PERTAINING TO UNRATIFIED TREATY OF 1806. 101 



.rious to the dignity and rights of that nation, at periods when it was 

 neutral. An addition of two miles, nevertheless, to our maritime 

 jurisdiction, so far as to protect neutral and other unarmed vessels, 

 notwithstanding its want of any thing like a due reciprocity, is not 

 without its value. This value will at the same time be very mate- 

 rially impaired, if the stipulation cannot be liberated from the clause 

 requiring the consent of the other belligerent nations, as necessary to 

 exempt their vessels from search and seizure. None of the other 

 belligerent nations have, in fact, unarmed vessels engaged in our 

 trade, nor are they likely to have any during the war ; and these alone 

 could derive advantage from their consent, their armed vessels being 

 expressly excepted. There can be no motive with them, therefore, 

 to agree to the regulation. They would rather be tempted to em- 

 barrass it, with a view to continue, as much as possible, vexations 

 which lessen the mutual good will of the parties. And as, by their 

 not agreeing to the regulation, the right is reserved to British 

 cruisers to examine all vessels for the purpose of ascertaining whether 

 they may not belong to a belligerent, the disturbance of our trade 

 might be little diminished within the additional two miles. Besides 

 the mere interruption of a search concerning the vessel, it is hardly 

 to be expected, from the general spirit of cruisers, that the search 

 will not be extended to the cargo ; and if the latter should be thus or 

 otherwise found or suspected to be of a confiscable sort, that the 

 temptation to capture would be resisted, the less so, perhaps, as the 

 increased distance from the shore and the increased difficulty of 

 proof would favor the chance of condemnation, or at least counte- 

 nance courts in their propensity to refuse damages and costs to the 

 claimants. 



To secure the advantage promised by this article, the right of 

 search ought to be suppressed altogether, the additional space enjoying 

 in this respect the same immunity as is allowed to the marine league. 

 To this object the President wishes your endeavors to be directed. 

 ******* 



I have the honor to be, &c. 



JAMES MADISON. 



Mr. Monroe to Mr. Madison, Secretary of State. 



EICHMOND, February 28, 1808. 



SIR: 



It appears by your letter of May 20, 1807, which was forwarded by 

 Mr. Purviance to Mr. Pinkney and myself at London, and received 

 on the 16th July, that you had construed several articles of the 

 treaty which we had signed with the British commissioners on the 

 31st December, 1806, in a different sense from that in which they 

 were conceived by us. As the course we were instructed to pursue by 

 your letter of February 3d, with regard to that treaty, which was 

 confirmed in that of May 20th, was in no degree dependent on our 

 construction of any of its articles, or on the political considerations 

 which induced us to sign it, we deemed it unnecessary to enter into 



