Accept my salutations, and assurances of affectionate esteem and respect. TO CAPTAIN BEATTY, FOR HIMSELF, THE OTHER OFFICERS AND PRIVATES OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY COMPANY OF GEORGETOWN. WASHINGTON, July 11, 1807. SIR,--I have received your letter of yesterday, mentioning that you had, on the 4th of July, made a tender of the services of the Light Infantry Company of Georgetown. The circumstances of the day must apologize for its having escaped my recollection. This tender of service in support of the rights of our country merits and meets the highest praise; and whenever the moment arrives in which these rights must appeal to the public arm for support, the spirit from which your offer flows, that which animates our nation, will be their sufficient safeguard. To the Legislature will be rendered a faithful account of the events which have so justly excited the sensibilities of our country, of the measures taken to obtain reparation, and of their result; and to their wisdom will belong the course to be ultimately pursued. In the meantime it is our duty to pursue that prescribed by the existing laws, towards which, should your services be requisite, this offer of them will be remembered. I tender for your country the thanks so justly due to yourself, the other officers and privates of the company. TO MR. BIDWELL. WASHINGTON, July 11, 1807. DEAR SIR,--Yours of June 27th has been duly received, and although wishing your happiness always, I cannot be altogether unpleased with a transfer of your services to a department more pleasing to yourself, yet I cannot but lament your loss in Congress. You know that talents cannot be more useful anywhere than there; and the times seem to portend that we may have occasion there for all we possess. You have long ago learnt the atrocious acts committed by the British armed vessels in the Chesapeake and its neighborhood. They cannot be easily accommodated, although it is believed that they cannot be justified by orders from their government. We have acted on these principles; 1, to give that government an opportunity to disavow and make reparation; 2, to give ourselves time to get in the vessels, property and seamen, now spread over the ocean; 3, to do no act which might compromit Congress in their choice between war, non-intercourse, or any other measure. We shall probably call them some time in October, having regard to the return of the healthy season, and to the receipt of an answer from Great Britain, before which they could only act in the dark. In the meantime we shall make all the preparations which time will permit, so as to be ready for any alternative.