MADISON JAMES Printed Letter Signed as Secretary of State to

Sale 2686 - Lot 93

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UNIFORM OF NAVY "IS A DEEP BLUE COAT . . . YELLOW BUTTONS WITH A FOUL ANCHOR" MADISON, JAMES. Printed Letter Signed, as Secretary of State, to American Consul in Saint-Domingue [Haiti] Tobias Lear, circular letter ordering biannual reports of all U.S. vessels entering local ports as well as any signs of military preparations, describing the U.S. Navy uniform and inviting consuls to wear it, outlining the powers of consuls, and emphasizing that relations with local governments ought to be kept friendly. Docketed by Lear vertically on integral blank: "Form of old Circular to / Consuls / 10 June 1803." 1½ pages, 4to, with integral blank; horizontal folds. [Washington], 10 June 1803

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". . . I must beg the favor of you to communicate to me, every six months, a report of the vessels of the United States, which enter at the ports of your district, specifying the name and burthen of each vessel, . . . closing on the last days of June and December.
"We wish . . . that no vessel enter as an American in the ports of your district, which shall not be truly such, and that none be sold under that name, which are not really of the United States; That you give . . . information of all military preparations . . . which may take place in your ports . . . .
"The Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States are free to wear the uniform of their navy . . . . This is a deep blue coat, with buff facings, lining and cuffs, the cuffs slashed, and a standing collar, a buff waistcoat (laced or not, at the election of the wearer) and buff breeches; yellow buttons with a foul anchor, a black cockade, and a small sword.
"Be pleased to observe that the Vice-Consul of one district is not at all subordinate to the Consul of another. They are equally independent of each other. . . .
"It will be best not to fatigue the Government in which you reside, or those in authority under it, with applications in unimportant cases. Husband their good dispositions for occasions of some moment; and let all representations to them be couched in the most temperate and friendly terms, never indulging in any case whatever a single expression which may irritate. . . ."
In April 1802, President Thomas Jefferson ordered Lear to leave Saint-Domingue, essentially ending U.S. negotiation with leaders of the Haitian revolution, in anticipation of the arrival of the expedition sent by France to crush the revolution.