The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5 (of 9): Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and PrivateJefferson, Thomas
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The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5 (of 9): Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private
Jefferson, Thomas
United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783; United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865
DEAR SIR,--In mine of the 12th I informed you I would write to the
Attorney General to send on the letter of General Wilkinson of October
21st, referred to in my message of January 22d. He accordingly sent
me a letter of that date, but I immediately saw that it was not the
one desired, because it had no relation to the facts stated under that
reference. I immediately, by letter, apprized him of this circumstance,
and being since returned to this place, he yesterday called on me with
the whole of the papers remaining in his possession, and he assured me
he had examined carefully the whole of them, and that the one referred
to in the message was not among them, nor did he know where it would be
found. These papers have been recurred to so often, on so many occasions,
and some of them delivered out for particular purposes, that we find
several missing, without being able to recollect what has been done with
them. Some of them were delivered to the Attorney of this district, to be
used on the occasions which arose in the District Court, and a part of
them were filed, as is said, in their office. The Attorney General will
examine their office to day, and has written to the District Attorney to
know whether he retained any of them. No researches shall be spared to
recover this letter, and if recovered, it shall immediately be sent on
to you. Compiling the message from a great mass of papers, and pressed
in time, the date of a particular paper may have been mistaken, but
we all perfectly remember the one referred to in the message, and that
its substance is there correctly stated. General Wilkinson probably has
copies of all the letters he wrote me, and having expressed a willingness
to furnish the one desired by the Court, the defendant can still have
the benefit of it. Or should he not have the particular one on which
that passage in the message is founded, I trust that his memory would
enable him to affirm that it is substantially correct. I salute you with
friendship and respect.
TO GEORGE BLAKE, ESQ.
WASHINGTON, June 24, 1807.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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