that within three days I thought I would be able to give him a positive reply. Not without a great deal of trouble did I succeed in securing the plurality of votes, obtaining at last the rejection of the memorial so much feared by the general and the governor, which news both received with much satisfaction.1

A few days after having obtained the success to which I have referred, the said general solicited me to interest myself in order that a memorial which through certain persons who were attached to him was being promoted in the legislative council in favor of himself and the governor should be approved; this I also obtained," and I thought

1 The memorial was rejected by a vote of fourteen to seven. See Debate in the House of Representatives of the Territory of Orleans, on a Memorial to Congress, respecting the Illegal Conduct of General Wilkinson, March 16, 1807. A copy, with comments written on the margins by Governor Claiborne, is in the Library of Congress, Political Pamphlets, vol. 105. The memorial was presumably transmitted to the Secretary of State by Claiborne with his letter of March 23, 1807, as there stated, but the letter which he promised, pointing out its errors, etc., is not among his correspondence in the Department of State.

2 The following is the only reference to this in Claiborne's Correspondence: "I have the honor to enclose you a copy of two addresses signed by many respectable citizens of this Territory approving the late conduct of General Wilkinson and myself." Claiborne to the Secretary of State, March 27, 1807. The addresses, however, are not among Claiborne's Correspondence.

AM. HIST. REV., VOL. X.-54